[Prediction] When it's all said and done, who's gonna be the best Houston Rocket?

This is kind of a bs record. Jabbar certainly blocked more shots than Hakeem, and Wilt and Russ almost certainly did as well. Hakeem was an amazing shotblocker, but they just didn't record that stat in the past.

 

I love Mac and Yao. I even think Yao has a legit shot at being the 2nd best Rocket ever, BUT, come on. You can make a case that Hakeem is top 10 player of all time. There is no shame in coming in second to Hakeem.

 

Wow, I'm shocked at all the Yao votes...

I very much doubt Yao will ever be better than McGrady is now.

 

I'm pretty sure your more shocking,

yao never will be better then T-mac? what do u mean? point? assist? rebound? block?

how do u define a player is better then another? (and in this case, a center vs. a guard/forward?)

 

yao hasn't proven he can lead a team BY HIMSELF to the playoffs yet. tmac has. and tmac has done well w/o yao, even last yr when he was playing hurt even.

statistically and efficiency, yao's better this yr. but impact-wise, it's hard to go against tmac.

tmac is a perentiall top 5 and at his best is #1 (playoff level). yao is considered the best center, but i dont hink anyone has him in their top 5.

 

he has? I'm sorry, b/c last time i recall him being in the league for a decade & have yet to get out of round 1.

 

See, I disagree. Hakeem played great basketball in what could arguably be called the greatest era for centers (though debatable). He never had the players that Magic or Kareem had and still did it. He didn't play against PF's pretending they are centers like Shaq does.

And sorry about not quoting your second paragraph. Honestly, I stopped reading after the first one...

I just think that Hakeem is one of the top 10 players of all time, but I am also biased. But if you can, watch some Hak highlights and get back to me

 

What did Nostradamus have to say about that?

 

I'm not going to answer this until I'm an old fogie. Which, by that time, the next Jordan will have already appeared... 5 times.

 

no one else can bring Houston its first major championship ...

 

Hakeem.....but I hope it is Yao !!!!



DD

 

Its already said and done Hakeem is the best no questions asked

 

tmac is better than yao. he changes the game so much more in my eyes. hakeem all the way though.

 

Nobody can say who is going to be the best Houston Rocket player but no one comes close to matching Hakeem right now.

 

you need to learn reading comprehension. he said lead TO the playoffs.

 

I know it's blasphemy to suggest that anyone could be better than Hakeem, but Yao hasn't even started to write his legacy yet. He's still got a good 7 years of dominance ahead of him, and we don't know yet just how good he's going to be -- he's still improving. We have no idea how many titles he will win, or what records he might set. I wouldn't be so quick to say that Yao couldn't possibly eclipse Hakeem as the best Rocket ever.

 

Apparently, it's Boki Nachbar.

Seriously though, McGrady will never be mentioned in the same breath as Hakeem simply because he spent his prime years (from an individual standpoint) with another team. However, he will be one of the best players in Rockets history I believe when it's set and done.

Yao has a chance, but as good offensively as he is, he simply doesn't compare to Hakeem's all-around greatness as a defensive player and still lacks those 'intangibles' that Dream was known for; oddly enough, I think Dream was an early 'hybrid' of Yao's and McGrady's best attributes, only with more leadership qualities and mentally tougher than both players combined.

I say give Yao some time, but short of leading the franchise to at least 2-3 championships and doing so in an improbable fashion, Dream will always be a unanimous pick for the "Greatest Rocket Ever" title. In fact, even if Yao wins those rings he would still have a difficult time surpassing Dream for the simple fact that he has another bona fide superstar on his team, a luxury which Dream didn't always have; it's not entirely different from how Shaq's naysayers always bring up the fact that he won those rings with superstar wingmen by his side, in an era lacking in great centers...oh, and there is the whole thing about how Dream brought the city of Houston its first professional sports title, which will be tough to duplicate.

At this point, it's not even debatable when both guys are yet to get past the first round (hopefully that ends this season).

But I would say Yao has the best chance of anyone on the current team.

 

Jesus, Dream won Houston 2 rings, while TMac and Yao have proved nothing yet.

 

Sorry, but Tmac and Yao will never deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Hakeem. Hakeem is a top 10-15 player of all time. I just don't see Yao reaching that sort of level and Tmac has already peaked and is possibly on the downside of his career.

I don't think anyone over 25 on this board would even consider comparing these two guys to Dream.

 

When I read threads like this, I can't help but think that many of us have forgotten just how dominant Hakeem was. Or if it's just a matter of age, as Dave (above) suggests.

I think he was under-appreciated in the early-90's, when he was emerging, in my mind, as one of the top 3 players in the game of his era. but once he won championships, people started to really get it. i can't think of a whole lot of players who won with less than he did around him in 1994.