Who didn't "acknowledge" that Duncan is a great player? That is a little different than saying he is better than Hakeem Olajuwon. Duncan is a great player, Olajuwon was better. "Hard to blame him ?" No one is blaming him, it's just a fact. When you have all-star teammates your team is probably going to do well. Hakeem Olajuwon may be the only player in maybe the last three or four decades to win a championship without another all-star on his team.
That affirms nothing. Les and Daryl wouldn't know what to do if the right thing walked up to both of them wearing a name tag and introduced itself. Les Alexander is primarily responsible for the current state of the franchise because he sat on his ass while CD screwed draft after draft and gave out those bad contracts that have now come back to haunt this team. His solution to the problems that happened under his stewardship is to pin the blame on the head coach. First it was Rudy T and now it's JVG. Adelman is up next. JVG did get a raw deal because his firing made him the scapegoat for the sheer incompetence of CD and the Rockets' front office. And if you think that the same thing is not in the cards for Adelman then you are setting yourself up for a nice surprise in 2 to 3 years. JVG can say anything what he wants to say because he has a perfect right to his opinions - I could care less. All of this whining over Hakeem & Duncan and who's the best is silly and pathetic.
JVG dug his own grave. Among other things, he was holding the organization hostage in the aftermath of the 3rd 1st-round loss in 4 years. The Rockets had no other choice but cut him off to salvage the wreck. Les is way too gentlemanly and generous in dealing with the ungrateful JVG. If I were Les, I'd fire Gundy's ass the moment final buzz of the game 7 sounded off.
hostage? les way too gentlemanly? take those rocket red color glasses off until the next season starts
The sad truth is that we are seeing the result of time. Duncan is still playing, and there are far too many people here not old enough to remember how great Dream was by the end of his second year, much less his impact as a rookie, and how he grew as a player from that point until time caught up with him. This doesn't apply to everyone, obviously, but a lot of this BS about Duncan versus Hakeem is simply ignorance from not seeing the games. If all you are going by are a few games on ESPN Classic, or looking at the number of titles, you will never get the true measure of just how great Olajuwon was. Duncan is a great player, a Hall of Famer, without a doubt, but he doesn't play the same position, and he has never been the player Dream was in his prime.
again these damn posts. duncan is the best PF in the history of the game. dude is the only player to be on BOTH all-nba and all-nba defense in his first 8 yrs. has 3 finals MVP. 2 MVP. 2 times defensive player of the yr. about to have 4 championships. look at his damn resume. is it a slight if someone thinks he's a lil better than hakeem? hakeem is on 2 other planets from most players he played from. duncan might be 2.5 or around the same planet. u and i can't sniff that planet. why do u care? we're still on earth.
I like this little stat (from http://basketballreference.com). In his first 9 seasons, Duncan has had an efficiency rating of 30 or more in just one season (2001-2002, EFF 31.2). While, for 9 seasons, Dream had an even better rating (1987-1996, EFF 31.3). Blocks, steals, (and to quote the King of Siam) "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera"
man if u trust that, tmac is a top 10 player of all time. and from what i read around here, tmac is not even a piece of trash.
Why do people think Morey is to blame for any wrong that may or may not have occurred with JVG? By JVG's own quotes he thought Morey was on his side. I mean sheesh, Morey WORKS for Les. He does what he's told.
T-Mac hasn't broken 30 EFF once. Of course, McGrady isn't a center or forward so he's not going to have the 10+ RPG seasons like Dream and Duncan.
dont know. he was just les' little errand boy doing the dirty work. I kinda feel for morey b/c he really got baptism by fire..
um, if u base it on basketball reference, tmac has a top 10 PER of all time. so if ur gonna take "efficiency," why not take PER? i'm just going by these stat ppl
Raw numbers are a bastardization of Dream's legacy, so if you're comfortable with that I certainly can't argue. Why do I feel compelled to say I'm happy JVG is gone, in a thread about Dream. Damn, that guy just really gives my stomach fits. Great "color man" though.
I would always go with Hakeem. He was more dominate on both ends. Hakeem also faced a much tougher NBA than Duncan. Duncan hasnt faced the Celtics,Bulls,and Pistons of the late 80's-90's like Hakeem did. I think our championship teams would kill these teams now and that would show the dream is better.
It isn't like Hakeem played those teams all the time. In the West, Duncan has Yao, Garnett, Zach Randolph, Chris Webber in his prime, Shaq in his prime and Amare. This idea that Hakeem faced much tougher competition is kind of lame. The East was strong back then, the West is strong now. Those Shaq Lakers teams and those Sac teams were as good as what Dream had to deal with.
Agreed. Taking nothing away from Duncan, who is a great player, Dream in his prime was inhuman but so many people don't recall seeing him while Duncan is still playing in his prime.
Duncan had more help. He won his first two championship with the robinson. He also had Elliott, Ginobili, Parker, Jackson, and Avery Johnson. Watch how well the Spurs play without Duncan and you will see how good Duncan is.
Hakeem was a very special player. But people forget he is six foot 10 and it was his skills that made up for that. He was an amazing athlete, but never was an overpowering player. Unfortunately, Hakeem will never get the recogniztion Shaq gets or Duncun does because Shaq and Duncun play in an era where they stand out compared to the other mediocre big men out there. Hakeem had to compete against Patrick, Robinson, Malone, Shaq, and Barkley. Today - Duncun really doesn't have any competition. Yao and Amare are rising stars, but clearly aren't nearly in the class of the elite yet. Shaq was there, but that was it. Hakeem also played on some mediocre teams, something Shaq and Duncun never had to deal with.
