How many times have we seen it, Hakeem or Akeem, going off. The guy is amazing and he cares about winning. We need to look at this, Hakeem is the Rockets, and we are the Rockets fans. I love Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Shandon Anderson, but the franchise is still Hakeem's, god I love him. He is so amazing. It is rediculous that people use his age to dis-credit him, he still shows that he deserves respect. Hakeem needs to be the leader of this team. Francis is a great talent, but he is 23 years old and doesn't have the veteran brains that Hakeem has. This is still Olajuwon's team, and the other players have to realize this if they want to be a championship competitor. Olajuwon is a proven winner and his heart strives to win again, lets win for him!! Everyone in the league realizes that Hakeem is still for real, We need to as well. Hakeem is amazing, he always has been and always will be. ------------------
Abso-bloody-lutely. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
I cant believe how ungrateful some Rockets fans are. Sure lets trade Hakeem, but if that is the case we had better change the name of the team. Hakeem is the lone player on the Rocket that truly cares about the franchise. You cant run Iso plays all year and expect to win a championship, that is won with true basketball. Hakeem wants to win and wants to do it with real basketball, lets post him up and run our offense through a proven championship player. Hakeem is the man and always will be. Lets win some games, get into the playoffs and show people that we still have the talent to win a championship. Olajuwon is still the man, he is absolutely amazing. ------------------
Jesus, are we going to have posts like this every time Hakeem has a halfway decent game? If you didn't notice, Francis led the team in points and assists, besides picking up six boards... I *would* like you to explain to me how someone who isn't averaging double digits could be the franchise player? I'm sure your rationale will be interesting. 17 pts, 5 blocks. Good numbers, good game. Exactly what we need from him... some post scoring and some defense. But "going off?" Am I missing something here, or isn't that phrase supposed to mean more than 17pts? 30pts, certainly.. maybe even 20 for someone who hasn't scored much lately... but HAKEEM!?!?!? 17 used to be a *bad* game for him... the fact that you consider this "going off" is testimony to Dream's decline. Let's not get carried away here. ------------------ Shandon Anderson rocks. The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001. [This message has been edited by haven (edited December 10, 2000).]
I hate to say this but I totally agree w/ya haven! back in the day if you saw the box score and you saw 17 besides Hakeems name you knew he had had a bad game ! ... 5 Blocks was real good though . One thing that I can say about Hak is that I am noticing that he seems like he could be out in the court longer than 25-26 minutes ... the man seems in good shape, as the season prolongs the better he seems, have you guys noticed some of that spring back when he goes for slams ? and that certain confidence he is displaying out there ? I like that!! ------------------ If you are a positive thinking person but yet you listen to country music, isn't that odd?
Haven & 3pointer: What you are both failing to acknowledge is the fact that this is one of maybe 2 or 3 games so far this year that Hakeem has gotten the minutes he deserves. Especially in the 4th quarter. And he's not getting anywhere near the touches that he did 5 years ago when he's in there. He didn't miss a shot until a few minutes before halftime for godsakes. And Yes, all things considered, I call that going off. ------------------ "He said hop on his back and he was goin' ta take us to the promise land...and that' what he done." -- Robert Horry '95
Crash and Since: What I really objected to was yamas' claim that Hakeem is still the franchise player. I sort of jumped on him, because I'm already dreading the slew of posts like that we're going to have *every* time Hakeem has a remotely good game. He had a good game. I'll be the last person to deny that. But I'm going to wait until he does a bit better before getting too excited. That said, if he plays like that again consistently, I really think we'll make the playoffs. In the NBA today, a center who can score 15 a game or so is invaluable... just not a "franchise" player. ------------------ Shandon Anderson rocks. The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.
I love what wink brings the team. But Dream is the only proven leader on this team...for now. He may never avg 20 pts and 10 boards a game but he can still hit the clutch shot and make a clutch swat. He knows better than anyone else on the team what kind of dedication it takes to make it to the top. While Steve is definitely learning those things Hakeem is a proven leader. And those are the qualities that a franchise player brings to the court besides just being able to light it up on any givin night. I think its fair to say that Wink shares the franchise tag with the Dream, but to try and say Dream doesn't at least share in that distinction is not looking past the stats. ------------------ [This message has been edited by crash5179 (edited December 10, 2000).]
kinda funny isn't it.. a few years ago 17 pts and 5 blocks would ahve been a not so great game for dream. now we are go wild when he gets 17. hakeem had a good game but not great and nothign to go wild about and make him the star of the team again.. mo taylor is who i was impressed by ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited December 10, 2000).]
More so than the 17pt....it was the steal and blocks down the stretch of the fourth that was amasing....he shifted the momentum over and over on the defensive side, where the Rockets need it most, especially on the road. Couple times in the fourth down the stretch Sonics had chance to take the lead. Yet over and over at least 3 times, they were denied a chance, one time Hakeem stole an entry pass by Ewing to Payton, other times he swatted shots...one on a guard that lost Steve and was wide open for a layup... Yes Steve is the franchise, but Hakeem has still been playing good ball, yes he's had bad shooting nights, usually though on same nights that everyone else on Rockets are sucking. His defense is what we need the most...and he brought it last night...I don't think Hakeem needs alot more shots, I think we need to pick his games and spots based on how he is shooting... ------------------
Since when have we been calling Dream "Hak?" ------------------ Not too far into the past, our "esteemed" leader, Monica's boyfriend, insisted that "if there was no penetration, there was no sex." It seems like it should therefore follow: If the ballot is not penetrated, there is no vote. [This message has been edited by finalsbound (edited December 10, 2000).]
The fact that he scored 17 in the amount of minutes played and the amount of shots he took is very good. He used to get 20-25 shots per game. I am not saying he needs the ball that many times anymore, but I believe the other poster's point was that Dream is still a very effective weapon that may not be being used to the fullest. ------------------
Hakeem hit what? 80% of his shots? First miss was about 10 minutes into the 3rd period. But the 5 blocks....they were at key points in the game. Remember, Gary Payton was looking unstopable (remember Stodamire the other night against Portland) in the 4th when Hakeem swatted his shot. The Dream was not just swatting shots but he was making people change their shots everytime they came into the paint. Did you not see the frustration he caused Vin Baker? The guy was secound guessing every shot he took in the 4th! No one is suggesting that this is the Hakeem of 95, but the way he is playing is great. Are you trying to say that he did not have a major effect on the game last night? At the very least Hakeem has shown that he deserves more than 25 minutes a game and should be guarding the paint at crunch time. ------------------
