Just did some research on the Rockets playoff career with Hakeem. I was really surprised at the results Year_____ Round Exited____ Opponent____Games Played 1 _____________ 1st __________ Jazz __________ 5 2 ____________ Finals _______ Celtics _________ 6 3 _____________ 2nd ______ Supersonics ______ 6 4 _____________ 1st ________ Mavericks ______ 4 5 _____________ 1st ______ Supersonics ______ 4 6 _____________ 1st _________ Lakers _________ 4 7 _____________ 1st _________ Lakers ______ Swept 8 _____________ n/a ___________ n/a ________ n/a 9 _____________ 2nd ______ Supersonics _____ 7 10 ____ CHAMPIONSHIP ____ Knicks ________ 7 11 ____ CHAMPIONSHIP ____ Magic ______ Swept 12 ____________ 2nd ______ Supersonics _____ 4 13 ____________ WCF ________ Jazz __________ 6 14 ____________ 1st _________ Jazz __________ 5 15 ____________ 1st _________ Lakers ________ 4 16 ____________ n/a __________ n/a ________ n/a 17 ____________ n/a __________ n/a ________ n/a I had no idea Olajuwon had been booted out in the 1st Round 7 times. Crazy and sad. Also shows how deep our history goes against the Sonics for those who are new Rockets fans. Olajuwon is still the greatest Rocket of all time and most dominating and talented center of all time. Love The Dream.
sorry I'm not versed enough to put up the gif of the little girl with the slogan 'Why not both?".... I'd trade Ralph.... and run Akeem/MJ/Drex to the next 10-20 championships.... o/w the only true argument for drafting Akeem over MJ is due to position.... if someone wants to take the view that a top tier center is more valuable than a guard... i could see that view...
We can sit here and argue all day about which one we could have chosen. The interesting thing is that they have a ton of respect for each other. Hakeem Olajuwon, when asked to compare Lebron James to Michael Jordan: Michael Jordan on Hakeem Olajuwon: I have my opinion on who we should have drafted. I think I have already made it clear in an earlier post. But let's not pretend that there would be a bad choice between Olajuwon and Jordan.
Rudy T might not have been able to coach MJ the way he was coached in Chicago. No guarantee of success. Also, MJ would've gotten RudyT fired like he did with Doug Collins.
Say a mystic fortune teller told us that the 1984 draft would include a) arguably the greatest player of all time b) one of the top 5 centers in the history of the game You would choose a. Anything different and you'd be stupid. However in hindsight, fast forward 30 years, and knowing everything Hakeem did for the Rockets - bringing two championships to Houston, his incredible personality, his loyalty to the Rockets - and you stick with the Dream. His undeniable presence in a Rockets uniform (see the NBA African game) makes you ignore how Jordan's unbelievable career could have affected the Rockets whether positive or negative which is why Rockets fans should not question the draft of Jordan/Hakeem but rather, admiring Hakeem's history in Houston.
Hakeem was first coached by bill Fitch. And it would have been mj and ralph Sampson. That would be cool, except they would face hakeem, clyde cliff Robinson, Jerome Kersey , terry porter, buck williams and drazen petrovic And coached probably by rick adelman!!
I feel you tinman, Hakeem on Portland would have made a dynasty they would have easily taken away 1-2 chips from the lakers/celtics. Ppl forget after we knocked off the lakers in dreams 2nd year we were they it team in basketball. Had Ralph not got hurt rockets easily run off atleast 3 rings. Forget the coke heads we just needed a healthy Ralph. Anyone that knows Ralph knows he was better suited to be the 2nd options he just didn't have that personality and dream was his perfect compliment because he was mean and not scared to fail. We might be talking about Clyde being the best sg of all time not Mj. Mj is no doubt the goat but his career got a major boost the day Ralph Sampson no longer was the player of his first 3-4 years in the league. Hakeem coulda won 5 rings with a healthy Ralph. Rockets really did have a complete team in 85 it just didn't work out for a lot of differnt reasons, Non being the dreams falt. Hakeem is the greatest rocket of all time, we're watching the 2nd greatest rocket of all time right now in harden enjoy it people he'll have his statute on the other side of the arena in 15 years, and hopefully even more titles then Hakeem brought us.
To be honest, I was an HOF back in the day. I didn't care where he went, I'd have rooted for that team. I always loved his game growing up and emulated how he played as much as one could. You practiced the up-and-under by watching McHale, and you'd practice turnaround jumpers and spins from watching Hakeem.
Remember that most of those were in the days when the first round was a best of 5 series - there were far more upsets in the first round back then. A team like Dallas could have a hot shooting night and that would swing the series. Houston never surrounded Hakeem with quality guards/wings at that time so it was on Hakeem to do everything - especially after Sampson's career was cut short.
Even Jordan himself has said that he was glad they didn't have to play the Rockets with Hakeem, because he felt they couldn't beat him.
Come on. Yeah, maybe Clyde would have won a few chips in Portland, MJ wouldn't have the 6/6, and they'd be closer... but c'mon. MJ's third year in the league he effectively averaged 37/5/5 EVERY YEAR of MJ's career except (i) the 17 games he came back in 94/95 nad (ii) his last two years at 38/39 with the Wizards he had a higher PER than Clyde's career high. He led the league in PER 7 straight years, and is the all time career leader. He led the league in VORP 7 straight years. He averaged almost 44 ppg his second year in the playoffs (granted, only 3 games...). He led the league in playoff ppg 10 times. And I haven't really touched on his defense... where he was a better player than Clyde. Of course, those are just stats... but the eye test is even more obvious. MJ is the best basketball player ever. In a world where it is VERY difficult to come to consensus about anything, this is almost universally agreed. Nostalgia is fun an all. Hakeem is awesome. But you take MJ first in hindsight and there's no shame in that.
Who knows what would have happened had it gone the other way. It's best to not even ponder upon such things.
Good point. It is a win-win choice. But the fact that we can argue who you would pick, is a testament to exactly how great Hakeem really was. The media's greatest of all time vs basketball's greatest ever. It's an awesome debate.
