They're going to win more defensive awards than offensive (or all round), their defensive win share will be more than their offensive, their stats for defensive play will outshine their offensive stats, pick 1? all of the above? Jordan was a magnificent defender, but his scoring will always be his best side, Hakeem was a magnificent scorer but his blocking and stealing (for a 5) will always be his. We said he mired in mediocrity for much of his peak which is exactly what he did, he wasn't in his peak in his 2nd year, for a college player, the peak is what 28-35 or thereabouts, for a high school player, maybe 26-27 through to 33-34? might be a little later for a center or point guard, perhaps a tad earlier for a wing player. Their careers are actually kind of eerily similar, both made an nba finals ahead of the curve but played a team they had no real chance against, both then had teams that decreased and became first round roadkill within 2 years, if Dwight stays in Orlando the way it is, he's gonna be stuck in that same cycle that followed for the next half a decade for Hakeem too. Will Dwight be as good as him at their peaks? probably not, but he will be more successful, and will probably finish his career among centers as decorated with individuals awards as anyone except Kareem, and if he gets a team with CP3 will win as many rings as Kareem did too.
Yao looked pretty damn good in his 2nd yr against shaq in his prime. Lol at the haters Yao was a great player on and off the court. There's a reason why tmac forced his way to Houston and It wansnt because of r awsome weather. It's because he wanted to play with the best big man in the NBA. I'll measure Yao by the eye ball test and what his peers say which is nothing but great things about the guy as one of the best big men in the game rather than listen to a kid behind a Computer talking smack about some Howard power dunk he saw on espn. Anybody from the Hakeem days knows how good Yao was and that he was an absolute joy to watch in the post with his array of moves in the post I hope we see a big man in the NBA like him soon again cause with shaq an Yao gone there is none left and that's the way centers are supposed to play the good ones atleast. I love Dwight and he the best center now but in terms of being a alltime great he'd further away than a ritered Yao his offense relies soley on being bigger than his peers and when he did face a real center (Yao, shaq) he got exposed to the player he is.
Yao dominated Howard when Dwight was winning DPOY and all nba 1st team. That's a fact. Yao destroyed Howard period.
ok... Using your definition of defensive versus offensive (or all around) awards on defense Hakeem won 2 defensive POY + 9 All-defensive team awards. On offensive (or all around) Hakeem won 1 MVP + 2 Finals MVP + 12 All NBA awards. Already the count is 11 defensive to 15 offensive (or all around) awards. And that's throwing out 12 Allstar + 1 All Rookie + NBA 50 team. The final count is about 11 defensive to 29 "all around" awards. Using your own words: "They're going to win more defensive awards than offensive (or all round)" whatever this means, and whatever player you were trying to describe here... it's clear using your own definitions that Hakeem is not that player. Trying to make some sense of your assertionsm just about the only "offensive (or all around)" he's missing is a scoring title. If that's your sole definition for why he's not an "offensive" 2 way superstar in your eyes... Well that's bad news for the league since in that case there are only about 8 offensive superstars in the past 3 decades of the NBA. Everyone else is a defensive specialist. Using your definition of "their stats for defensive play will outshine their offensive stats". Hakeem averaged 33 ppg in the 95 Playoffs. That is MORE than Jordan averaged in his 1996 1997 or 1998 championship playoff runs. Yet you type "you need go no further than the guy who won the 6 rings either side of Hakeem's." So to you Jordan is the "great 2 way player whose offense was his stronger side" yet Hakeem scored more than Jordan in the playoffs hmm.... On top of that you claim "there's no way the same Hakeem today could average the blocks Hakeem in the 80's/90's did, would he average more than Dwight? maybe slightly." Dwight is averaging 2.2 blocks. "Slightly more" would be 2.3? For your reference, 2.3 BPG is what Wade averaged in the 76ers series this year. So a guy who averages 2.3 blocks (same as Wade) and for his playoff career scored MORE than Wade (Hakeem = 25.90 Dwayne Wade =25.87) is not an offensive 2 way player. Okay. Hakeem scored more playoff PPG than Kobe Bryant (25.38) OR Kareem (24.31) OR Shaq (24.31). Those are not offensive minded players... This is just nonsense. Dream came into the league and his 2nd year he was averaging almost 24 ppg and beating down Kareem and Magic in the playoffs. Dream came into the league and almost immediately was better than Dwight after 7 years in the league. What is this nonsense seriously where you throw out completely arbitrary stuff like "for a college player, the peak is what 28-35 or thereabouts, for a high school player, maybe 26-27 through to 33-34? ." What does that even mean? It's different for every player. Tim Duncan was peaked at 23 years old. Sam Cassell had his best season at 35. You don't have any stats, or even any historical events to back it up it's just stuff you're randomly spewing solely to match up with things that have been said in this thread. The bottom line is that Dream is not like Howard. He came into the league averaging 21/12/2.7. By his second year he was 24/12/3.4 and already beating one of the greatest teams in NBA history with maybe the greatest center in NBA history en route to the NBA Finals. He was an incredible OFFENSIVE and DEFENSIVE power with NO LIABILITIES which allowed him to exploit OTHER SUPERSTARS in the center position. None of this applies to Dwight. This has already gone too long. I started posting because the things ppl on the other side of the very obvious Yao-Dwight debate seemed to be ignoring very clear an incontrovertible statistical and video evidence of Dwight's complete ownership. But when people start posting nonsense about Hakeem not being an offensive center, or not being in his prime or being mired in mediocrity, and then not even able to back it up in the slightest other than to make more generalizations, clutchfans is being trolled.
Same here, I lost it when that fool said "Hakeem couldn't carry his team alone". Don't try to insult the Dream you idiots.
Thread became Yao vs Dwight into Yao vs Hakeem into Hakeem vs Dwight. NOOOIIIIIICEE. saying Hakeem couldn't carry his team alone is like saing Kobe couldn't carry his team post-shaq.
Yao could hold his own against pre-injury Shaq at age of 22, Howard couldn't hold his own against Yao at age 24. I never got the idea that Yao wouldn't do well in 90s. I think it's the other way around. The rule was much friendly toward traditional center like Yao in 90s, he would only do better.
Yao made Dwight look like kwame brown. Seriously, Dwight has no more competition left out there. At least for now.
