[ESPN] 18 years since a player averaged 20+ppg & 14+rpg

I think he was talking about the longer quick players. Someone like Prince normally guards the other team's best wing player and he has the quickness to have good positioning. This type of player is hard to score on unless you take him all the way to the rack or shoot further away from his outstretched hands.

The other thing is that the game is alot slower. The slower you play, the harder the shots are for perimeter players (probably why tmac shoots such a low percentage, he plays very methodically). In the 80's and 90's players generally had more fast breaking and quick baskets, which are high percentage. You can see this in today's game, where a guard who gets up and down the court like Monta Ellis can have 60% fg% in a month. Amare has a high fg% also because he gets up the court fast.

 

the original poster was just posting something he heard from the game on espn. everyone chill

 

Making him the best center of all time... Not only do I disagree, but you can say the same thing about every All-Star in the league. They all have the POTENTIAL to be one of the greats, but whether that becomes an actuality is an entirely different matter.

 

Ya still can't teach size. Yao will own Howard for many years to come.

 

Again....I'm not sure, the player who I think has a game that resembles Dream is....Al Jefferson. Howard is ok....but I don't think he will be a great offensive player. It's an amazing feat he accomplish, but let's be honest, he's probably not as good as Shaq, Ewing, David Robinson, Mutombo, or even Alonzo Mourning.

Even now, he's arguably not the best center in the league....Al Jefferson, Yao Ming, and even Amare.

 

Al Jefferson is a really good young player, but I think you might be the only person in the world who would argue in favor of Jefferson over Dwight Howard.

 

meh ill take tim duncans 25.5 12.7 over dwights numbers.

 

al jefferson? he's a good offensive player b/c he's thrusted into that role. when an offense revolves around you, you better score. but his team sucks (and trust me, minny has some talent on that team).

nobody has a game resembling hakeem. nobody will be able to face up like dream, then go to the post game, then do fallaways or go to the paint, then go back on defense and dominate like a mofo (not just blocking shots, but getting steals)...

the centers right now are good "offensive" centers. yao is the best offensive post player. amare is the best scoring center. howard is the most intimidating center.

hakeem was a complete package in every sense of the word.

 

As much as I believe Hakeem will always be better also, remember that Dwight is ONLY 22 years old (Hakeem at this time was 27).

Dwight definately out Athleticizes Hakeem, but Hakeem has much more in his game (More blocks, steals, assists, moves). Wait 5 years though, maybe Dwight is actually 2nd coming of Hakeem.

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=jeffeal01&p2=howardw01/

 

he could be and he's the only one right now that can come clsoe b/c he has so much talent and he's so young.

but if he does NOT add any post game to his game by next yr, i don't know when he will ever develop it. right now, he's still getting most of his pts off of dunks from passes or off. rebounds.

 

hakeem was 27 in his 4th year?

 

Dwight doesn't impress me. As a Canadian, I watched him against Toronto and he is raw. I can't ever see him developing anything close to the post game Hakeem displayed...

Basically, there were three ways Dwight scored...

1) Uncontested putback. Impressive from an athletic standpoint, yes, but it was Hedo and Lewis that did most of the work drawing the defense in...all Dwight had to do was flush it in.

2) Roll off pick, receive pass, fumble with ball, then put it down. It's painfully obvious that Toronto doesn't have anyone strong enough to keep up with Dwight. It was impressive to see Bosh get stepped all over, but not only did Toronto only give single coverage most of the time (due to Shard/Hedo) but sometimes Dwight even found himself under the rim with either no one there...or like Anthony Parker/Carlos Delfino. True, that's a testament to his quickness, but I still think he has nowhere near enough fundamental skill to get off a consistent shot for himself, unlike the greats.

3) Semi-layup. Basically bank shots from 2 feet in. Testament to Dwight's strength but also showed how raw he was in his form.

Basically, Dwight is GREAT for his age. But he's overrated for sure. No way he'll ever go down as better then Hakeem in my mind.

 

I'm sorry, but anyone that thinks that Dwight Howard will ever approach Olajuwon's offensive ability just doesn't understand basketball.

 

Yao Ming is closer to Hakeem than DH post game currently, it isn't even close. DH is closer to Hakeem defensive wise (minus the steals), but Yao still dominates him offensively.

 

If you did the draft over and Hakeem and Dwight were both 21 year olds...you still take Dream.

He plays defense.

DD