I'm just making sure people understand it's about who would suit this current Rockets team more. I'm not sure but I lean towards Akeem.
You may think I'm crazy but honestly, I think Akeem in the mid and late 80's would fit this team better than mid 90's Hakeem. Dream has always been DAMN GOOD but in my mind, the Akeem-version was much more physical and didn't need to have the ball that much to score and he would still make the great difference, he was able to steal the ball and go for the dunk, take the offensive rebound and slam it home and had decent post-up moves. Dream in the mid 90's is as known one of the greatest ballers by all-time and he was just fantastic and did it all, BUT, he had too much ball in his hand and considering the fact that this roster already have the best current center in the league and one of the best guards of the game it wouldn't be a very good fit. Though if you put in Akeem from the mid and late 80's on this team he would be a monster, he was a great defender and was a force on offense even without the ball, taking a ton of offensive rebounds and making high % shots with his dunks and he had a decent shot back in the days too. Akeem would be the perfect fit, he would be the franchise player but he wouldn't need the ball all the time to score and would still be able to get his 25 ppg and his athleticism would be great for this team too considering the fact that our current center, Yao isn't much of a rebounder if you compare him to the 80's Dream!
Can I get Ralph to go with Akeem? If not, I'd rather have Hakeem. Hakeem was the more complete balanced player, and he'd rather embarass an enemy on the court than fight them.
Akeem averaged 27 and 12 in the playoffs and held a Finals record for 8 blocks in one game. The '86 Celts just happened to be one of the greatest of all time.
With this 07/08 team I'll take the young Akeem. Although a polished Hakeem would seem ideal, a raw Akeem playing PF along side of Yao would be MONSTERLY SICK.
Do you mean if we have Yao at C? Then of course, Akeem was more of a true PF enforcer-type who could also score out of his mind. A Yao-Akeem Twin Tower? I think I just had a fake orgasm...
You guys are crazy, Akeem would kill Hakeem. I'm watching the '86 playoffs on my computer and I'm just wondering, WHY IS AKEEM SO FREAKING UNDERRATED? The man killed Boston, I can't believe what I'm seeing, like Dream just scored 25 points in the first game of the 86 finals against Parish(!), IN THE FIRST HALF!
Can someone please explain the difference between Hakeem and Akeem? I was only like 5 years old when he played in the NBA and I don't know much about what the difference is between the two.
Akeem was a freak of nature, he was like a more all-round Shaq, he was like dunking everytime he had the ball in his hand and took a ton of offensive rebounds and would dunk it on everyone. The difference between Akeem and Hakeem was that Akeem was much more physical while Hakeem was more all-round. Hakeem wasn't as athletic but he was a smarter player and had a much better post-up game and he was also a much smarter defender, Akeem was often in foul trouble because he was always so anxious to block his opponent. With this said, Hakeem was the better player in my eyes but not by much. While becoming Hakeem he lost some serious strenght and power.
Yeah, Akeem was an amazing HOF calibre player as well, but people will always underrate him and compare him to the Hakeem of the championship years. But pound-for-pound, I think that '86 team was easily the best Rockets team EVER assembled. The fact that they "only" got to the Finals and lost to a Celtic team loaded with HOFs counts heavily against them. But any objective analysis, I think, would vindicate that team as the best ever. If only the players held off on the drugs/career-ending injuries for a few more seasons. We would be waxing nostalgia now about the "Dynasty Years"...but them is the breaks
