Shaq declares Hakeem the only center he could not defeat

Nope. he was critical part of the Rockets playoff run.
Note who he's hitting jumpers in that Orlando Magic #1 guy.

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i believe shaqs ex-wife is from Houston or had ties to houston.. you dont remember the murder at shaqs home..

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...-attack-at-Shaq-s-home-With-audio-1662286.php

 

I didn't say he wasn't worthy of the nba, name the starters in order of best to worst in 94, and Kenny comes in last, in 95 we took the punt that the upgrade of Maxwell to Drexler was worth more than the downgrade of Thorpe to the D-league (and they were right) and he comes in 4th there...

he's basically Derek Fisher, could replace him with 20 other pgs, maybe more for as good or better results.

That's what Shaq is talking about, he was a dime a dozen and his success came as a product of those around him.

 

You realize Shaq is just clowning Kenny right?

Kenny was a vital and stable part of the Rockets just like Fisher was with the Lakers. The championship years, Kenny was a solid role player, but when he came to the Rockets he was blazing hot.

I caution the Rocket fans who did not witness everything that led to Clutch City to take for granted these players. Dream was very frustrated with the Rockets after the 86 got screwed by drugs and injury to Sampson, it took awhile and lot of talent to become a championship team.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=184934

 

What the hell are you talking about?

I absolutely question your knowledge of 90s basketball and the Rockets.

I shall bring the wrath of Clutch City knowledge on you.

 

It was a joke about the exceptional talent of Chucky Brown.

 

You know, I'll probably catch a lot of flack for this but this is true. Hakeem never dominated Shaq, not in the 1995 finals or anywhere else. Hakeem outplayed him by a small margin because Shaq was still young and made a lot of mental mistakes. Maybe, Hakeem was gonna win that one on one match up that was cancelled after Dream injured his back.

Hakeem could just never physically overwhelm Shaq and Shaq would always his shots really well. Hakeem would just make tough shots that he'd make over everyone but Dream was giving up 3 inches, around 50 lbs when going up against Shaq. Shaq's always said Hakeem dominated him but Hakeem is Shaq's favorite player ever since Shaq was in high school. Shaq always got up to play against Hakeem. They battled once on Hakeem's birthday in 1996 and Shaq had the gamewinning putback after he got the inside position on Hakeem and later blocked Cassell's lay up. I can't remember if it was Sam's or Elie's. Shaq was just too big for Hakeem too handle and unlike Robinson, Shaq would always stay on his feet and never bite for any fakes.

Shaq is right about never getting in Hakeem's head. Hakeem was never fazed by trash talk or anything else. He barely talked to opposing centers during the games. Shaq said Hakeem dominated him in the 1995 finals but he said that in 2001. Right after the series ended, Shaq said "I want Hakeem one on one" implying that the Rockets were a better team than his and he didn't lose his match up with Hakeem. Shaq has never stayed consistent on one thing.

 

Dream's decline started when we got those ugly uniforms, it sucked the quickness out of him.

 

If I remember right, that was all part of the promotion for some Taco Bell commercial. I don't think that one-on-one game was ever really going to take place.

Spoiler

Shaq always respected Hakeem. I heard an interview with him saying that, after Game 4 of the 95 Finals, Hakeem took the time to give him a pep-talk after the game and that was something that Shaq never forgot.

Here's a pic of that moment:

Spoiler

Seriously, Hakeem had just won his 2nd NBA Championship and the first thing he does is go find Shaq and console him? That's a true testament to the kind of man Hakeem was/is.

 

I agree He had two declines, the second one much more noticeable than the first. The first one came right after 1995 because he had a few minor injuries in the pre-season and then he had to carry way too much of a lead that year since our entire roster had all kinds of injury issues. That caused him to get knee tendonitis late in the season and it was one of the reasons he didn't play well against Seattle along with the swarming defense and we didn't get to build chemistry through the year.

The second one was late in 1997 when he got knee surgery. After that, it got kind of sad watching him considering the stuff we saw him do in his early years. I still remember having a hard time watching game 5 vs Utah in 1998. Dream got his shot swatted by Ostertag about 3-4 times in succession and all the Jazzholes were cheering on.

 

That one on one game was going to happen on PPV either in September or October. Taco Bell sponsored it and they had a few commercials and a photoshoot with Dream and Shaq. Dream backed out with an injury but I still think he would have won the match up. No way can Shaq back down Hakeem from the top of the key every single time, plus Hakeem had those quick hands so he'll get a few steals or at least deflect the ball to make Shaq change his shot selection a bit. I don't see Shaq being able to guard Hakeem in single coverage when he's facing up. Dream would be too quick for him.

 

i know shaq has a home here, but it did sound like he was saying this was his main place of residence...im guessing that's not the case though, probably LA or Orlando?

 

Yeah, I vaguely remember all of that. But I do remember Shaq saying he wanted Hakeem one-on-one was part of that whole promotion. Sort of like viral marketing before viral marketing really existed. He would never disrespect Hakeem like that.

 

Shaq beat Olajuwon's ass on many occassions and everybody knows it. To me it's simple: Shaq is the better center, Olajuwon is the better overall player, simple as that.

That's bull and you know it, Olajuwon still put up amazing stats until 97-98. It was the team that got worse, not Dream. Though the uniforms probably contributed mentally as nobody can play well in pyamas

This is simply amazing (happened in 1997 vs. Nuggets):

Olajuwon with 48 points (24/40) which tied the highest total ever scored in the NBA without the benefit of a free throw. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 48 on 24 field goals on Jan. 25, 1973, against the Rockets, coincidentally.

 

LOL, he was so quick they couldn't even manage to foul him.

DAMN, I miss those days.....

 

No flack, just the truth. Its kind why you can tell the greatness of other centers. After about 96 or so, shaq started making dream look old. In the strike shortened season in the playoffs, shaq made was holmes and dream was ali. It looked as if shaq took it easy on him out of respect.

 

Hakeem started to have a few more flat days (as does pretty much anyone once they stop being as young as they once were, his consistency wasn't quite there, ie 34 yo Hakeem was as good as 31 yo Hakeem but not as consistent over 82 games as 31 yo Hakeem), but he still had "it" until the injuries started to kick in from 98 onwards.

Btw the big difference between Hakeem and Shaq in the 95 finals wasn't the scoring, the rebounding or anything like that, it was the possession, Shaq and Penny had more turnovers than the entire Rockets combined (and more than twice the combined total of Drexler and Hakeem, that was essentially where the finals were won, we'd score from turnovers, those points were the gap basically)

 

I remember watching that seires, don't think I've ever seen Hakeem play that far out as often (i understand why he did it), but Shaq was struggling to keep hold of the ball trying to burrow himself in over and over, Penny though seemed just reckless at times (that we played a shortish athletic lineup with great hands for steals (Clyde's mile long arms, Hakeem, Horry etc) for most of the time probably contributed too)

 

Jordan puts him on his All-Time if I'm not mistaken.

Olajuwon
Duncan
Bird
Jordan
Tim Hardaway

Yeah I know Tim Hardaway doesn't belong on this list, but he's by far my favorite PG of all time.

 

I know Hakeem walks around with 99% of you in his hip pocket , but if I started a franchise with one player it would have been Jordan or Shaq....Those were the 2 most dominant people in the game (wasnt born durin the Wilt and KAJ era).. I would never say Hakeem was this or that to my sports peers because Im biased being a strong fan of his.. But if Jordan says he was the best, then Im ridin with him on that...Jordan dont give props to anyone...