April 26, 2002 Olajuwon Playing Minor Playoff Role By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TORONTO (AP) -- Hakeem Olajuwon came to the Raptors to help the team in the playoffs. With the postseason here and Toronto facing elimination Saturday night, it's fair to say the deal has not paid the expected dividends. ``Right now we're preparing for playoffs, we're not evaluating trades or anything like that,'' Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said Friday after a practice and film session to prepare for Game 3 against the Detroit Pistons. ``He's helped us in the playoffs in the minutes we were able to use him.'' Olajuwon played 22 minutes and scored 10 points in Game 1, then played 19 minutes in Game 2 and contributed six points and seven rebounds. Those numbers hardly measure up to Olajuwon's past standards. But this has not been a typical season in the life of the 39-year-old center who spent his first 17 NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets. Olajuwon averaged career-lows of 7.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 61 games. He missed 21 games because of toe and leg injuries and often looked out of sync with the rest of the team. Olajuwon is expected to be on the bench at the start of Game 3 against the Pistons, backing up Keon Clark as he did in the first two games of the best-of-five series. If Wilkens is planning to give Olajuwon a greater role, he wasn't letting on after practice. ``He was hurt during the season, and all of the sudden when I felt he had made the adjustment to us, he had three straight games where he really played well and then he got hurt,'' Wilkens said. ``The type of injury he had, he couldn't even run, and that takes away your conditioning. So it set him back and it set us back, too.'' Olajuwon was acquired last August from the Rockets in exchange for first- and second-round selections in the upcoming draft. The Raptors had much higher expectations back then after nearly making it to the Eastern Conference finals, and the thinking was that Olajuwon could put them over the top. Toronto had planned to have Olajuwon start at center with Antonio Davis moving to power forward, giving the team a bigger front line to complement the talents of Vince Carter. But with Carter out for the playoffs after knee surgery, and with Clark having the best season of his career, the equation has changed. Olajuwon now must accept playing in a reserve role for the first time in his career. ``The trade hasn't worked out quite as I envisioned,'' Toronto general manager Glen Grunwald said, adding that if he had to do it all over, he would ``probably'' make the trade again. ``If we had been at full strength all season, 'Dream' would have contributed more,'' Grunwald said. Olajuwon left practice a few minutes ahead of his teammates Friday, hurrying to make it to mosque for his Muslim prayers. He did not speak with reporters, although on Thursday he admitted that the trade has not worked out the way he had hoped. ``At this stage of my career, I've accomplished everything I want to accomplish. I look at this series and the team we are playing, and I know we can beat them,'' Olajuwon said. Teammates say Olajuwon has been slow to adopt to a new role, remaining stuck in the mental mindset that the offense should revolve around him as it did in Houston -- where Olajuwon's job would be to get the ball in the low post, score against single-coverage or pass to an open shooter when a double-team arrived. The Raptors run plays for Olajuwon when he plays, and from time to time he still can pull off his patented ``Dream Shake'' move. But the opportunities to show his stuff have not been as abundant as Olajuwon and the Raptors had planned when they agreed to a three-year contract. ``My role is not to be disappointed or whatever. What's most important is I'm healthy, I'm in shape and I'm being productive on the floor,'' Olajuwon said. ``It depends on the philosophy of the coach, how he believes we can win. I've won before, so I know how I win.'' If Toronto manages to pull out a victory, Game 4 will be Monday night at the Air Canada Center. Should the Pistons complete a sweep, they will await the winner of the Boston-Philadelphia series.
While I enjoyed Hakeem getting his comeuppance for a while, now I just wish it'd go away. Even though he'll never again have the carte blanche to my loyalties that he threw away, he's still a human being, and it's sad to watch someone bang their head against the brick wall of mortality. I'm awash with the same uneasiness I felt when I saw David Lee Roth trying to wear the '80's spandex over his corpulent midrift during his 1 night return to Van Halen, or the embarasment I feel when I see some bald dude trying to do the 'comb-over' with the neck hairs to cover the top of his head. As the brewery says, "Know when to say when."
It could get even uglier. Hakeem is into the Raptors for two more seasons at $5.7m & $6.3m respectively. I agree with the "comeuppance" comment but it is now a truly sad sight.
Teammates say Olajuwon has been slow to adopt to a new role, remaining stuck in the mental mindset that the offense should revolve around him as it did in Houston -- where Olajuwon's job would be to get the ball in the low post, score against single-coverage or pass to an open shooter when a double-team arrived. I hope that's not true.
Never thought the dream would fade with such a whimper QUESTION: would have TRULY been better than Cato for us this year? It saddens me. . but i don't think so Rocket River
I'm still holding out hope that Dream will ask to be cut by the Raptors so that he can sign for the Rockets for a preseason contract, followed by Olajuwon retiring as a Rocket...
Considering that the Raptors goal this last season was NOT to lose, don't you think if Hakeem had been doing anything with the passes he had been given that his teammates would give it to him more often? I do.
Have you watched any Raptor games? The guy never even got the chance to make a mistake, or to do somethig positive. Hakeem has been completely frozen out of the offense for the entire season.
Way to paint everything in black and white. Of course he got chances. Can you seriously tell me that tehy spent all the money on his contract and just decided to NEVER pass him the ball? Keep in mind also that there are practices that you will never see. Dream wasn't getting touches because he wasn't producing when he was given them. It was the same thing in Houston. Statements like the one emboldened by Will above are not made when a player deserves to get touches. And to answer your question, I watched plenty of Raptor games this season.
The funny thing is, when Carter went down, the Raptors were desperate for a go-to-guy. Funny how Antonio Davis and Morris Peterson were the ones to step up... ps- if someone consistently hits their shots, they'll get passes
Have YOU guys watched any Raptor games besides the playoffs? Dream played his way into this ****ty garbage minute role by half-assing it and making too many mistakes. You can tell the players don't trust him to make a play, hence they don't pass it to him. Why? because during the regular season he didn't do jack. They aren't going to instantly change their perception of him just because it's playoff time, they go to war with the players that got them to the playoffs: AD, Keon and MoPete. Hakeem didn't do jack when he got the minutes. Hakeem didn't do jack when VC went down(started frickin Montross over him). He ain't gonna start doin jack now. I'll say one thing about Hakeem though ... his body language looks a lot better than it did in the reg season. He actually looks a little spry. Pity he couldn't focus and play to the best of his ability in the regular season. I don't know whether it's age or heart, maybe a little of both.
