Hakeem was a bigger offensive threat and a better defensive player. He got more rebounds blocks steals and points. This evidence is too lopsided to even really argue about this: the answer is Hakeem.
Hakeem's mentality was to be more aggressive, on both ends. He gambled more, but was also more likely to make the spectacular athletic play. Duncan's mentality is to play with more calm and patience. Hakeem was perhaps the most creative low post scorer ever. Duncan, on the other hand, is all about economy of motion -- simple, seemingly boring, but extremely effective and efficient. There's a real difference in style there, each with their own advantages.
I don't really think there is an argument who is better. Defensively its about even but I'll give Hakeem the edge because he's the all time blocks leader. Offensively there is no question. Hakeem averaged like 27 a game for a few years. Duncan only really got close to that for maybe a year and then he dropped back down to a solid 22 a game. The only argument is if you say that because Duncan won more titles, he's better. But of the 4 titles, 1 of them he was rolling with David Robinson, 1 Parker won the MVP, another Ginobli arguably should've been MVP. With Hakeem there was never a doubt who was the best player on the team.
Duncan had more success in terms of championships, but Hakeem was the better player hands down "I don't even know how I can say it with a straight face, but I thought most of the time I defended him pretty well" - David Robinson <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hW4uXlRGAF0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hW4uXlRGAF0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> I think Robinson was the better one-on-one defender and I think if Hakeem faced Duncan in '95, Dream would have dropped 40 every night the way he was playing
Nope... because Duncan doesn't like guarding good post players (or Pop doesn't let him do it because he might foul out). Oberto or some no name would have been on Dream most of the time, but we all know who Dream would have guarded.
How is this even a topic? Especially on a Rockets board. Hakeem is top 20 all time including all positions. Duncan is just... really damn good. Not all time great like the Dream. I'm not sure how it's even being debated honestly.
I understand this is a Rockets board, but as a fan of the game of basketball, I have to say Duncan is better than Hakeem. In 5-10 years, we will all agree that Duncan was the greatest PF of all time. So how can the greatest PF not be better than the 3-4 best Center of all time? Thats my logic.
thank the idiot who brought this thread up again for no reason akeem/hakeem's quickness and athleticism was vastly superior to duncans. if you compare head to head, there's no chance that duncan could ever stop him. i do agree that duncan is a great PF Oh, Dream never lost in the Olympics either. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zMrcBdXU9Nw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zMrcBdXU9Nw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
i actually think KG and Hakeem would be a better comparison but Hakeem was more clutch than KG thus far. KG's career still has about 3-4 more years left on it.
Garnett is the closest to Hakeem, but he is still nowhere close to Hakeem's level. Garnett is not as fast as Hakeem, cannot steal the way Hakeem does, and cannot block like Hakeem. KG has a consistent jumper, but post move wise.... not even a comparison. Hakeem's post moves is the lost twin sibling of Allen Iverson's ball handling ability, except no one else can replicate it.
tough one to call but as a rockets fan, Hakeem, obviously. i really hate comparing players from different eras cos there are a lot of factors involved.
At the moment I don't there is any current post player that can compare to Hakeem. Dream was the complete package, great D, great O, a player you could count on in the clutch.
I have no doubt that Hakeem wins titles on all of those Spurs teams as well. But no, I don't think Duncan could have led us to our two in 94/95. I have never seen him dominate a great big man, and he has had his chances. Do y'all think Duncan could have beaten frontlines of Ewing/Oakley/Mason, Robinson/Rodman or Shaq/Grant? And not just beaten them, but torching them offensively while containing Ewing, Robinson and Shaq on the other side of the court? Let's look at his playoff history. The only comparable big he faced in the postseason was Shaq. He lost that matchup 3 of 5 times (2001, 2002, 2004). The majority of the time he was being checked by dudes like Grant, Horry or a broke down Karla Malone. Sometimes Shaq would move over to him in the 4th. And in the 2 wins (99 and 03), he wasn't even responsible for holding Shaq (Robinson was). One could really argue that he wasn't the best big on the court in either one of those series. Go pull the numbers from those playoff series and see for yourself. Yeah, he won a title in 2005 and was the main cog that made the Spurs go. But do y'all not remember how Sheed/Wallace were getting into his butt? Duncan shot 42% in that series, and SA doesn't get a ring if Horry have a flashback moment in Game 5, or without Manu playing at an MVP level. Duncan was 10-27 in Game 7. In 2006 he was outplayed by Dirk. Yeah, say that to yourself a few more times. Last year Gasol held him to 43% shooting for the series. The final two games facing elimination, 10-26 and 7-19. Yes, Pau Gasol people. That series was a perfect example of what Dream dealt with every year. The Spurs were relying heavily on Duncan to pump points and he couldn't. There was another title year where the won the ring, but Amare lit Duncan up every game. I forget what year this was. He had a great Robinson in 99 and didn't really have to beat a dominant big in 07. And this isn't to take anything away from Duncan because he was the main cog in each title run. But the main difference IMO is that Dream proved he could go to that next level and truly carry the team against great bigs. I have seen Duncan fail to dominate like that enough times to conclude that he couldn't do it. No, I don't see him tearing Robinson a new one. I don't see him containing Robinson either, if he can't even check Amare or Dirk!! No, I don't see him pimp-slapping Ewing/Mason/Oakley when he is struggling with Sheed/Wallace. Let's not forget that Ewing had a pathetic Finals offensively because of Hakeem's defense. No, I don't see him pumping 35-40 all series long against someone like Shaq or Robinson when he can't dominate Pau Gasol when it's evident that his team has issues scoring and keeps looking at him to bail them out. Duncan just isn't the type of player that could consistently churn points like that. Hakeem and Shaq could....and that's what seperates them from Tim. Yeah, Hakeem has lost more playoff series...but did you really come away thinking "Hakeem didn't do enough" or that "Hakeem's team sucks"? How many times can you say he was actually outplayed? I have seen this from Duncan 4 times.
Hakeem was in a league of one, he created the "Hakeem" category, and as to that unique skill set, no one has been better. Comparisons are fruitless.
