Could Duncan be just as good or better than the dream

i dont understand the criticism of duncan for playing PF. what is he supposed to do, play center and make DRob guard quicker power forwards? He's basically playing power forward out of respect for DRob. i seriously doubt he's scared of the league's centers. and if you want to put your MVP in jeopardy by letting him guard Shaq, just to prove how tough he is, then you are crazy and stupid. The spurs have one star, and if they let him guard shaq consistently, it would have been suicide (seeing that defenders get called for fouls against shaq when they get elbowed in the face).

 

HP,

I think it's unfair to accuse that the Spurs fans of abandoning Robinson and compare their new best. It's pretty obvious that Duncan IS better than Robinson. In other word, Duncan is the best Spur ever. What's wrong with comparing their best ever with our best ever, especially when Duncan's game is very center-like?

Also, comparing McHale with Duncan is also not exactly fair. McHale was part of the best frontline ever with Parish and Bird, while Duncan only have a declining Robinson on his side.

 

Are the same people who are criticizing Duncan for not guarding Shaq also willing to tell Shaq to grow some nads for not guarding Duncan?

This Hakeem/Duncan thing is silly -- if you needed one shot to win a championship, who would you want to take it, Hakeem or Duncan? If the other team needed one shot to beat you, who would you want playing defense, Hakeem or Duncan?

Also don't forget that Duncan's great game six came against single coverage from an over-the-hill, undersized Robert Horry. Would anyone try putting Horry on Hakeem with no help from '84 to '99? I don't care about Duncan being 'polished' at a young age, you put Robert Horry on Akeem at the SAME AGE, and you have NO chance.

And hp, I think McHale might be one of the most overrated players in the history of the league. Where are these double-teams you speak of? What teams were leaving Bird to double McHale? Duncan has been 1st team all-Defense every year he's been in the league, except maybe as a rookie, when he was 2nd-team at worst. Do you think McHale could win a championship with this Spur team today?

 

I know this was directed at HeyP, but I gotta jump in on this one

McHale "most overated"? Huh? Honestly Freak, you should stick to the hangout because it's obvious you never watched Celtic games (other than when they were in the Finals)

Every team double-teamed McHale and Bird (depending on who had the ball). They were leaving Parrish and DJ to do it.

Bird was obviously the #1 guy on the Celtics, had he not been, McHale would have been the Superstar. McHale was just about unstoppable from 85-86 to 89-90. In those years he averaged 23 ppg, 9 rpg and 57.5 fg%. Sadly, a foot injury took away a lot of his mobility during the 1990 season and bothered him the rest of his career.

Asking if McHale would win with the current Spurs team is as silly as comparing Duncan and Dream. Shame on you Freak.

 

This thread is ludicrous. This might be worse than the Kobe is as good as MJ BS.

hakeem was 100 times more clutch than duncan. Duncan is a flat out choker in the clutch. He airballed a shot from 5 feet last night to win the game and against the Lakers this year shot TWENTY percent from the field in the 4th quarters until Game 6, when he did dominate, but that was 1 game.

Hakeem was way better than Duncan defensively. Offensively, he had a similar type of game, but was just more fluid and much more athletic. Very similar type of post moves though.

This talk about Duncan being a great passer is baloney too. Along with his inability to hit big FT's or big shots in the clutch, passing is his weakness. Not as turnover prone as Hakeem or as wild as Hakeem was early in his career and he is more fundamentally sound, but he's still not a great passer by any stretch.

If you compare Duncan's postseason numbers against Hakeem's, they aren't even close. Hakeem's FG% was MUCH higher. No way does Duncan have a money shot which is automatic like Hakeem did, which is key in the playoffs.

Are people forgetting that before this year, Duncan was basically slowed down and contained by ROBERT HORRY in the playoffs the last 2 years?! Hakeem would have ripped Horry a new one if he ever had to face him in the playoffs.

Hakeem played in an era of much better bigmen than the stiffs which are around now.

It's not even close. As ludicrous as the Bryant-MJ comparisons. People want to just focus on the now and forget how great the old-time greats were. Compare Duncan to McHale or Karl Malone, not Hakeem.

 

As for the whole Spurs thing, Hakeem is basically a combination of the best of both their big men. Duncan's moves and offense with D-Rob's athleticism and D. That's what pisses them off but I agree that they will win 3-4 titles in the next few years, esp if Duncan somehow learns how to make shots in the clutch on a consistent basis.

 

So by this standard is Duncan better than Shaq since he has a faceup game and Shaq doesn't?

Who the hell cares about a faceup game when you have a post game that allows you to score at will and one of the most unstoppable signature shots in the entire history of the NBA at your disposal? If Duncan is light year's better than olajuwon offensively, why the hell is Hakeem's FG% so MUCH better than Duncan's playoff FG% despite the fact that hakeem faced much better competition?

Was David robinson better than Hakeem because he had a better face-up game?

I nominate the statement that Duncan's offensive game being light year's better than Hakeem's as the stupidest in the entire history of the clutch city BBS. Hakeem's offensive numbers are better than Duncan's in the regular and especially postseason. That's kind of like saying Kobe's light years ahead of what MJ ever did.

Hakeem averaged 33 ppg in the playoffs facing D-Rob in his prime in 95 and Shaq in the Finals. Duncan won't even approach those stats facing a 33 year old scrub version of Robert Horry and Irk Nowitzki this postseason and sure as hell isn't the guy you want if you really need a clutch hoop or FT made.

 

What separated Duncan from Hakeem? Hakeem could score on one end then come outta nowhere to swat the shot on the other. He just dominated the entire court sometimes.

 

Just off the top of my head...How about Dream's Quadruple Double.

 

So, does anyone have some tapes of the 86 playoff run (I didn't want to start a new thread).

 

They are both great. Duncan in my opinion is a better passer, Hakeem a better defender. Offensively, I think Dream has greater footwork and more moves. However, that is not to discount Duncan, who I think also has exceptional footwork. Hakeem may have the edge because of his unstoppable go to move. In my opnion, Hakeem is the most skilled of the two, bit Duncan is a smarter player. It was kinda painful sometimes to see Dream pass outta the double team.

 

Uhh...and once he got a better team (and with chemistry) he put up the same numbers and won two rings. So, that is a bad thing?

 

I think the question is is Tim better than David in his prime, since David was always better than Hakeem talent-wise, not whether Tim is better than Hakeem. Right now I'd say no, he's not better than David at his best, but I think he is better than 'Keem.

 

Tim's already much better than Maillady ever was, and even Barkley says he's better than his idol McHale. If Tim's considered a PF then he's the best ever, bar none. Malone has never had seasons as good sa Tim has had in his first six. Sad!

 

I love it how you dismiss Hakeem as an afterthought, and try to insinuate that not only is Robinson is better than Hakeem, but Duncan is also. Hilarious.

Typical Spurs fan not accepting the reality that Hakeem, without question, is better than Robinson ever was.

 

Keep dreaming. If Hakeem was better than he wouldn't have let his team lose to that overrated Jazz team in 97. I know David would have taken a team that talented all the way. Too bad he never had as much talent around him as Hakeem.

 

HA HA HA!

Good one!

A 7 foot center with no post game? Please! Of course, D-Rob was MVP in 1995 ahead of Dream... but we know what happened then.

Hakeem's stats for that playoff series:

35.3 PPG
12.5 RPG
.560 FG%
4.2 BPG
5.0 APG

Who was more talented?

 

Oh, and Robinson never took his team anywhere. It was the arrival of Duncan that took the Spurs to the championship in the lockout-shortened season.

 

If David Robinson was a real MVP, he wouldn't have gotten bent over by a less talented center for a whole playoff series. Jeesh.

 

LMAO!!!!!!!

So, the only arguement you have is bringing up a series where a past his prime Hakeem lost to the Jazz on a last second shot in the Western Conference finals? Ummmm ...just out of curiousity, what did the Spurs do in the playoffs that year?


I guess the only way to truley compare two players is a head to head matchup. Oh wait, that already happened. I guess you don't remember when Hakeem humiliated Robinson in the 95 WC Finals and completely degraded his MVP award?

And the Spurs more talented? I would call it equal at best. Robinson, Rodman and Elliot is not much better or worse than Hakeem, Clyde and Horry.