[Grantland] Is Hakeem Olajuwon's Post-Up Play Training All It's Cracked Up to Be?

I haven't read the article yet but I don't see why? Who has he transformed into a good post player? Einstein couldn't teach for ****.

 

The writer is clearly an OOH and should go write for Slate.

 

It's a joke. He charges an insane amount. It's amazing players are that dumb to fall for it, but I guess if you have the money to throw around, good for Hakeem. I think they do it more for perception than anything. It makes people think they're working hard on improving their game.

 

I agree with the article.

It's like Titian trying to teach you to paint like he does when you are just an "okay" painter, plus you want to be a watercolor painter.

It's not going to work.

 

It's all about muscle memory. It will take an act of god to train a Shaq to move like an Olajuwon. In my opinion, if you where not quick when you were young then you will not be quick when you are older. The best thing to do for Howard is to teach him two or three muscle memory moves. After one year he will learn how to manipulate the move himself.

 

I remember Yao saying something to the point of that he wouldn't be able to replicate the moves he was taught in a game but it was more of the principles Dream was teaching.

Yao was pretty diplomatic

 

I hope he charges even more in years to come. Pretty soon Les will be his only client, and no one cares how much Les is paying Hakeem. He can afford it. Just get our entire roster on a heavy diet of Olajuwon. Hell, teach Beverley how to post up. It'll work real good when it comes time to tire out Tony Parker, Chris Paul, etc etc.

 

I have watched nearly everyone of the Dream's videos on his channel. The one with Chandler is really the most comical in the sense that the writer of the article expressed perfectly. You guys can check that video out, Tyson actually looks pretty good with the Dream's one dribble spin move.... Yet Tyson wil NEVER have an opportunity to showcase that in a game. The writer is dead on with almost every point.

 

If you go in and take lessons for the violin and they instead give you a lesson on how to play the triangle, you might be really pissed.

These guys are paying Olajuwon to learn his moves, not learn how to play the triangle.

 

Olajuwon is not there to teach plays or strategy. That's what each team's coaching staff is for. These guys are paying to learn post moves, so that's what he teaches them.

Also, complaining about $ is silly. Almost every big man who has ever worked with Dream makes $5million per year minimum. $15k to one of these guys is like $150 to someone making $50k per year. Well worth it for a week of expert advice.

 

I actually kinda agree with the article. I just think it is more of a "take what you need out of my lessons to better and elevate your own game"

 

It probably helps different people to different degrees, like any form of coaching.

Anyway, while I don't think NBA players are all Einsteins, they do know basketball pretty well and many of the guys that Hakeem worked with (including Howard, Kobe, Lebron, T.Chandler, Amare) are NBA vets and not gullible idiots so I think they are capable of making rational choices based on available info and judging whether they are getting their money's worth.

As for some specifics of the article: I don't think his "one move" is the jump hook, especially given that he took hook shots a total of 70 times last season: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jeffeal01/shooting/2013/

 

Wtf? Lebron and Kobe showed vastly improved post games after working with Dream. Dwight and Stat posted two of their most efficient seasons after working with Dream. Brook Lopez probably has the best post moves for a big man right now in the NBA and he worked with THE DREAM.

How is Dream supposed to fix stupid in McGee? How is it Dream's fault if Knicks don't run schemes for Chandler offense? Man, if players want to pay Dream to work out with him, how is that a bad thing?

 

Geniuses usually aren't good teachers because they don't think about how they do what they do. They just do it instinctively. Those who don't have the instinct will never learn from them.

 

Yao was also Hakeem's greatest success story.

 

Let's wait and see if Dream has a positive impact on Dwight's game. If he does, it will shut up the critics.

 

Article is a complete JOKE. And I can't believe how some of you supposedly Rocket's fans are agreeing with that crap.

First, Dream is teaching them post game elite fundamentals so to speak. In that sense, it's just like going to any basketball camp where you learn skills and fundamentals, it is still up to the Coach on the team or situations to dictate when those skills are used or most valuable.

Secondly, as someone else already mentioned, bringing up how much he gets paid for it is just a straight hater move because the guys paying him are all millionaires and it's not much money to them, or THEY wouldn't be requesting the workouts and to pay for them.

Third, just because someone won't be a Picaso, doesn't mean that he can't teach them painting techniques that will help them to improve the skills they already have. It's not about making them equal, it's about making them better than what they already are. So if that is accomplished, then the money was worth it. You don't judge if they got their money's worth by trying to ask if they reached Dream's level of play...that would be a ridiculous expectation.

This is a piece of hater trash of an article...PERIOD!

 

Tyson Chandler never faced a triple team of meatheads like Dream did against the Knicks or a triple team of long armed, quick spidery players like against Seattle. Nobody is going to guard Tyson Chandler to leave Melo open. Article is stupid. Spending time with great players on the court is a tremendous value, even for Tyson Chandler, whether he can replicate the moves in games or not.

This is like when Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens spends instructional time with pitchers. Is that a waste of time because none of them can throw 95? Of course not.