Shaq and Kobe....Drexler and Hakeem...Who is the better Championship Tandem

Drexler-Hakeem was living proof (discounting 94) that you need 2 superstars to win a championship. Either Dream or Clyde could be counted on for a final shot (preferably Dream) of a game. Can't say the same for the Lakers combo at this point. The Utah series in 95 showed how Clyde and Dream simply carried the team to the second round. I haven't seen the Lakers do that without a lot of help from Harper, Horry, and Shaw.


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Ditto PhiSlammaJamma and Cat. The only reason the Lakers won was because of the officials.

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I AM SPARTACUS

 

as great as dream and drexler were i think kobe and shaq will eventually become the better tandem. kobe is not even close to reaching his peak and shaq will eventually become a more reliable free throw shooter.

 

i don't think the officials were the reason los angeles won. they were the better team. the officials made some bad calls against the lakers as well as the pacers. how many times did reggie miller flob and draw a foul on LA and how many times did Shaq and kobe get called for the foul even though it was a clean block?

 

And how many times did that happen in the closing minutes of Game 6 of the Finals? None. It's not as much the total amount of calls as it is when they are made. And when the game is on the line, the game was handed to the Lakers. Every single call.

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Cheaters never win. Unless you play for LA that is.

 

you have to remember that the officials usually give the calls to the more aggressive team and as great as the pacers played the first 3 quarters the lakers were the more aggressive team in the fourth quarter. the pacers had many chances to put the game out of reach but they missed shots and the lakers capitalized. the lakers earned their championship.

 

I must disagree, Dice.
In the closing minutes of the game, with LA up by 3, a referee called a foul on Davis against Rice, in which Rice completely flopped. There was no fould on that play, and it was a very pivotal point in the game.

Hakeem and Glyde were definitely the better combo. Glyde in his prime could take Kobe rite now, and he probably wont become much better. Dream in his prime could also take Shaq in his prime.

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i agree, that was a bad call but i highly doubt that it is some sort of conspiracy against the pacers. the refs aren't perfect, they make bad calls. the lakers were the better team they made clutch shots and that's why they won.

 

Anyone can see that Kobe/Shaq is a better tandem than Hakeem/Clyde. It is so obvious that it shouldn't even be debated. Shaq is already the equal of Hakeem at his very peak, while Kobe is clearly superior to Drexler at the time he came to Houston. You're trying to compare two great players to one great and one very good(Drexler)player. In a few years, Shaq will regarded as the greatest player in the history of basketball and Kobe will be in the top 5 or 10 of all time. That's something the Rockets tandem simply cannot match.

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[This message has been edited by steve francis (edited June 20, 2000).]

 

i tend to agree with steve. if you look at it unbiased i think talent wise shaq and kobe are superior.

 

What, did Romper Room let out early today? Did some people just start following basketball this year?

Shaq is equal to Hakeem? I don't see any Defensive Player of the Year awards with Shaq's name on them, do you? I didn't see Hakeem being pulled out of a game in the Finals in the closing seconds because he cannot be counted on in the clutch, did you (assuming you are old enough to remember that far back)? Bryant is "clearly superior" to Drexler? Is this some kind of joke? Shaq will be considered the best basketball player ever in a few years?

If this was my site, I'd ban you for spewing that idiotic juvenile crap. Basketball's over now, go listen to N'Sync and leave us adults alone.


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Too-Rye-Aye!

 

I am going to get flamed for this, but I am not sure the Glyde of 95 is better than the Kobe of 00. I see strengths and weaknesses to both players. Kobe is the far superior defensive player, Clyde was a more physical and more effective offensive player. Now I would say Clyde has to be considered the better player overall-especially when you focus on Clyde's late 80's years, but I wouldn't hold my breath he will be the better player when it is all said and done for Kobe.

Now on Hakeem, I am not ready to say Shaq is the equal of the 95 Hakeem. But if Shaq put together 1-2 more seasons like the last one I think I might have to call it a tie.

In terms of the better pair (95 Hou versus 00 LA), I think it is a very close call. But I will say I think our 95 team was much better than the Lakers 2000 TEAM. Horry was much better then (him and Elie shut down Dennis Scott, who was then a lot like what Rice has become now). Also, Smith could shoot better than anyone the Lakers have, Cassell was superior to any bench player the Lakers have, and the 95 Elie was quite a bit better than a 2000 Harper or Fox. I would take our team over the Lakers with no thought whatsoever.


[This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited June 20, 2000).]

 

that's the reason i have to give the slight edge to shaq and kobe. they didn't have as good of a supporting cast as the rockets did when they won the championship.

 

FREAK,

Olajuwon may have been the better defender in his prime, but Shaq is a greater offensive force and passer than Olajuwon was. Several commentators, guys like Charles Barkley and Isiah Thomas have recently said that Shaq could very well become the greatest player, much less the greatest center in history. By the time Drexler came to Houston in 1995, his best days were behind him. He was a legitimate star to be sure, one of the top 20 players in the league. But in these playoffs, Kobe has been a superstar, second only to Shaq in overall effectiveness. He is now clearly one of the top 5 players in the league, and a case can be made that he is the second best. If you were old enough to remember, Drexler's one on one defense was a sore spot in his game. He may have had the edge on Kobe as a passer, but Bryant is already a much better defender than Drexler ever was. Offensively it's a wash between the two. And remember, Bryant was injured during much of the finals but was still terrific. I'd take the 1992 Drexler over the 2000 version of Bryant, but we're talking about 1995 now. I'm afraid you'll have to take off your rockets tinted glasses before you can be objective enough to make a fair analysis.


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In my opinion I think that Olajuwon and Drexler make the better Championship tandem. I see a lot of similarities between both pairs. I mean a lot. At the Center position Hakeem and Diesel play very different styles, but their ability to score on the whole is about the same. Almost unstoppable. Shaq is the best center in the League, hands down. He is a physical marvel, a brilliantly strong player with height, width, power, hops, and all sorts of ability, some still untapped. His life long motto "Twism" , "the world is mine" drives him as much as Hakeem's belief in his religion. Hakeem, on the other hand, is the type of player that inspires other 7-footers to trip over their shoelaces while trying to emulate his moves...Truly one of the greatest ever. The only signficant championship difference I see is that Hakeem would never be taken out of the game with two minutes left. And to me that is huge. The Pacers made a run on the Lakers While Shaq sat down. It was at this same point that the Rockets would begin to create scoring separation in big games. One other difference is that Hakeem was the player who controlled the ball down the stretch of big games. Shaq wasn't even allowed to touch the ball. That gives Hakeem the edge. He could control his team's fate. Shaq Could not.

When I compare Drexler to Kobe I once again see a lot of similarities. Who does Young Kobe think he is? He takes Brandy to the prom, skips college, gets drafted 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets, a team he didn't even audition for, and then gets shipped to the big L.A. for that Vlade Divac guy. Now he wins a championship. He clearly thinks he's something special, and guess what, he is. He played a horrible game just like Drexler's game four aganist Orlando, but he found a way to contribute. So did Drexler. That makes them great. Kobe and Drexler were both responsible with carrying the team when the big units sat down, they both drive the lane, they both can post up, they both go to the line, and both could hit the three, make steals, provide energy, and the like. Kobe is the next big thang, and he will take his fully stoked afro puff to many titles, but I give the advantage to drexler for one reason. And one reason only. Drexler played at the highest level against Michael Jordan and lost. That gave him something Kobe will never have. And that was a lesson from the greatest player ever. Drexler could pull from that experience at will, and that is why the Rockets swept and Lakers won in six. Advantage Rockets.

Hakeem and Drexler make the better tandem, hands down.

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humble, but hungry.

[This message has been edited by PhiSlammaJamma (edited June 20, 2000).]

 

Right on PSJ. No way Shaq and Kobe can compare with Drexler and Hakeem. They can't even win a game without help from the officials. But other than that, your analysis was right on. Hakeem in his prime would beat Shaq. It's sad that the supposed MVP has to be taken out of the game in the closing minutes of a championship game because he can't make a free throw. And you know Hakeem would have eaten John Salley or whoever they put in alive. Also, Drexler could defend other two guards, something Kobe struggles with. Offensively they were similar, but I don't seem to remember role players attacking Clyde in the post and scoring. Like you said, no contest here. Clyde and Hakeem hands down.

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Cheaters never win. Unless you play for LA that is.

 

Drexler was much better then than Bryant is now. He could take any guard down in the post and score at will. His passing was also much better, and there was nobody better in the open court in the entire league.

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Too-Rye-Aye!

 

The comparison is a good one. But I give the advantage to Kpbe & Shaq because Kobe is still a youngster in NBA standards. By the time we got Clyde he was on the downside of his career. Clyde was a perfect fit for us but Kobe hasn't even entered his prime yet. Dream does still have a slight advantage over Shaq but if Shaq improves as much next year as he did this year (esp. his defensive intensity) Shaq could possibly surpass even Dream in the next few years. Yeah Dream was a great all around center, but Shaq has more god given abiliities (size). Shaq is such a great athlete for a 330 lb. man that there is noone in the league who matches up with him. Noone could slow down Dream either, but people know the only way to stop Shaq was to foul him.

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