Hakeem Olajuwon: The NBA’s Best In The Mid ’90s (article)

obviously i knew hakeem put the hurt on o'neal, ewing, and robinson (in order of ascending hurt-putting-on) but i didn't realize in the 17 games he played against them that not once was he outscored, and only 1 time (drob) was he tied (at 20). that is insane to do that to your 3 greatest contemporaries.

also didn't realize he had 5 apg in the spurs series and i knew the blocks were good but had forgotten it was 4 per game. 35/12/5/4, a fantasy line for history.

and the ewing fg% in the finals, which i already knew about, is still amazing. throw in the regular season ass-kickings and he kicked ewing's ass worse than he did robinson's during that run.

i'm not sure anyone ever could claim a better 2 year stretch than hakeem had during our two championship years (and 3 years if you throw in his 27/13/4 1993 season). overall, jordan is the only player i would definitely put above hakeem.

 

I know he was great offensive player, but so is stoudamire, i was pointing out why amare shouldn't be compaired to dream because Dream was unbelievable on defense. And i do think that he best weapon(in the beginning of his career) was his defense, however his offense was also great.

The rockets did have a winning record against the bulls, with michael jordan.

 

It's also interesting to note that Hakeem Olajuwon is:
#7 all time in total points scored
#11 all time in total rebounds
#1 all time in total blocks
and probably the most amazing,
#7 all time in total steals.
&
Also one of only 4 players to record a quadruple double

 

did'nt know hakeem was that dominant against the other Big Men.....damn those stats are crazy ....i think the NBA did'nt really market Hakeem like they did Jordon....if i had to choose a team i would pick Hakeem over anybody

 

No, they didn't. It's one of the reasons I wasn't happy to see something here praising Stern recently. Sure, the guy is a marketing genius, but he has always given Houston, and it's players, short shrift. Dream is a fine example of that, in my opinion. Some might say that he didn't lend himself to marketing. I disagree. I never felt enough effort was made. Those of us around here saw Hakeem's quiet dignity, and his unbeatable demeanor on the court, but I think most of the rest of the country didn't get nearly as good a picture. It didn't have to be that way.

 

honestly, Hakeem wasn't that marketabale.

 

exactly. hakeem's my favorite player ever and i wouldn't piss on jordan if he were on fire, but jordan was marketable to an insane degree. unrivaled flashiness and dunks along with clutch shots along with all the points and then eventually all the rings. hakeem was a freak, but centers stealing the ball from guards and nice up and unders on league mvp's are only big time exciting if he's on your team. you may say "holy crap he's good" but it doesn't mean he's marketable. plus, not being able to speak english well obviously hurt. jordan was just the perfect storm of marketing.

as far as stern not marketing houston. apparently we're just not that big of a tv market. the SI no commemorative issue thing was amazing BS but as far as the nba, you can only make us so marquee. it took an oddity in yao to get us some spotlight and now another flashy dunker to get us to even where we are now. stern is shrewd. he knows who to market. as much as i would love it if we were all the nba marketed, i know it's not reasonable to hope for it or expect it, imo.

 

Totally agree. Nothing Stern can do about that.

Certain players just have the "package" to be marketed: Looks, personality, smile, etc. on top of their basketball skills.

There are a TON of players from the 80s and 90s who were great players but weren't really marketed:

Hakeem
K. Malone
J. Stockton
Patrick Ewing (even being from NY)
Clyde Drexler

 

It was all meant to be.

If Jordan didn't retire, yeah maybe Hakeem will be greater but maybe he'll just be another Karl Malone.

 

I read this line. Then, right below it I noticed Clutch moments, "maybe maybe no." Could'nt stop laughing.

 

from francis4prez:

Now that we're dredging up memories, there where some great articles where either Blinebury/Robertson/Falco got in contact with some GMs during the '93-'94 season to bolster Hakeem's MVP bid and the quotes were just incredible.

Things like: "No offense to Jordan, or even the greatness of Magic and Bird but Dream changes the game period in ways they can't/couldn't". That's not a real quote obviously, but I remember all 3 names in there and you'd have thought that they would have compared him to centers, or at least one.

Then when he didn't win it again the next year... heh heh.

from OddsOn: "Not true....Hakeem or Akeem as he was known then was a quite gifted offensive player after his second year in college."

Uhh... you've got to be kidding. Guy V has been quoted as saying he was never comfortable when Dream took 10' face-up shots even when he realized he would make them until his junior year. Bill Fitch complained almost every game in Akeem's rookie year that "he stays too far away from the glass" and by then Dream was routinely nailing 14 footers.

I'm a Cougar and was at UofH with Dream. I loved the guy then, but I think he was the only guy in the world that thought he had an offensive game that could be compared to Ralph or Patrick's or that his offensive game would translate into the NBA immediately.

That's why I treasure that quote from Cato in preseason that year like one or two games after he received that $6 mil. contract and had sucked that particular night. "Even Dream struggled offensively when he came into the league."

Dream's response: "He actually said that? He has no idea of what he's talking about". I still envision what Dream did to him. I wish Barry had been on the team then.