Hell, I would pick Ralph over Yao. I wouldn't have to think twice about it. Based on where they were, talent-wise and their college history before the draft, if I had the #1 pick and you could choose any of the three, it would be Akeem, Ralph, and Yao, in that order. And I would make the same selection based on where they were in their 3rd year in the NBA, if you had some sort of crystal ball that could give you that perspective. That's no knock on Yao, but I had hit my 30's when they were in college, and had seen Sampson and Dream play, especially Akeem (I had gone to the same university, and had relatives who were on the faculty). No offense, but it is really a silly question. Yao has yet to make the impact either one of those two made in the league during the same number of seasons. That's not to say that he won't reach a much higher level, and even win more than two championships. He might, and I hope he does, obviously, but Sampson was far superior straight out of college and until he was injured, and Dream, while much less polished during his first couple of seasons, was far, far superior as an impact player, unpolished or not. Check the stats right here in Clutch's player profiles. And remember this, those stats don't reflect just how well those guys played. Ralph had to move out of his natural position by the time Akeem was in his second season and became the starting center. Sampson played at the 4, unless Dream was taking a breather. It's just unfair to Yao. Yao has a much different background, coming from China, and not from a major college program in the States. He didn't get the coaching, and he didn't face the competition on a remotely similar level. What the heck, we're killin' time right now, anyway. Come on training camp!!
All true, but Dream was not at the top of every draft board either. I bleed Cougar/Rocket red and I was at U of H with Olajuwon, and there was much debate about whether the Rox should pick Akeem. Ralph was supposed to be our Jabbar. Akeem was supposed to struggle offensively and be erratic defensively and was "a project" with all the potential in the world. But the problem with this thread is no one could have guessed Dream would re-invent the box and do what no one really does even now. Yao actually had more polish than Dream did when he entered the league, but if Yao had been drafted in the NBA 21 years ago he'd have been using a walker a few years in. To me, the more interesting question is what Dream would have done with being drafted in 2002 here. I firmly believe SF would have been knocked to the floor a lot.
I think a more even comparison, would be shaq or hakeem. Not saying that my pick would be any different. In yao's defense, Hakeem did not have to play against a mature shaq. The time gap is too big, between them.
this is obviously no contest, hakeem would kill yao and i love yao. as for the sampson vs yao... is that knowing sampson after or before injury? i'd pick yao with 20/20 hindsite
Without sounding too biased, annoyed or upset at this question it is like asking a similar question in 1987, three years after Hakeem was in the league. Question: If both were in available in the draft as 21 year olds out of college, who would you pick with the No. 1 pick: Kareem Abdul Jabbar or Hakeem Olajuwon? To be fair you would have to ask that same question armed with only the knowledge of Hakeem in his third year. True based just with that knowledge I would have probably still taken Hakeem but not by much. Yao is still young and his upside is still worth it, because if Hakeem would have been taken No. 1 guaranteed Yao would be No. 2.
Deckard, I probably agree with your order. I'm trying to recall the hype of Hakeem vs. the hype of Ralph coming out of college and my memory's failing me. I'm wondering if they were both coming out of college right now, if the majority of GM's wouldn't pick Ralph over Hakeem.
FORTY THREE PEOPLE?!??!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! FORTY THREE PEOPLE ARE THAT BLINDLY LOYAL TO YAO?!?! Come on! I love Yao, but we've been asked to compare him to one of the best players to ever play the game. That's just silly. To put it into perspective, you'd be hard pressed to put Yao into the top ten players in the league right now. Dream, however, is easily ranked among the top 10 players of all time.
Not as easy as it seems my friend. I vote Hakeem with this context, but it will be more complicated if we change the context. If you were a GM of a FIBA team out of US, say an Europeanan Asian team or you were the head coach of Argentina, , being asked with same question, who would you choose? I would change my vote to YM, this is just because of the changing of the rules, the teammates and the playground of the game these two 21 years old will face. Again, Hakeem is my utimate favorite, but I would like make other fans unterstand how much YM's efforts are during the transition to NBA.
Yes Kobe would win because Jordan was never a Laker! and Hakeem all the way! I like yao, but i dont see him being as good as hakeem was. Hakeem was special
Hakeem. I like his play more But some of you guys who questioned Yao fans need to learn some basic logic. 1) We are talking about both players at 21 years old when Hakeem only played 4 years of basketball. Yes. Hakeem was picked before Jordan and Stockton, so was Sam Bowie. That was the era of bigman and skills rather than atheletism. Even a 40-year old Kareem could dominate Hakeem many times. 2) Different era (again). Rockets fans should know what Yao can do if opponent teams dont double-team or zone him. Plus, Yao has been a team player from day 1, while Hakeem hadn't learned that until late in his career. 3) Marketing potential. 4) Everyone wants to pick his favorite player
Yeah but the problem is that Kobe vs. Jordan is a fair comparison considering what both have accomplished. Yao vs. Dream is like comparing Steve Francis to Oscar Robertson, where Yao is Francis and Dream is the big "O".
In their third years: 23 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 3.4 bpg, 1.87 spg, .508 fg, 70% ft (age 24) 18.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 2 bpg, 0.43 spg, .552 fg, 78% ft (age 25)
