"That was unreal. His explosion is too crisp. You can't react. I was trying to cut him off. He accelerates in flight. It was amazing. Amazing. I just had to let him go. I moved to get him, and he was there. Amazing." -- Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon on Vince Carter Hakeem knew what he wanted to do, but Carter's just too good....
What he meant was, "...I knew what I wanted to do, I'm just too old..." Old School ------------------ Just Build It!
"...and if it was 1983 I would have sent that high flying act into the seventeenth row. Like I did to KJ." ------------------ humble, but hungry.
In the 80's and early 90's, Dream would have went up and got it. He may have fouled, but Vince would not have dunked the ball. But now, there is not one guy in the league who would have stopped that. Mutombo tried to go up with Vince, and we saw Vince humiliate him. In his prime, Dream may have gotten there, but he's not in his prime. What can he do? ------------------ - Beck Dream...bring back the goggles
Hakeem would have definately altered that dunk to a lay-up or a miss jus 4-5 years ago, if not a return to sender. The only active player that could have challenged that dunk is ALonzo Mourning. His intimidating presence alone would make Carter hesitate. Azim da Dream ------------------ No guts, no glory, no brain, same story.
The Hakeem of old would have taken Carter's arm off with the ball still gripped in its hand. I still remember Hakeem skying to block a thunder dunk attempt by Xavier McDaniel. To this day I have never seen a more nasty block than that one. Xavier started skying upward. Hakeem meets Xavier at the apex of the dunk, blocks the shot, brings the ball AND McDaniel down to the floor. I've seen balls get blocked, but never a human. I thought McDaniel was going to get turned into a fertilizer spike and get drilled into the ground. It was that vicious a block. That's still one of my most memorable Hakeem highlights. ------------------ <this space for rent>
what about that hakeem block on kj a few years back in the playoffs. kj was coming up for a dunk and hakeem clean swatted that thing right back in his face. of course, those with good memories will remember kj came back and dunked on him the next time down the court, but it was still nice. and who can ever forget the game winning block on the starks 3 in game 6 of the finals. that was sweet. its nice to think about all the great hakeem memories. all you ignorant shmucks who think hakeem sucks just kinda like to ignore the last 10 years. ------------------ you are to be praised by gods and revered as women.
He has had soo many great blocks its hard to think of the best one. The one that I loved was when Rod Strickland ran down the court for easy layup and out of nowhere hakeem ran 90 feet and blocked it. ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris FAN CLUB
KJ got his redemption though....anyone remember when e dunked all over Hakeem's head? Anyway, Hakeem in pre-1997 form would have even had a tough time getting to Carter's dunk. That was amazing! ------------------ HOOP-T Hey Shaq, Acme called, and they want their bricks back!
I'd be willing to bet Karl Malone might have taken a chance on blocking the shot. A knee to the groin seems to work well for him. Old School ------------------ Just Build It!
or Stockton with a tire iron to the knee cap and a flop to the floor!... or is that Malone, maybe Hornacek... RAWW ------------------
Francis3, I'm almost sure that was KJ that Hakeem blocked by chasing him down from one end of the court to the other. If he did the same to Strickland, I don't remember that one. ------------------ <this space for rent>
You're thinking of a different play. The one I remember involved Rod Strickland, when he played for a different team (Portland?) In the first round of the playoffs, Strickland got loose on a fast break, and went in for a layup. My recollection is that as soon as the ball left his hand, Hakeem comes out of nowhere (not even in the screen!) and slaps the ball out towards half-court and the sideline. The one I remember of KJ was also on a fast break. I think Barkley made a great pass downcourt, and KJ went in for the 2 handed stuff. Well, you could see Hakeem, Otis Thorpe, and Danny Ainge in the background, but it looked like OT gave up on the play. Hakeem on the other hand, looked like he just quite wouldn't get there, but then he blocks KJ right at the rim. I still remember seeing Danny Ainge standing over KJ pointing, crying to the refs. That said, I saw the Vince Carter dunk, and I don't think Hakeem could have elevated in time to stop that dunk. Shandon was looking right at Vince, Walt was trying to double, and Hakeem's eyes were focused on Vince and looked like he was cheating towards him, anticipating the drive. Well, Vince blew past our best man-on-man defender, Walt was left in the wake, and by the time Hakeem got underneath the basket, Vince was already at the rim with the power jam. Vince is as explosive and spectacular an offensive player as I can remember. He's already developed a good jump shot and a good fadeaway, and we all know he can drive to the basket. I find myself tuning in to CNN just to see what he's done. I've only done that for MJ and Dominique Wilkins previously. ------------------
