between 18 and 21? someone with ridiculous natural talent is going to improve markedly as their body matures, T mac was probably as naturally gifted as Dr J, we had that player for maybe 1 year, Orlando had him for 3-4. Hakeem, from his soccer background (where footwork and balance is the main attribute by a long way, almost any top soccer players will have better footwork than basketballers due to youth focus), had sublime footwork, the best footwork of any centre period, and possibly the best footwork relative to body size of any basketballer period, it let him get set .2 of a second earlier to leap for a block, it let him turn David Robinson inside out. I'm not saying T-mac was a better player than Hakeem, far from it, I just don't consider Hakeem's greatest strength as something born from natural ability. more an early learned behaviour that he developed at an age where it became 2nd nature.
Clutchfans post, yes. Knowledge, lets test it out You can easily use stats to back up some of the claims. There's also some apples to oranges comparisons "Rebounding? Dream, Chuck, Moses, Drexler was better." - Power forwards and centers are better rebounders, as you would FIGURE. Drexler and McGrady is a dead heat in rebounding. That comment wasn't convincing. Dream was NOT better from the line....Surprisingly McGrady has higher career FT attempts per game than Drexler, though that average is sure to come down the more McGrady plays. "Best 3 point shooter? Calvin and Rudy were better" - Calvin and Rudy played almost their entire careers with NO 3 point line. And the %'s they did have werent that good though I dont hold that against them, different era. But that was the worst comment out of them. (McGrady has a higher 3pt% than Drexler) If you're into the advanced stats, Drexler and McGrady have the same assist percentage, with McGrady turning the ball over less than Drexler. Another dead heat, if not in favor of McGrady. All those players have their jerseys hung up in the rafters for a reason. Francis "built" the place their jerseys are up in. McGrady will never have near the Rocket's notoriety of those guys that much is clear, and deservedly. But some of that might been using emotional arguments without fact checking
Whenever you look at Hakeem's athleticism, you have to remember that he's a 7 footer doing those things. That's impressive in itself.
