Who would win if Shaq and Dream were to go at it at their prime? so if the 93-94 Dream were to play the 98-99 Shaq? Dream beat shaq on our way to our 2nd championship, but shaq was far from being a final product. I think because of shaq's size, shaq would win although i'd want dream to win.
Dream owns Shaq, but the Rockets would not have anything to stop Kobe. Maybe if the Rockets had Drexler, the 95 Rockets could have beat Shaq andf Kobe.
Yep Dream does own Shaq. Shaq knows it. Dream had an upstoppable move with the Dream Shake. Dream was a defensive master. He could not totally stop Shaq, but I believe that he could contain him better than anyone else. I think Dream would score at will on Shaq.
I've seen Shaq pay his dues to Hakeem in several interviews. Heck, he even claimed Dream was the superior player in '98. He knows he got his ass beat, and he knows he still would if Hakeem was in his prime. As for '95 Rockets vs. Lakers? Drexler couldn't have stopped Kobe. Don't get me wrong, I love Clyde (see username ), but he couldn't keep up with Kobe at that age. 5 years earlier, sure. I still think the Rocks could win it though, because their roster outside of their top 2 was superior IMO.
I know alot of people spread this misconception around about this match-up. During their careers, Shaq's teams beat Hakeems team more times by a wide margin. Also if anyone recalls the 95 finals, Shaq played Hakeem to a draw for the most part. I feel that Shaq is the only center in his prime who could play Hakeem to a draw. Hakeem never dominated Shaq in any matchup they had, but Shaq always respected him the most because Hakeem never flopped on d and never cried like David and the others. I personally think it would pretty much be a wash. Thats just my opinion.
Hey, Hakeem is the one who pulled out of that Taco Bell game. Hakeem was better, all-around, than ShaqIcan'tshootafoulshotstill.
Valid point, certainly. But I feel that most of the times their teams squared off, Shaq either had the superior supporting cast, or Hakeem was broken down from injuries. Heck, just look at '95: Shaq had Penny and Horace Grant, and Hakeem had an aging Drexler and other pretty good role players. Later on when Shaq was with LA Hakeem wasn't his old self. So to me, it would look pretty bad if Shaq didn't win most of those matchups, because he was in a position to. I still think '95 Rocks would have a damn good shot at taking down the championship Lakers teams, but that's just my opinion.
Is this some sort of a joke? The dream is the one center Shaq always respects and says beat his ass. No center could stop Dream in his prime. No center. Ever.
Dream could've held him I think. Just a little more than a push for Dream cause he was one of the big of all the pickin pockets. That was where Dream would've won the match up.
In the NBA Finals, Houston met the Magic and the league’s great young center, O’Neal. The two big men had similar numbers as Olajuwon averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists to O’Neal’s 28.0 points, 12.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists. But the Rockets swept the series, making Houston the fifth NBA franchise to win back-to-back titles. For his spectacular play, Olajuwon was awarded his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award. This is from nba.com Hakeems biography. Where was all the dominating that people most often talks about is beyound me.
Shaq said this.. SO assume Hakeem did dominate him. Hakeem would beat Shaq in his prime, because Shaq is not known for his defense. Duncan torched him this year.. Hakeem was more of an all around player.
The one thing that I use to love to see was Hakeem shoot turn-around fadaway, after fadeaway over Shaq's outstretched arms....and they would go in, and and again. The look on Shaq's face was "damn!" Sure, Shaq could brute-force his way inside with Hakeem. But at least Hakeem went toe-to-toe with him, inside and out.
Thats all I'm saying. Hakeem would get his points, but unlike what Ewing and Robinson did, Shaq would get his just like in the 95 finals. Look at the numbers he put up against Hakeem who was in his prime. Had Robinson put up similar type numbers against Hakeem in the WCF, they might have had a chance,but he didn't. Fast forward to Shaq's mvp yr 4 yrs later and put that Shaq against Hakeem, and I think you come up with a draw. I remember Shaq in 98 dominating Hakeem in the playoffs and Hakeem was still a 20ppg scorer but couldn't do anything to contain Shaq. In their prime 94 Hakeem vs 99 Shaq, i think its a wash.
