During the first championship season, part of the reason is that Hakeem absolutely destroyed Patrick on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Patrick had horrible games against Hakeem and couldn't stop him at all. The other reason I can think of is that when you thought of the Houston Rockets' defense, you thought Hakeem. When you considered the Knicks' defense, you thought of a tough team defense. It could be argued that Anthony Mason was as good a defender as Patrick on that team and far more versatile. If I recall correctly, Mason and Oakley guarded Hakeem a lot in their matchups. Ewing's other problem was that there was always an elite class of centers back then and he was thought of as bringing up the rear of that list more often than not. The debate at different times in their career was always "who's better : Hakeem or Robinson?" or "who's better : Hakeem or Shaq?" While he was always in the discussion, Ewing seemed to always be 3rd or 4th fiddle in the debate. Ewing was never the athletic gazelle that Robinson was and he was never an overpowering beast like Shaq. Hakeem was a little of both and could switch those personalities at will and as needed. I remember broadcasters always saying Hakeem made people change their offensive gameplans or made you doubt your desire to drive into the paint. I rarely heard that being said of Patrick. That being said, I think Patrick ultimately will go down as underrated for the player he was. I don't think he was as great a player as Hakeem or Shaq, but I think people overlook how great a player he really was. Same with DRob. If DRob displayed the motor Hakeem had, he would've been an insane force in the paint.
You are arguing on the part of Ewing and yet you keep throwing in the defense of the entire team. If you take this and the fact that you have the thread title questioning if Dream deserved the award you kind of screwed the pooch from the beginning. I agree completely that Ewing is underrated. Probably in multiple aspects. Problem is there is one award and a lot of players. Someone is always going to come up short or get shafted or get something people don't think is deserved. It comes down to a human aspect. You are arguing stats and no matter how advanced statistical analysis is getting it still can't tell the whole story. Did Ewing deserve to win the award? Maybe. Did Dream deserve to win the award? Yes.
I'm totally confused, is this tread about Hakeem vs Ewing or the Rockets vs the Knicks? Or Hakeem vs the Knicks? Either way it seems like the poster just wants to find a way to downplay Hakeem defensively somehow. I will say that the Knicks may have been the best defensive team then by slowing down the game to the very last second of every play and hacking away constantly. But no way was Ewing better than Hakeem defensively. I'm not trying to sound bias but there just isn't any way around it, Hakeem was just the best defensive player there was in the early 90s if you had the honor of watching games then. Even a young Shaq mentioned that Hakeem was the toughest player he had ever gone up against. There were times he'd challenge point guards out in the perimeter and take on shooting guards during fast breaks.
No way, it was the other way around. <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qarH-PTKulQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qarH-PTKulQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
Can Ewing do this? <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zDpaxBhprYQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zDpaxBhprYQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> /thread
Where's Patrick Ewing's defense on this? <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cuSMjUTGQTg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cuSMjUTGQTg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> /any more stupid questions?
Are you confusing the MVP and DPOY awards? MVP is most valuable to your team... isn't DPOY just straight up defensive player of the year? Its not the MVDP (Most Valuable Defensive Player) And honestly... I don't think you could even get Patrick Ewing to agree with you.
Hakeem had great feet (soccer) and great hands (hand ball) while growing up. He had Lebron-like like hops when he needed it. He didn't use his hops on dunking, so you won't see it in the highlights, but a few of the blocks and defensive rebounds that don't make the hightlights showed off his vertical. He had range in his blocks, that is the player didn't have to come to him ala Mutombo or Bradley--he sometimes comes out of nowhere. He had Jordan-like ruthlessness for everyone who thinks he was a gentle giant. His steals were morale killers for the other team. His endurance let him dominate defensively all game.
Unlike most big men Dreams wasn't just a top ten shot blocker and rebounder but he was also top ten in steals so no argument that he deserved the DPOY awards he recieved. He actually should have had more but many more but they wanted to give Jordan some too.
You know the op didn't start watching hoops until 02 probably. Win shares? Thats why stats are for suckers.
I remember spitting out my soda when he made that move and running around my house yelling. I had NEVER seen a big man do that to another big, well to that point.
dream was injured for part of the season if i recall. also DRob was playing out of his mind. i think DRob had a quadruple double that season too. hakeem was just being a bully. his raping of DRob in the playoffs was uncalled for...
I am looking at the footwork on that replay. He uses his right foot to keep his balance on first half of the spin. The same foot then changes direction in the second part of the spin, while it is in the air, to plant his feet so that he can go up for the dunk. To have that kind of footwork and balance on a quick spin move is pretty incredible for any guy, especially for one his size.
Great points and I like the description of Ewing. Ewing really was an excellent center. Heck, he'd be a monster today, but I never thought of him as being in the same class as Hakeem, and never met anyone who was a fan of the game that considered him as good, unless they were from New York. What you said about Hakeem making coaches change their offensive gameplans is so true. It was true at the beginning of his career. In the '85-'86 playoffs, the opposition had to key on Olajuwon, on offense and defense.
Just wanted to post this video as well: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBrEsNS9zKg"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qarH-PTKulQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>[/QUOTE]
