Don't be a homer. Game by game basis, http://www.nba.com/statistics/default_all_time_leaders/AllTimeLeadersBPGQuery.html?topic=4&stat=14
The only time Ostertoast gave Dream any problems was when he played the game of his career in Game 6 you know when. I still can't believe we lost that game. Other than that game, Ostertoast was pathetic.
Another player that seemed to fare well against Dream was Roy Tarpley. Hakeem could pretty much shut down any center, byt Tarpley seemed to have some great games against us. That is... before his drug problems and eventual banishment from the league. Could have been a phoenominal player.
I seem to remember Hakeem commenting on Deke, saying that he had sharp elbows, and that he hated playing against him.
When I think of Hakeem's great blocks, one of them was against Roy Tarpley ...Hakeem went to help a teammate then Roy got the ball...Roy thought he had an easy 10 footer and Hakeem went up and got it. What surpised me about it was you usually don't see jumpers by big men being blocked square in front and when there is so much space for a good look. Who also remembers when Hakeem took the man out of man-child Shawn Kemp. Kemp was a ferocious dunker (Amare-type) and Hakeem used to block his shots repeatedly. I remember seeing interviews later with Kemp and you could tell he had the utmost respect for Hakeem.
Hakeem is still higher, and over all, Hakeem has the most blocks. I have to ask: Are you even a Rockets fan?
Pathetic. The topic was who is the better blocker. Remember both players are rockets. I am a rockets fan, just not a homer.
Deke has two years with the Rockets coming up. Let's hope it's Dream=2, Deke=2 when Mutombo's career is over.
One of the great things Hakeen did, and I see Deke doing it too, is that he keeps the ball inbounds when blocks it and then he gets the ball. Every once in a while he'd smack it into the 4th row but he'd keep it in play too. Great stuff.
Deke was a great defender in his own right during his peak years. But I honestly think that Hakeem had too many moves and his footwork was too great. Deke can cover the paint like no other, but when you got a center that can post you up, do a spin move, and do a turn around baseline jumper, you'd be in for a world of hurt
According to the NBA's rockets page: Now, a few drawbacks to Olajuwon’s career record for blocks. 1) It is almost certain that Chamberlain and Russell would have had more blocks. 2) Abdul-Jabbar had 3,189 - and played his first four years without the stat being kept. In his 1974 season (Kareem’s fifth in the league and the 1st that blocks were credited) he blocked 283 shots in 81 games. If we simply apply his per game average to his first four seasons, we would have to credit him with another 1,122 blocks. That would bring him up to around 4,310. I’d feel a whole lot better calling Hakeem the all-time blocks leader (at least post Wilt/Russell) if his career total was up around 4,300. You can go to the bank on this one, folks. Abdul-Jabbar had more than 700 blocks in his first 321 games. In the first two years that they kept blocks, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 3.5 per game.
THIS MAY BE A MOOT POINT, BUT DEKE HAS DEFINITLEY HADE A BETTER GO AT HIS CAREER WHILE CLOSING IN ON FORTY. HAKEEM'S CAREER AT THIS AGE WAS PRETTY SORRY, PROBABLY BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY WAS EXPECTED TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FLOOR. DEKE HAS MADE HIMSELF INTO A NICHE ROLE PLAYER WHICH IS WHAT HAS ALLOWED HIM TO EXTEND HIS CAREER. HAKEEM HAD TOO MUCH PRIDE TO MAKE HIMSELF A ROLE PLAYER.
I'd say Deke, but dream was obviously no slouch, every team in the league would obviously take dream over deke in a heartbeat-dream is the best center in nba history-can you imagine a player of his athletic ability playing in the russel-chamberlain era? fuggetaboutit. But back to your question, i'd give the Deke the slight edge in rebounding....slight.
It truly is a moot point because it simply isn't true. Hakeem didn't dip below 10 points a game till his last and 18th season. He didn't dip below 6 rpg ever. Granted, his mpg were also never quite as low as Deke's this past year, but there is always a reason a certain player isn't playing. Don't get me wrong, I love what Deke brings to the current Rockets. But Hakeem only seemed to end poorly because he became such a shell of his former best player on the planet self. I agree that Hakeem was too proud to fully accept a role as a role player, but even still he was a much better player at equal stages of their career. And that's keeping in mind Hakeem played 18 seasons and Deke is just entering his 16th.
