Luc Longley didn't win those championships. You have just lost any shred of credibility you had as an NBA fan whatsoever with that moronic statement.
2 kind of players win championships Stars and role players You don't compare role players rings to stars rings
LOOOOOOOOL! This HAS to be a first. It's settled. This guy officially gave up. Look at his response. I agree that Dave is playing now and Hakeem isn't playing now, and that is just great. Couldn't be happier for you. But, obviously, judging by your weak arguments, Hakeem had the better overall career.
Yeah, I surrender.. David sucks... Akeem was better... Now go play the lottery! 2003 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.... Sounds nice huh Rocket fan? Hey... Congrats on JVG... Very Good pickup.. I hope he can get those players to play some Defense and hustle together as a team... I also want to see Ming play more minutes... I can't wait to come to Houston next season to see the I10 rivalry heat up again... Good Luck... Peace.
2003 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.... Sounds nice huh Rocket fan? Sounds great. I don't know what that has to do with this discussion though. Oh, you can't validate Robinson > Hakeem, so you take the my team is better than yours now since we got lucky and got Tim Duncan (a real star route). I get it now.
The comparison should be between Robinson and Ewing. Seriously, who are these crack-heads that attempt to compare the Dream to these 'other' centers? There isn't a single TRUE basketball fan in the history of basketball that would take Robinson over Hakeem. They can say all they want on message forums, but if they had the ability to pick either one to start a team, we all know who would be selected first.
Snaq Oneal is better than Akeem... and more dominant... Whats disappointing is that Akeem developed to many injuries and illnesses... We never know what more he could have been... Yall sound like Spurs fans.... Its funny how fans are totally subjective about their teams... On the outside looking in, the Rockets have been hopeless for the last few years... I don't think a coach is going to change that... During those 2 championship years, Akeem was one of the best players during that period... After that, he was well, a good player... But definitely better than David those 2 years, at least in the playoffs.
Since it's at the top, it's no harm, but stop bumping this thread troll, we have more important things to discuss today rather than arguments that have been settled for 8 years and counting. It's so settled that this thread should be locked.
I think a pretty strong argument can be made that Hakeem was past his prime by the time of the championship years and that what you saw was an older man putting a young stud to pasture. See, defense is a product of a young body and young legs and Hakeem's defensive peak was a few years before the championship. It's been observed by Bill James in baseball (and I think it applies in basketball as well, at least to Hakeem) that a player's defensive skills erode first. They tend to make up for that by becoming better offensive players, by learning how to shoot and how to position and how to pass a little better. By the time you get to the championship years Hakeem doesn't play the game as hard for 48 minutes, he conserves his energy going up and down the court, and he doesn't take off like a jack-rabbit running down guards on fast breaks the way he used to when he was younger. I think that's the truly amazing part. The Spur's David Robinson was owned by an older man in his 11th year in the league. Shaq, pretty damn close to his prime, was 'owned' (well, imo, those two battled to a draw in the Finals) by an older man in his 11th year in the league. Don't believe me? Look at the stats here: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/hakeem_olajuwon/index.html?nav=page Now, having said that, this is an amazing kind of comparison because both DRob and Hakeem were exceptionally athletic centers who at their best could play the whole court, that their speed and ability to get position created a kind of "golden age" of centers. And DRob and Hakeem were more alike in their athletic strengths than different. Comparing these two is a bit like comparing yellow gold and white gold. Both wear damn well and look awfully good. These days all you have is Shaq; it's boring. The classic center matchups of the middle 90s are gone. Hell, is there a #2 center out there that is as good as the Chief? Yao, maybe in a year or two, but not yet. David.
spurs fans are moronic. why do you even subject us to such an argument? anyone who knows the game of basketball knows that the divide between robinson and dream is great. the numbers are similiar but the talent behid the numbers is not. robinson was a very good defensive player but dream was simply the best post defender since russell. actually if dream could have played back in those days with 6-2 shooting guards driving to the hoop he might have averaged 7-10 blocks a game. his defensive instincts and agressiveness have not been matched and may never be matched. to be the career leader in blocks and in the top 10 in steals is amazing. and on the offensive end the difference is even more staggering. robinson did run the floor in a better manner than hakeem from the standpoint of being able to finish on the break and he did get to the foul line more which is the only reason his ppg is even close to dream's. but dream is, in my opinion, the most offensively talented big man to ever play the game. this is a man who stood maybe 6-11 on a good day that consistantly dominated other top big men that were taller and larger than himself. unlike other replies to that r****ded message i will go into the 95 playoff series. i chose to base my assesment on actually watching the two play over the course of their career and judging them on the talent that they displayed. and pure talent wise, dream is the greatest center of all time. i know chamberlain and russell might have better stats but if you put dream in the 50's, 60's and 70's his numbers would have out-shined even theirs. maybe in a few years, spurs fans can argue about duncan vs. dream and be able to hold their own. but you just can't make the arguement with robinson he simply sucks!!!! neil in houston
dwmyers, Would you not agree that the greatness of a player is not only measured by his athletic talents but also their poise and knowledge of the game? If this is true then, one could argue that Hakeem might have lost a slight edge in athletic talent but his cognitive game more than made up for it during those championship years. Hence, Hakeem hit his peak during the championship years. It’s that same argument about Jordan. Was the Jordan who won the first three NBA championships by jumping over people better than the Jordan who won the next 3 by perfecting the fade away? It would be difficult to assess which Jordan was better.
Anyone that says that Hakeem did not play on some weak teams, must not remember guys like Buck Johnson, Derrick Chevious, Allen Level, Cornbread Maxwell, Rodney Mcray, Louis Loyd, Steve Harris, Sleppy Floyd, and Steve Harris. Back then the Rockets were so bad the only chance they had to score was letting Hakeem take on 4 guys to score. From 1987 till 1990 Those were they kind of players that Hakeem had to play with, and They still won half their Games. Lets see the Little Mermaid (the Admral) do that. This guy always got out played in the playoffs. He never ever showed up when the Spurs needed him to! See Charles Barkley hitting that jumer in his face at the buzzer to win the series in 1993. See See Stockon and Malone Knocking them out in 94, see Hakeem Spanking his ass in 95. See him whinning about is back so the Spurs could get in the Lottory to get Duncan. I still Remember seeing this guy carring a golf bag that year even though he had a bad back! RIGHTTTTTTTTTT This guy has no balls and she showed that over and over and over. His a great guy, but a weak player!!! Hell Patrick Ewing was better than him. At least Ewing showed up in the playoff games he was in! MEMO TO SPURS FAN LAY OFF THE CRACK!!!!!! Your Boy had his Knee pads on in 1995, and every year they were in the Playoffs cause he was always someones b****!
WHOEVER THINKS THAT WEAK D-ROB. IS BETTER THAN HAKEEM IS NOT RIGHT IN THEIR HEAD...WICH IS WHY SAN ANTONIO IS NOT GOING TO WIN ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP...
http://click.alltheweb.com/go2/2/atw/1cA63C4C92/NSxILHZpZA/http/www.nba.com/0001Video/olajuwon_shake_052495.avi enough said
man, that move looks sweeter and sweeter each and every time you look at it. how many players can make MVP's look that stupid?!
