I think this thread doesn't really make sense. You can't pretend to see a brillant dicussion between rockets fans and spurs fans about Olajuwon and Robinson, because everyone here is so DAMN biased. Olajuwon-Robinson: nobody in his right mind will tell you that the Admiral was better in his prime, it's just foolish. But arguing about the better defender of the two isn't, even if Olajuwon had more (but not many more) blocks and steals. I'd pick Robinson mostly because of his size, but someone might prefer the dream.
There's a reason that people don't root for the Spurs. Comparing Dream to the Little Mermaid is audacity at its extremity.
Hakeem IS MUCH BETTER than Robinson, there is no way the admiral beats the dream. Look how Hakeem dominated Robinson in the 1995 Conference finals. Robinson is surely a very talented center (much more than "Fat" Shaq) but Hakeem is definitely better. Robinson was never able to win a title until Duncan's arrival. Hakeem HAD supporting cast, but Robinson also (he had Rodman, Elliot, avery johnson, vinny del negro, chuck person : that's not a bad team). The rockets won because the dream dominated robinson, not because they had a better team (they were sixth and the Spurs were first). Hakeem has incredible moves, he's maybe the most talented center in the league's history. Defensively, Hakeem knew the job, he blocked shots, stole the ball and did it better than Robinson. Robinson is a very good player, offensively and defensively, but Hakeem really kicks his butt. Hakeem is a real winner, Robinson is not.
Not to mention, Hakeem did all of these things at a humble 6'10" Robinson had a good 2+ inches on him!
Robinson and the Dream are both great players. Very different actually. They both have strengths and weakness.. The Dream was a great post player while Robinson was an athletic center. Defensively, overall, Robinson is more polished than the Dream ever was. Except head to head, during the Dream's prime time. The Dream faded away quickly, his skills haven't been seen for 6+ years... Robinson in his final year is still a top 5 center in the NBA. Both Legends. Go Spurs.
It's not that hard to be a top 5 center in the NBA now. Shaq, Yao, Wallace, and Big Z make up the top four. There's a whole plethora of 2nd tier centers out there which include.. Robinson (I'm being generous here, because Robinson wouldn't actually make the 2nd tier because of all of his downtime and liabilties), Miller, Divac, Mutombo and basically any other starting center could be plugged into that 5th spot. The final word is that Robinson never dominated the league or his position, he never won anything (except the MVP, which was proven to be a mistake) as a star, and his stats reflect his inferiority to Dream in virtually every category. Considering that Hakeem entered the league in 83/84, and Robinson in 1990.. I'd have to say that arguement holds no water whatsoever.
I am going to withhold an argument.. You could be right, I could be right. As for Robinson never winning anything, Robinson's Awards and Achievements are double what Akeem has accomplished except for the Championships which is really what matters most, however the Rockets as a team were better than the Spurs during those 2 years, other than that, the league was controlled by Michael Jordan. Due to injury and disease or whatever, Hakeem faded away quickly. THAT IS A FACT! Both players are legends and Hall of Famers. Where are the Rockets now? Where have they been for years? At home.. contemplating what to do next. The Spurs have enjoyed success for years and years, while the Rockets continue to make poor personnel decisions. THAT IS A FACT AS WELL. Read your forum, look at the topics. David Robinsons Career Highlights Named the league's MVP in 1995 NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 NBA Rookie of the Year in 1990 Has won the IBM Award five times: 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995 and 1996 Won the NBA Rebounding Title in 1991, the NBA Blocked Shots Title in 1992 and the NBA Scoring Title in 1994 (he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only two players in NBA history to win each of the three titles) Honored with the 2001 NBA Sportsmanship Award Named to the All-NBA First Team four times (1991, 1992, 1995 and 1996) the All-NBA Second Team twice (1994 and 1998) and the All-NBA Third Team three times (1990, 1993 and 2000) Named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times (1991, 1992, 1995 and 1996) and the All-Defensive Second Team four times (1990, 1993, 1994 and 1998) Is the only player in NBA history to be named to both an All-NBA Team and an NBA All-Defensive Team in each of his first seven NBA seasons (since the NBA started the All-Defensive Team in 1968-69) A 10-time All-Star In 1996 named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of All-Time The Spurs all-time NBA leader in games, rebounds, blocked shots, assists and both FT made and attempted and is second in franchise history in points and both FG made and attempted Has been named the NBA Player of the Week 15 times and NBA Player of the Month 4 times The only male basketball player in U.S. history to appear in three different Olympic Games: was the leading scorer on the 1996 Team which captured gold in Atlanta, was a member of the 1992 Team that won the gold in Barcelona and the 1988 Team that won the bronze in Seoul Is the United States' all-time leader in Olympic history in career points (270), rebounds (124) and blocked shots (34) Played on the 1987 Pan American Team and the 1986 USA World Championship Team Akeem Olajuwon: NBA champion (1994, '95); NBA Finals MVP (1994, '95); NBA MVP (1994); Defensive Player of Year (1993, '94); All-NBA First Team (1987, '88, '89, '93, '94, '97); All-NBA Second Team ('86, '90, '96); Third Team (1991, '95, '99); All-Defensive First Team ('87, '88, '90, '93, '94); 12-time All-Star; One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History ('96); Olympic gold medalist ('96). Both have done well.
What kind of arguement is that? Poor personnel decisions? I like our personnel decisions, but we're our own worst critics.. unlike Spurs fans, obviously. Aren't we talking about Dream's dominance of Robinson? I'm sure if the Rocket's had been able to draft Duncan in '97 we'd probably be in the same place you guys are, and if Hakeem were still around in that situation, I certainly wouldn't give him a lot of credit for the team's success.
Can we have a moratorium on Hakeem vs Robinson threads? This has been argued for years, and no matter what you say, Spurs fan will continue to believe whatever the hell it is they believe. This is a pointless argument, any objective fan (read: Non-Rocket/Spurs fan) would say that Dream was better than Robinson. End of story... So for the love of all that is holy and good, stop it with the "Spurs fans are dumb/Robinson is just as good as Hakeem" threads...it's been well-documented on what the truth is in regards to both thoughts...
Hakeem or Bill Russell are the best defensive players ever. Drob could be in the top 10 with a young healthy Mutumbo, Mourning, etc, mixed in as other great defensive players in the kast 20 years, but there is a big difference between Hakeem and Russell from the rest. What seperated Hakeem was his quickness and reaction time--all the guys above are great shotblockers but Hakeem's quick hands and feet--he could stay with guards and steal the ball from anyone--have never been seen in a guy his size. TD is an outstanding defensive player--but not in the caliber of any of the players above, just doesn't have the size of Mutombo (or Shaq) or quickness of Mourning or Drob, let alone the phenom Hakeem. Tim possibly will be equal to Hakeem in dominanting offensively, perhaps even a notch better though I doubt it, but it is impossible for him to come close to him defensively. TD is great, he is like a less athletically gifted Hakeem or Shaq(not the physical freak either is, Shaq because of his strength and Hakeem b/c of his quickness) but more fundamentally developed than either. But remember TD (and DR) had like 5-10 year start on developing those skills at a high level. The limitations on TD's game (good but not phenom strength, quickness and athleticsm) just can't be worked on, where as Hakeem kept on getting better through the early 30s because he was young developmentally with the game. Thus IMO Hakeem always be > TD, but I recognize it is a worthy debate, unlike the ludicres DRob was really in Hakeem's league comparisons.
Again. Look at the kudos.... Robinson is one of the top players ever to the play the game. And so is Akeem.. Big deal.. To say one is better than the other is absolutely ludicrous. If you look at trophy cases... Robinson needs more square feet than Akeem does.... Akeem finished second to Robinson except for the 2 Championships which may be all for naught after this season. The Rockets have not made good personnel decisions. Look at the Scoreboard. The Rockets have been in the lottery or out in the first round for years. Is that Rudy's fault? No, its your ballhogging point guards fault. Reality.
Robinson can't hold hakeem's jockstrap and if you don't realize this is you are just stupid. You bragging about Robinson riding Duncan's coattails is kind of like a Carl Harrerra fan saying that Herrerra has more rings than Robinson. The best thing Robinson ever did for that franchise was to sit out the 97 season so the *purs could get a REAL superstar. Where do you get this BS about Charmin tissue having double the awards as Hakeem? More titles: Hakeem More Finals MVP's: Hakeem More Def player of the year's:: Hakeem Better playoff stats: Hakeem More times first team all-nba: Hakeem More blocks and steals per game: Hakeem -Yeah, a real landslide for charmin tissue.
DR will get his rings as a 2nd fiddle and when he had his chances as a 1st fiddle Hakeem destroyed him--you just can't get around that, DR admit himself Hakeem was just better (Shaq did that year too). Hakeem is one of the 5 best centers of all-time and probably top 10-12 overall. DR is neither, and his already ecplised by his teamate in most peoples eyes in terms of his overall ranking among basketballs greatest players. Oh now you sound like a whiney baby because you have run out of excuses for why Hakeem dominanted David at the peak of their careers.
the argument is pointless because: 1) of course spurs' fan is going to choose robinson 1a) spurs' fan is a moron 2) of course rockets' fan is going to choose dream the important factor is that not 1% of unbiased fans, nba players, sportswriters or analysts would ever consider choosing robinson over dream. THAT IS A FACT. spurs fan be happy with your team and the best player currently playing in duncan, but don't kid yourself with robinson over dream. it's a f***ing joke.
I want to know why you're bringing up the current Rockets? The Rockets have been worse than the Spurs since the lockout season. There, that's settled. Now, back to the real argument. Hakeem won two championships for his team. Robinson did not win a single championship for his team on his own. You talk about support, well you had Duncan. Who did Houston have even CLOSE to Duncan? You can't sweep the Nets, we swept Shaq and the Magic. This is absolutely silly to say that their achievments are the same. Hakeem will forever be considered one of the warriors in the NBA beause he carried his team to 2 championships as the leader, the man, the go-to guy, the #1 rebounder, the #1 scorer, everything, the works. Robinson won his first championship playing second fiddle to Duncan (btw, Robinson was almost traded for Patrick Ewing if you remember correctly) and IF they win it this season, it will be no thanks to Robinson, who averages less minutes than Malik frikkin' Rose. Jordan, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Dumars, Isaiah. These guys are the elite players. These guys are all one tier above David Robinson, and they always will be, because they did what the ultimate GOAL of the NBA is.....they LED their teams to the title.
BTW, if anyone has a video of that demolition job Hakeem did on David Robinson, please e-mail me. Let's talk.
