Who is better: Duncan or Hakeem

If you were in a foxhole with people's lives at stake, who would you take? Who would Robert Horry take?--the man who played with the 3 best bigmen of the last 20 years. Hakeem Olajuwon.

For all the praise Ben Wallace gets on defense, fans of the Houston Rockets know Hakeem was even better...thougher blocks, more range, more steals. I think Rudy said it best. He has unbelievable pride. Even in '86, he scoffed at the Celtic mystique.

Hakeem has more penchant for the eye popping play when compared to Duncan. He was more relentless. More creative. Better athlete (quicker, stronger, can jump higher). If there is such a thing as b-ball scientists, they would tell you those are facts.

I will concende that Duncan has blended in better with his teammates and knows how to pace himself a little better. Hakeem's pride can be both a blessing and a curse. Guys who are wired like that need complementary teammates. The same goes with Jordan. They both had the same ferocity. What I'm saying isn't news to those who witnessed Hakeem's career.

 

he also played with 2 of the top 50 players of all time (parish & mchale)

who did dream play with until drexler came along?

 

The only place you can get a Duncan > Hakeem (shouldn't that be tim>hakeem by the way?）is spurs forum.

 

Duncan rules.

 

Duncan is a great player, definitely a hall of famer PF, possibly the best PF of all time.

I don't think we should make this comparison between a PF and a C.

There is simply just one Hakeem. There sure is simply just one Duncan and one Shaq.

If I have to pick one, Hakeem is better. I just don't like Duncan too much, I know it's not a good enough reason.

 

Never underestimate the effect of recency and the desire to promote in the present. Remember a healthy minority of folks, including at least 1 sports columnist working for a major media conglomerate, believe Kobe is really better than Jordan.

20 years ago from now some might view Duncan as better than Hakeem simply because of the hardware. But 20 years from now the consesus will surely be Shaq > Duncan. You just have to go back and see even in Duncan's absolute peak (about 01-03) Shaq was more dominant and ringing up titles.

IMO Hakeem and Shaq are extremely close. Hakeem has a big edge in defense (though Shaq was still strong defensive presence), but Shaq was even more of a beast offensively, and usually offense carries a more weight (why Magic is top 6 or so and Ben Wallace probably isn't top 100). Since they are so close I'd have to weigh Shaq's 3 peat, but I perfectly accept Hakeem at his peak might have been the better player.

Duncan however has Hakeem in neither offense or defense. He is even further away from Shaq's dominance offensively, and IMO at their peak they had fairly equivalent defensive impact (outstanding defensive players, but not extrodinary). Shaq < Hakeem or Hakeem > Shaq, both > Duncan.

 

Garnett>>Duncan

 

just ask two players that played with both. Both Elie and Horry have said seevral times that although they like and apreciate Duncan personally and think he is a great player, in comparison they have both have said Dream was a much better player.
and they know more abuot Basketball than all of us.
case closed.

 

cause he's a damn spurs fan i guess.

 

That's 200% wrong.

 

Just because KG plays a flashier style doesn't mean he's better.

If you want stats, Duncan has KG beat in stats; Duncan's career averages in points, rebounds, blocks, FG%, and PER are superior, all critical stats for bigs. If you want team success and titles, well there's no comparison.

 

Us? ? Hakeem didn't play in the all-hellas barn association to my knowledge?

 

What I remember of Robinson is that he couldn't compete with other great post-players in his prime. At least not in the playoffs.

Hakeem demolished him. And (this hurts to say, but it's blatantly true) Malone hammered the ever living **** out of this pansy in multiple post seasons. Just total domination in at least three playoff series in his "prime".

Robinson's a second tier all-time C. I'm sorry. He is. He got abused by Dream to the point that it's legendary, and the stats I looked at for the 94 and 96 playoffs say that Karla owned him in similar fashion.

If anything, Dave is overrated. I wouldn't put him in my top 25.

 

As far as this thread, eras matter. They have to. Especially when we compare all-time greats from separate time periods.

In all honesty, the NBA is a shambles compared to what it was 10-15 years ago. I don't think this Spurs team/franchise/series of teams that has won multiple titles was as good as Da Bulls, Rox, j*zz, Sonics squads from the 90s.

 

Great post B-Bob. Can someone post B-Bob's post on Spurs Talk?

 

THANK YOU

I was beginning to think no one here remembers these players factually except me.

Way underrating Bird and overrating Robinson.

You can also add Shaq to the list that absolutely destroyed Robinson. People here act like Boozer owned Yao well if that's true then Hakeem, Shaq, and Malone literally sold Robinson's rear into bondage.

Duncan is much better than Robinson. Any Spurs fan says otherwise he's nothing but a fan boy.

 

How many NBA records does Mr. Duncan own?

How many does Mr. Olajuwon own?

I rest my case.

 

That post had absolutely nothing to do with Larry Bird at all.

Most here don't have a high opinion of David Robinson. You didn't have to look hard to find someone of that opinion. But nobody here is convinced that Larry Bird was greater than Olajuwon.

It seems you've been reduced to grasping at straws for support.

 

1. Olajuwon has an edge of Duncan....when I watched Olajuwon play...it was like watching guard who just happened be in a big body. He was super athletic, killer shooting range, and had about the best defense that any player could have.

2. Duncan is better than Robinson, the stats may argue otherwise, but Duncan has killer instinct that David Robinson never had. There were times when the Spurs came up against the likes of the Lakers, Trailblazers, Mavs, and the Suns....and difference maker and the player that kept them in series was usually Tim Duncan. Most of his best performance were against teams that beat in WCFs or a team they lost to that eventually went to championship. D-Rob was great player....but he sorta disappered in big games. I think in the Championship run if the Spurs had a younger D-Rob instead of Duncan...I don't see them getting more 1 or 2 championships.

3. Larry Bird was a phenomnal player...it's already been said what his greatness was, but at the end of day you have to remember a big man on average is going to mean more to a team than a shooting guard and small foward. On average, dominate center or big man is more likely to get deeper into playoffs than other players at other dominate positions. You hear analyst all the time say that the only team in last few years win title with out great big man are the Bulls and Pistons (04 and 88-90). Other than that it looks like this Olajuwon, Duncan, Shaq, Duncan, Shaq, and Duncan again.
And, he did benefit from playing on a great team the Celtics....McHale, Parrish, Johnson, Maxwell, and few other aging, but adequate stars (Walton, Archibald, White).

 

Can't find any stats from the 94 series, but in their (only) two other playoff meetings Karl was held under his scoring average for the season, out rebounded, and out blocked...

...struggling to see the ownage