I referenced the online Chronicle archives here are all the quotes from the article(s): Said 35-year-old Maurice Lucas: "This would rank in my top three exciting games, easy." "Of all the guys I've played against in my career," Lucas testified, "Akeem was the most successful guy against a group defense I've ever seen. "I played extremely hard defense against him, and he scored at will. Usually, if I put my best defense on them and beat them up and scratch them, they give up in the fourth quarter. But he took all my shots and kept going." Houston's Cedric Maxwell, who is 31 and was the MVP of the 1981 playoffs, said: "I don't think I could have gotten more enjoyment if I had gotten in on the winning side. Anything after this game would be anticlimactic." and the best one of all......................... "The only way to stop Akeem is to put him in jail," Ellis said.
Their games are too different to be compared. The only similarity is that they play/ed for the same team. Yao's game is slower and methodical. Dream's was more about quickness and raw athleticism.
ok lets put it this way. Yao would never ever be in the same league as dream. No matter what era, what competition, the dream is head and shoulders above yao. BUT, yao would be a great player someday. Not in the same breath as hakeem, but maybe as good as a bill walton. I take that. About 18ppg, 12rpg, 2.5bpg, 3 apg and two rings before his career is over. Rockets fans are just fortunate to have two of the greatest centers in dream and moses and potential great in yao. So, lets sit and enjoy and wait for the season to start.
Honestly, anyone that claims Yao is at Dream's level at the same point did not watch Dream play during his first two seasons. Yao can't hold Dream's jockstrap. No center can....
Again even if Yao posted amazing numbers comparable to what Dream put up you still couldn't compare them. Dream's game was about quickness and athleticism. Yao's very slow and methodical to his approach of the game. It's not an insult to Yao, because quite frankly no one has the athleticism that Dream had in his career. It's the same way that no one can compare to Shaq's game. No one has that freakish size and athleticism that he has. Yao's a big guy who's quick for his size, but slow footed next to a lot of 6'10-7'0 guys. Not an insult towards Yao because he can still be a dominant force just the way he is, and has proven so in a few shining moments, but his game success will fall on different traits than what Dream's success was.
Look.....bottom line is this. Hakeem was the fashizel and will always be an icon in this city. To compare Yao to him is not really a fair comparison. There are lot of factors to numberous to break down that differentiate the two; beginning with demeanor. How about we just savor the awesome memories of "The Dream" - the best center to ever play the game.......period!!! And enjoy watching Yao develop into a good if not great center. I am not sure if Yao will ever develop the aggressive demeanor that Hakeem had primarily due to his upbringing. In communist countries they do not encourage you to be aggressive or assertive but rather suppress that mindset, this is how the leaders can control the masses (read the Marxist handbook). So naturally Yao is going to take longer to undo what he has benn taught for the past 20+ years. Also, if we continue to try and make Yao fill Hakeem's shoes we will never be satisfied with his development.
EVERY center was affected by the zone, with the exception of Shaq (whose style is to bowl over defenders no matter what defense is played). Since the zone, the potential for a center to dominate has diminished dramatically. And I never said that the zone was created to make it easier for defenders to guard centers. I know that that's not why it was created. But it HAS had a a huge negative impact on the ability of a center to succeed. -- droxford
