Whatever happened to that event? Why did it never happen? I remember it got a huge promo push at first
I hate these kind of comparison, Both are great players, but it's hard to tell who's better. Skillwise, Dream was much better, but Shaq's size and strength is just unbelieveable. Shaq has four rings, with no competitions in C position, Dream has two rings by playing against DRob, Ewing, young Shaq ...
That doesn't take skill. That is natural ability. You don't learn coordination or speed or size, you either have it or you don't. As I stated before, all Shaq has is his size and speed. Bad outside shooter, terrible free throw shooter who really only bulls his way inside and dunks. That said, he is one of the most dominating centers ever, but it's a size thing, not really a skills thing
If you want to bring that into the arguement, you also have to remember that Hakeem is the only player to ever win the Defensive Player of the Year, NBA MVP, and Finals MVP all in the same year. Also #1 in blocked shots by a good 800 blocks. Shaq is just your generic dominating center, not known for passing, rebouding, blocks, defense in general. Just known for breaking backboards really.
95 wcf vs robinsons spurs shaq never dominated another hof, mvp, or top 10 center of all time like dream did
shaq had better teams than dream ever did. of course this is all pure speculation. just agree to admit that there are 5 top centers of all time and they are: russell, wilt, kareem, dream, shaq
Shaq, in his prime, was more dominating. Once he got the ball in the post, players felt like they had accomplished a lot if they didn't get dunked on. Hakeem had a way of beating his opponents that made them think "wow, this guy is awesome." Shaq made his opponents feel like they were in kindergarten playing a high school senior. That being said, Shaq has a clear weakness (FTs), while Hakeem had none. If other teams had been more obnoxious, and used Hack-a-Shaq every game, they could have seriously reduced his points. But it's just too humiliating to play defense like that all the time.
You make it seem like Shaq had trouble getting the ball, FACT is in his prime Shaq was the most unstopable force in the league. Even with his poor ft shooting he was the most effective scoring center since Kareem.
No doubt, Dream >>> shag. 1) Dream played soley by himself. Shag has other superstars around him. 2) Dream was a decent foul line shooter. shag is a shame. 3) Dream didn't get favorable treatments from refs and the opposite case for shag.
Thats nice, people love to point that out. If Shaq wasnt Shaq then he wouldnt be dominant well no **** genious. Shaq wasnt all fat either, he has a variety of post moves and a soft touch around the rim. I cant believe you guys are critisizing Shaq for only scoring in the paint like a TRUE center should, especially considering this day and age where bigmen like to take 3's. Mark Blount has more offensive variety than Shaq so what exactly is that worth?
shaq put up better offensive numbers than dream but also played his whole career with two of the best swingmen in the game at the time. penny in orlando than kobe in LA. i think shaq's physical dominance overshadows his skill but he is definitely very talented beyond his size. even so, he doesn't have near the offensive skills of hakeem and his poor free throw shooting is a HUGE negative that didn't get exposed as much is it did probably because his complimentary star was just as talented as he was. his teams didn't have to go to him in the clutch. so even if we argue that shaq has the edge on hakeem offensively, just strictly on numbers, his defense is not anywhere near the level of dream who is arguably the greatest defensive big man of all time. leader in blocks, only big man in the top 10 in steals. that speaks for itself. they both have multiple championship rings. the fact that shaq has 2 more is more a result of circumstance than him being a better basketball player. give hakeem a career full of penny hardaway, kobe bryant, and dwayne wade, and there's no doubt he has just as many. i have no problem having the two equal among the top 5 greatest centers of all time, but there is absolutely no way that shaq is better than dream. if anything dream would get the edge.
Good cases could be made either way. To see people hating on Shaq is ridiculous, no matter what you think of the guy or his level of play currently he is one of the top 5 big men of all time. No question. I personally rank Hakeem ahead of Shaq, but I must say it's very close. Hakeem took a less talented Rockets team to two titles, plus he had to face some of the greatest big men and indeed teams of all time. Not to mention that while Shaq excelled in a few distinct areas and lacked majorly in some small areas, Hakeem's game was rock solid. He was an all around super star. Shaq, in his prime, had Kobe and some solid roleplayers out in LA. Shaq reigned over a period where basketball was kind of in a post-MJ transitional phase. He did not have to compete with the Jordan Bulls, the nasty Pistons, the Bird/McHale Celtics, David Robinson, etc. Not to take anything away from Shaq, not at all, but the Dream had it a bit rougher and still managed to win 2 titles, numerous titles-including all time blocks leader. Plus... Hakeem moved like the wind. Like the damn wind. Someone needs to bring Hakeem in and make Yao learn the Dream Shake.
Where do you rank kareem then? Since he played with the 2 greatest pg of all time? Shaq played with a young Kobe and he made his free throws when they needed. Dont for a minute think the Lakers didnt go to him in the crunch. And thankfully for Shaq he was SO GOOD, he rarely had to lose games at the line. Remember when the Lakers went 15-1 in the playoffs. Look at Shaqs numbers in that span, DOMINANT
That made no sense, look at the teams the Rockets lost to in the playoffs. They didnt exactly have dominant centers on that team. Since your discrediting Shaq for winning against teams with no centers its only fair your discredit Hakeem for losing to Ostertag or whoever they had at that position.
