What is Your Memory of Hakeem in 1986 Lakers Series

I think the difference is that I am comparing Hakeem to the final product, the Dream of the 90s.

When comparing that he was a very raw player. Hakeem used his athleticism to get his points and rebounds early, yes he had a turnaround...and a very early dreamshake....no he did not have a good hook shot, no he could not pass or dribble very well, that does not mean he was still not great.

The beauty of Hakeem is that he got better and better every year....

I do concede that you are right, Fitch was the coach then, and Reid did guard Magic, I am only talking about the outlet pass after the Rocks shot the ball....one of the 2 guards, Lloyd or Wiggins took Magic as soon as the ball went up...just to stop the outlet pass and slow the Lakers down.

And mayby if you would argue people's points instead of constantly putting them down during your arguments, you would spark a better form of debate, but saying things like...

"I'm convinced you did not really watch Hakeem's first 2 yrs very well"

Is both inflamatory and disrespectful, this is why you get me so ticked. You should stick to the facts and not make things personal in all of your arguments, it is counterproductive.

DD

 

HP,

Hakeem did not win until he learned to trust his teamates.....the point is that you can let a guy get 30 or 40 and then when it gets to crunch time he is unwilling to pass the ball to open teamates and you shut him down.

When Jordan and Hakeem started passing to the Paxsons, Horries, Kerrs and Smiths of the world then they started winning in the playoffs.

The Playoffs is all I am talking about.....remember how Seattle used to triple team dream and he would do LOUSY against them....or at least he would do OK individually but we could not beat them.

One year, he goes out with a strained knee and the Rocks reel of 16 straight without him, he came back a changed man and that is when the Rocks really took off.

DD

 

Hakeem didn't have as many offensive moves back in '86 as he did in the 90's. That didn't make him any less effective, though. Hakeem was a dominant center in the NBA pretty much from the get go....just look at the stats. He just changed the way he dominated as his game grew.

Any non-rox fans that don't think Hakeem was unstoppable back then are just mis-informed. Over that 10 year period (1986-1996), there was not a better center in the league. I don't think that anyone could really argue that point.

 

The difference is that you ALWAYS do it, and I generally get caught up in it......

I was making a point about the way you post and how it is done in a personal and not professional manner.

I know a lot of folks here have had issues with you doing this in the past as well, I was trying to make a point in which maybe you could be intraspective and think about it a bit.

I can clearly see it was a waste of my time.

DD

 

His inability to pass out of the double team is one of the reasons they lost to the Celtics in the finals that year. The ball would go into Dream and the Celtics front court would collapse around him. Dream did not have the same amount of success shooting over Walton, McHale and Parish as he did Kareem, Rambis and Green. When Dream hesitated to shoot someone always seemed to get a hand on the ball.

None of that is a knock on Dream. That Rockets team with out John Lucas was still suppose to be a couple of years away from really challenging the Celtics or the Lakers but Dream was so good (yet still in experienced) that the Rockets were able to climb that hill much sooner. With out all of the things that Dream excelled at we would not have gotten out of the West that year.

And I don't think what Magic was trying to say was never pass out of the double team but when the game is on the line (particularly in the 4th quarter and in the final minutes) that the franchise player should step up and make the play happen even if that means taking the shot with five people hanging off of your jersey. I don't think he meant play that way the entire game.

I am not going to argue with you about Theo Ratliff or Mutombo's offensive skills being raw? Not me. I agree 100% that they are much better examples of players that have raw skills.

Having agreed with you on most of that I still don't see how anyone can say that his dribbling skills were not raw and his passing skills were not still in its infancy.

 

Actually I have RECAPS of the 1986 FINALS and Box scores. But I will post the recaps below.

-------------------------------------------
1986 - NBA Finals
Game 1 box score
In Game 1, both of those plagues returned. He picked up his third foul just five minutes into the first period and spent the rest of the half on the bench, and when he did return in the second half, he missed 12 of his first 13 shots. Olajuwon, always a fierce competitor, tried to compensate for Sampson’s absence with 33 points and 12 rebounds. But McHale and Parish powered around the frontcourt at will, while Bird displayed all-around brilliance with 21 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. His double-teaming on Olajuwon helped frustrate the Rockets further. The Celtics shot 66 percent from the floor for the game. Ainge and Johnson had a big third quarter, and the whole team rode a wave of confidence to a 112-100 win and privately wondered if they weren’t headed for another sweep.
-------------------------------------------
Game 2 box score
That mentality carried right through Game 2, in which Bird failed to pick up a single foul despite double-teaming Olajuwon throughout much of the game. He did, however, collect 31 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. He worked Rodney McCray over on offense, backing in for an assortment of shots and working the pick-and-roll with Parish. Sampson played better and finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds, but he still seemed intimidated by Boston Garden. The Celtics ran away with the third quarter, 34-19, and won easily, 117-95.
Rockets Fight To Stay Alive
Bird’s performance left Olajuwon awestruck. “He’s the greatest player I’ve ever seen,” the Houston center said after the game. But he added that once the Rockets got back to Houston for the next three games, he didn’t see how the Celtics could beat them in the Summit.
-------------------------------------------
Game 3 box score
While the series was in Boston, Bird had received his regular-season MVP Award. And once in the Summit, he again rang up big numbers—25 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists, and 4 steals. Running their break smoothly, the Celtics seemed in control in the third period with a 76-65 lead. But then Fitch switched Robert Reid to cover Bird, and the Boston forward shot 3-for-12 in the second half. On offense, Sampson found his comfort zone and powered Houston into the lead in the fourth period. He finished with 24 points and 22 rebounds. In the closing minutes, the Rockets ripped through a 9-0 run and took a 103-102 lead with 67 seconds to go. Boston regained the lead on a Danny Ainge jumper, but Mitchell Wiggins answered with a tip-in, and then the Houston defense forced Boston into a bad shot. Later Parish stepped on the sideline as Boston was inbounding the ball, and Houston survived, 106-104.
-------------------------------------------
Game 4 box score
Game 4 was the test. Parish shut down Houston’s big men to lead Boston with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Then Bird took over in prime time. With the score tied at 101 and a little over two minutes left, he hit a three-pointer. Then, on a last-minute Boston possession, Walton rammed home an offensive rebound. The Celtics had a 106-103 win and a three-games-to-one lead in the series.
-------------------------------------------
Game 5 box score
Game 5 was marred by a fight between Sampson and Sichting. With a little more than three minutes gone in the second period, the Houston forward and Boston guard got tangled up over the ball. They exchanged words, which led to Sampson throwing punches, one of which struck Dennis Johnson in the left eye when he attempted to break things up. The outburst resulted in Sampson’s ejection. But rather than fold, the Rockets found motivation in the incident. They got inspired back-up play from Jim Petersen, and Olajuwon put on a grand show with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 blocks. The Rockets won 111-96, and the series stood in Boston’s favor at three games to two. Fortunately for the Celtics, it was headed back to Boston Garden, where their combined record for the regular and postseason was 49-1.
Celtics Deliver Garden Knockout
-------------------------------------------
Game 6 box score
As expected, the Beantown crowd was ready for Sampson for Game 6. Every time the Houston forward touched the ball, the Garden regulars booed to their hearts’ delight. “Sampson Is A Sissy,” read one poster. “Sampson you fight like Delilah,” read another. He missed his first seven shots before punctuating his frustration with a dunk in the second period. For the day, he would total only 8 points. “I just played badly,” a dejected Sampson said later when asked if the crowd had affected him.
Bird, meanwhile, was afire, yelling at his teammates and diving for loose balls. He finished the first half with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists to give Boston a 55-38 lead. His teammates knew he wanted the ball. “Just by getting mad and storming around, I got everybody’s attention,” he said later. “I didn’t want this day to slip away from me.”
In the third period he buried several three-point shots. That and Boston’s swarming defense sent the Rockets down hard. The Celtics led by 30 in the fourth period and went on to claim their 16th championship with a 114-97 thrashing. Bird rang up 29 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, and 3 steals. The player that Bill Fitch had initiated into the league had disassembled his old coach’s new team. Nobody appreciated his performance more than Fitch himself. “Once the lights go out and play starts, the crowd has more effect on Larry than anyone I’ve ever seen,” said the Houston coach. “I’ve never seen him more intense than he was today.”
“He is undoubtedly, in my mind at least, the best basketball player playing the game today,” said Dennis Johnson afterward. Despite the praise, Bird played the perfectionist. “I’ve got some things to work on,” he said. “I’m not real comfortable with my moves to the basket. By next fall, I want four or five moves I can go to. If I do that, I think I’ll be unstoppable.”
As a team, Boston had concluded its most impressive season. Throughout the regular season and the playoffs, the Celtics had run up a 50-1 home-court record. The Bird-led offense usually grabbed the headlines, but it was their defense that had befuddled the Rockets. “I don’t remember the last time I was hounded by a team more than I was today,” said Sampson after
Game 6. “Every time I touched the ball, there were two and three guys around me. And that went for Akeem, too.”
None of the defense was accidental, claimed K. C. Jones proudly. “Our defensive intensity was phenomenal. We contested every pass and every dribble. They were under constant pressure every time they touched the ball.”
With their third championship, Bird and his Celtics had evened the ring count with Magic and his Lakers.

(c)1994 NBA Properties, Inc. and/or Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

Here are Hakeems stats in the 1986 FINALS


33pts 12reb 1stl 3blks 14-23shooting
21pts 10reb 3asts 1stl 1blk 8-16shooting
23pts 8reb 2asts 2tls 3blk 7-18shooting
20pts 14reb 4blks 4stls 1ast 8-21shooting
32pts 14reb 8blks 3asts 2stl 13-25shooting
19pts 13reb 4stls 0blks 6-14 shooting

24.67PPG 11.83RPG 2.33SPG 3.17BPG 56-117shooting (47.86%)

 

HP you looking for recaps of Laker series or box scores of Lakers vs Rockets series?

 

HERE is the only recaps i could find of this series, I could not find box scores....And HP when you say recap finals are easy to find, where do you find them?

1986 - Western Conference Playoffs
Western Conference Finals
Houston Rockets 4, Los Angeles Lakers 1
The Lakers were superb in Game 1, cruising to a 119-107 victory, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson soared above and around the Twin Towers. Then Akeem Olajuwon (later Hakeem Olajuwon) took charge—and from that point on, Los Angeles was in trouble. His rejection of an Abdul-Jabbar sky-hook in Game 2 was one of 12 Houston blocks, which keyed a 112-102 victory.
Akeem “the Dream” continued to be a nightmare for the Lakers’ front line when the series moved to Houston. His 40 points in Game 3, along with Mitchell Wiggins’s tough defense of Johnson, shut down the Lakers, 117-109. Abdul-Jabbar had 33 points, but he came up empty in the last 5½ minutes. A true team effort by the Rockets derailed Los Angeles in Game 4. Olajuwon (35 points, 4 blocks), Robert Reid (23 points, 16 assists), Rodney McCray (12 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists), and Jim Petersen (13 rebounds) overwhelmed the Lakers’ frontcourt in Houston’s 105-95 triumph. Normally effective Lakers forward Kurt Rambis managed just 1 field goal and 5 rebounds in the two road losses.
Los Angeles, with the league’s third-best home record during the year, dropped yet another game at the Forum to end the series. In Game 5, Sampson provided one of the most memorable moments in NBA Playoff history. With the score tied at 112 apiece and a mere second remaining on the clock, Sampson took an inbounds pass and launched a miraculous, twisting turnaround jumper that sailed through the hoop at the buzzer, giving the Rockets a 114-112 victory and a shocking series upset.

(c)1994 NBA Properties, Inc. and/or Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

I agree with you on all points.

That 86 Celtics team was one of the best ever. With Walton off of the bench and Bird, McHale and Parish starting their front court may have been the best ever.

What I remember about the Sonics was that their whole defense was set to collapse on Dream every time he touched the ball. It seemed like their whole philosophy was to make the Rockets guards beat them from the perimeter. I remember guys like Tom Chambers and Dale Ellis nailing jumper after jumper while the Rockets had no one to counter except Dream. Even in the double overtime game where Dream scored 49 pts, if we could have found just one guy to hit an open jump shot we would have won since the Sonics never guarded our guards on the perimeter.

Dream was awesome, he could bust a double team, play 3 positions at once on defense and he was the best center in his era. If we would have had just one player that could consistently hit an open perimeter shot back then teams would have been forced to play Dream a lot more honest and his numbers would have been even more impressive.

 

I was about 13 years of age. All I can remember was that Dream was fouled out on game 5, when Sampson hit his heroic 1 sec shot and knocked out defending Champ.

 

Actually Dream got tossed for fighting.

 

Nevermind......