Dream education: Olajuwon tutors Okafor Bobcat learns post moves from best RICK BONNELL Staff Writer • ROSTER: Players, key dates • SCHEDULE: 2005-06 • SCHEDULE: Printable PDF • SCOTT FOWLER: Got a question? Ask Scott • NBA PAGE: More draft coverage. • FORUM: Discuss the Bobcats. • BOBCATS PAGE: Full coverage. WILMINGTON - Some artists travel to Paris to study with a master. Emeka Okafor left Paris this summer because the master was back home in Houston. The master: Hakeem Olajuwon. The art: The most creative post moves the NBA has seen. When a friend called Okafor, saying Olajuwon was receptive to tutoring him, it wasn't much of a sacrifice to cut short his European vacation. "Barcelona or Hakeem?" Okafor recalled, holding his hands like the balance of a scale. "I mean, Barcelona is cracking," he said, "but it's not studying with Hakeem." This was like voice lessons with Frank Sinatra. Olajuwon spent 18 years confounding NBA big men with fakes, spins, counter-moves, fades and dunks. Former Charlotte Hornets coach Dick Harter used to say the typical NBA center has 21/2 post moves: A favorite, plus a counter-move, plus something desperate that works about half the time. Harter said Olajuwon had 10 moves, each one so effective it was a waste of time to write a scouting report. Okafor admits he had no true post move when he won rookie of the year with the Charlotte Bobcats last season. His "go-to" move was to bump his defender, hope the blunt force created space, and throw up a baby hook. That wasn't the foundation of a lasting repertoire. "I've never really had a solid, legitimate post game where I felt comfortable with my back to the basket," Okafor said. "I could fake it, but my confidence wasn't that high. Now I'm getting it because I have something to work with." The sessions lasted two weeks in August, six days a week. They'd meet at a Houston-area health club and slowly incorporate the intricate moves that formed The Dream's game. It was something like teaching the tango on one of those "Dancing with the Stars" reality shows. The Dream would show off a move, and Okafor would struggle to mimic it -- even in slow-motion with no defender blocking his path to the basket. "The things Hakeem does, you can't just watch a tape and pick up the move," Okafor said. "This was the first time he taught it, and it's hard to teach someone else something you did so naturally. The problem was, if you do something minutely off -- even the way you spin or the way your arm might come out -- he'd have to say, `No, that's not the move. The move is this.' And you have to do it precisely." No one would call Okafor a slow learner; he taught himself business calculus one summer to test out of a course requirement at Connecticut. But Olajuwon's post game was so intricate that absorbing just a chapter of it was a challenge. "Hakeem was good about saying, `Think about it a lot now so that later you don't have to think what are you going to do now, what are you going to do next?' Eventually you'll just have to go and react and know you have whatever options available." Later in the two weeks, their workouts involved not what to use, but when and how to use it. Olajuwon told Okafor that as he expands his game, he can better set up particular defenders: Back a quick guy into the basket or spin by the bruiser with quickness. But never do what the defender prefers you to do. Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff says Okafor couldn't have picked a better teacher. They're of similar builds, both with uncommon athleticism and flexibility for their size. As Bickerstaff put it, they're "kindred souls." Okafor is the first-generation son of a Nigerian immigrant. Olajuwon came to the United States from Lagos, a major city in Nigeria. Okafor grew up in Houston idolizing Olajuwon. So when Okafor asked for tutoring, Olajuwon was happy to help. "Basketball is in my blood," Olajuwon told the Houston Chronicle. "It is my obligation to try." Olajuwon is back in Jordan now, where he spends most of the year, studying Islam. Okafor is thinking about his studies, looking to assimilate two weeks of Dream Ball into his own game this preseason. "He told me, `I'm giving you the whole package,' " Okafor recalled. That's a gift he'll never throw away. HAKEEM OLAJUWON Born: Jan. 21, 1963. Height: 7-0. Weight: 255 pounds. Resume: He won two NBA titles between Michael Jordan's first and second retirements, winning Finals MVP both times. He had the height of a center, but the quickness and footwork of a forward. It's possible no one in NBA history has had a more creative or varied post game. He finished 18 seasons with a career scoring average of 21.8 points and 51 percent shooting from the field. EMEKA OKAFOR Born: Sept. 28, 1982. Height: 6-10. Weight: 273 pounds. Resume: Okafor pushed Connecticut to the national championship in 2004 and followed that with NBA rookie of the year. He's better away from the basket than anyone anticipated, but by his own admission, he has an unsophisticated post game. He averaged 15.1 points and 10.9 rebounds last season. Link
I'm sure he would if they were ever in the same country at the same time. Okafor was in France when he found out Dream was here in Houston. He then hopped on plane to get back here so he could work out with him.
