[inside the nba] Kenny/Chuck talking about the Rockets championship teams

I know right, Hakeem was more skilled, more crafty, had the best post moves, rebounded better, and blocked more shots. they are completely 2 different players.

 

Dwight Howard is an all world rebounder deluxe few in history can match, and a supreme physical specimen. He converts his close-in shots at a very high percentage.

Mourning was a BETTER shot blocker. A better creator on offense with a MUCH better outside touch. A smarter player, more leadership. He wasnt great at the FT line but more reliable than Howard for sure.

Edge= Zo

If Mourning was healthy his whole career he coulda challenged Hakeem's block title. If Dwight had Mourning's fiery mojo he'd be REALLY Shaq-like.

 

Can't just be attributed to skill level. NBA basketball changed from a post oriented game to a perimeter oriented one. Big men don't get the opportunities they used to get in the past. I'm probably not alone when I say that there is no way that Mourning is better than Yao on offense.

 

That was awesome to hear Kenny and Charles talk about Hakeem and the amazing role players on the championship teams. Guys like Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, and Mario Elie didn't need a whole bunch of media propaganda and "advanced statistics" to hype them up. They just went out there and made big plays...especially when it counted the most. They provided clutch play and tangible and intangible production. That loser Shane Battier could never do the things that those special players did on the court.

 

...Random tangent of the day.

How does Shane Battier have anything to do with the comparison of Howard and Olajuwon? Or the comparison of the 95 Rochets to the '10 Magic?

 

Howard doesn't have offensive moves....yes he can dunk with the best of them, block shots and rebound. The networks have made a lot of players into something they're not...way too much hype than what they've earned. We've had lots of fantastic players in this league that have deserved to be called superstars...Magic, Bird, Kareem, Jordan, Dream, Etc etc but you could never guard them with one average player (Perkins)and them not go off for 30-40 pts...they had game....Dream right now could put up 20 points on Perkins

It made me sick to watch the halftime and Howard doing a interview of himself of a so called Superman...I say he played small like a mightymouse.

 

Let's just hope Yaos best years are still in front of him.

 

It's not just age. Dream had an unstoppable spin move and fadeaway from the beginning. What he learned later were an automatic jump hook, some faceup dribble moves, and a better sense of passing. Howard has no above average moves. He's just strong.

Boston is playing him smart. Take away the dunks from the pick and roll and he becomes just a bigger Chuck Hayes.

 

Did you even watch the game? The Celtics controlled that game pretty much throughout. They got lazy at the end which is why they lost the lead, but Ray and Paul were still making a lot of clutch plays at the end and the Magic could never get any closer.

 

I'm actually surprised your memory is so short. Dreams offensive game at 24 was already polished. What dream had to learn was passing out of triple teams. He's said in the past aout why pass it out when he shoots such a high fg%. Go and watch the 86 playoffs and you will see the rage and polish in his game.

Back to howard, he will never e a polished offensie player if he's worrying about missing a shot. I'm all about being a bull in a china shop,but he struggles against big,strong defenders. He does need to attempt dream's offensive arsenal,but imitating kevin willis would be more than enough. Right and left jump hooks, face up jumpers. If he shot the face up 14 ft er better, his free throws would be better also. He modeled his offensive game after shaq, but he's not as big or strong as shaq.

 

Zo in his prime was a better center than any point in yao's career. Zo led his team as a rookie past the higher seeded celtics. Zo has been the best player on a limited 60 win heat team. Zo could post,run the court,shhot the mid range shot, and erase every shot at the rim.

 

i do not think its fair to compare the center position from the past and the present. Hakeem was obviously one of the greatest center that ever played the game and he means a lot to us because he won us 2 Championship. however, we have to consider the different defensive rules that existed then and now. look at how they double Yao, that was an automatic illegal defense violation back in those days, with the current rules, its hard for a center to a dominate. but Dream had so many offensive moves he would still find a way to dominate. Howard has very little offense and until he wins a ring he's just a mere star not a superstar not even worth comparing with a great like Dream. Looking forward to watching Yao dominate Howard next year!!

 

While it took Dream years to learn that to trust his teammates and pass the ball would win more games, he was a skilled offensive player his first year in the league (especially compared to Howard) and kept improving. Just look at the stats (the people who weren't watching him play back then) and compare them to Howard. Hakeem equaled Howard's career best offensive output in his rookie season, and it wasn't just scoring around the basket, like Howard.

Offensively, Howard will never come close to Hakeem's offensive ability, or his stats. There's no "yet" there. "Yet" ain't comin' for Howard. He simply doesn't have anything close to Hakeem's innate ability on the offensive side (or the defensive side, IMO, but I digress). Again, I wouldn't get hung up on Dream "not being fully developed offensively until he hit 30." If you are taking about passing within the offense, moving with and without the ball, then yes. If you are talking about being able to score himself and not just around the basket, then no. Some refinements to his game, for sure, but they were just refinements. He could already do it. He was already working kinks out of the Dream Shake his first couple of seasons in the league and had that deadly midrange jumper. After the team imploded following the '85-'86 season, Hakeem had more crap to play with than the driver of a porta-potty collection truck.

Thank you. It's pretty much what I'm saying here.

 

Add me to the list of people tired of hearing Dwight compared to Hakeem. It's not close. David Robinson had as much natural talent as Dwight does and came to the league as a polished post player, and Hakeem was so much better than Robinson that 1995 happened. Dwight Howard's ceiling is David Robinson, and he's not there yet, and not really that close.

 

^^^^truth.

 

First, Dream was a great offensive player even in his early 20's. Sure, he peaked later than most players but that might have something to do with him not even starting the game of basketball until much later in his life than most players.

Mentally, Dwight Howard is a joke and I've said that several times. He tries to play like young Shaq but he isn't near the physical presence. Listen to his interviews where he talks about how mad he gets if someone plays like they think they are stronger than him. The guy is an immature little kid with great size and leaping ability with limited coordination/agility and even less mental toughness.

He is what he is until some coach breaks through to him (which I don't expect considering he has no problems criticizing SVG in the media) and tells him just how far away from being a great player he really is.

 

OOhhh I love Hakeem as much as the next guy
Offensively Howard isnt 10% of what hakeem was .. Defensively lets not get biased nobody and I mean nobody is better than Dwight ..

 

That Rockets team had what this Orlando team lacks: BALLS

 

Dwight is nowhere near being what Hakeem was. Hakeem was a real defender, not just some weakside shot blocker. Dwight can't guard anyone one on one. He's like a younger Camby who can dunk.