Shaq "I'm still in the class of Hakeem and David Robinson"

An outcome of a game is decided in all 4 QTs of play. You just cant make the simple argument that HAKEEM is better player because of his good FT shooting. HAKEEM knows OFFENSE and DEFENSE, but SHAQ is more of a DOMINANT force.

Yes IMHO, DUNCAN is a little better than HAKEEM. I'd take the BIG FUNDAMENTAL over HAKEEM.

SABONIS came into the league when he was what 34? So alof of us never got to see the REAL Sabonis in his PRIME. The guy could shoot, pass and was a force on DEFENSE. IF you asked anyone whom has seen SAbonis regularly during the days he dominated the EUROLEAGUE, they would say HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST THAT HAS EVER PLAYED the game.

I have nothing against DREAM, infact I started following the Rockets much closer because of Dream. He's one of my favorite players.

 

The fact that there weren't as many teams helps the Russell argument because talent was more concentrated among teams. Russell doesn't get the credit he does for winning, and that is the ultimate goal. He also won a college national championship with the University of San Francisco, not exactly the Boston Celtics of College BBall.

 

Is this true? I would have thought that field goal percentages were lower in the 90's-00's, resulting in more possible rebounds...

littlefish - can you please respond with all your comments in one post?

And I'm assuming the guy who put Sabonis > Hakeem is going off the talk about him being this amazing center when he was in Europe and that he came to the NBA too late to see his greatness. Eh. We'll never know.

Shaq was probably ranking based on number of rings. I think that's true. The message definitely insults Hakeem and David Robinson (both were great, let's leave it at that) but only in the sense that he's performing his own ranking on great centers... just like we are.

 

There is no doubt that when Shaq ends his career, he will be remembered as a better center than Dream, and everybody in the world outside of this board will agree. And as far a this talking about Wilt and Bill playing against little white guys, while it is true, but you can only play whose there at the time and you can't do anything about it. After Shaq's days are over, he'll go down in the top 4 of all time, right ahead of Dream at 5 (Wilt, Bill, Kareem, Shaq, Dream, David)

 

Hear, hear!

I'm old enough to have watched Russell and Wilt on a regular basis.

Both Wilt and Russell were great players but the level of competititon that they played against was inferior compared to today's league.

Russell blocked a lot of layups. How many layups are even attempted anymore? It's a dunk or a three-pointer, thank you.

Wilt was huge. He made a living off of undersized stiffs.

Neither of them had the grace, the atheticism, or the skill set of Hakeem. That being said I still wish we had traded him to Toronto two years earlier than we did. All we got was Boki, right?

 

well, they once asked a guy who played with both of them on championship teams.


he picked hakeem. he was robert horry.


they asked horry another time about hakeem, shaq, or duncan and he picked hakeem.

they asked elie about duncan or hakeem and he picked hakeem.

and not that this is up for debate but they asked cassell about hakeem vs kg and he said something like kg is great and all, but dream was dream.

and both elie and horry had more recent memories of the other guys and horry even had those guys as teammates when he picked against them. so someone who saw it all picked hakeem. if by everyone outside this board you simply mean casual fans who only know the marketed stars and hyped teams, i bet they'd pick shaq. if it was asked of a lot of writers and guys who followed or played the game for years, i'm thinking there's no landslide.

 

i forget where the numbers are now, but the slower pace of the game far more than made up for the increase in missing percentage. of course, stats seemed to be a little less concentrated in individuals back then (no stats to back it up, just seems that way when you glance at stuff from the 80's and before) so that may have something to do with it.

 

I'll have some of what he's having....

Also back to the topic... to me Shaq is great, but he cant win games when they are on the line and to me that's a huge deal..

 

When Shaq carries a team without another allstar to the title, then we can talk.

Its not unreasonable for people to put Russell, Wilt, and Kareem first, although I think I'd put Hakeem IN that group. To put him with Robinson is a complete and total insult. As for putting himself in Dream's league - let's hear from Shaq himself:

"If I can't beat you, I'll be a man and say I can't beat you. I'm not going to [cry about it] ... I'm the first guy to say that somebody is better than me. I was the first guy to say Hakeem Olajuwon beat me in the [1995] NBA finals. He killed me. He dominated me."

 

Read one of the previous posts above, and it talks about the "the concentrated talent" that was in the league. The talent you are rerefering to, sir, mostly consisted of a bunch of 6'5" non-athletic white dudes that would not even make the current CBA.

 

Shaq vs. Hakeem? Hmmmmmmmmm...

See 1995 Finals for more info.

btw- you have more real class when you stop putting yourself into a class and make a free throw and grab a rebound and get a blocked shot AND score on dunks and occasionally get the assist or steal.


How many Quadruple Doubles does Shaq have again?

Dream should use Shaq's rap dis words on Shaq, like Shaq did Kobe...

Dream to Shaq: "I'm Puffy, you Ma$e."

 

Shaq's greatest weakness is that he is NOT a complete player. He needs another perimeter stud to compliment his game.

Shaq could be the best basketball player of all time, IF Shaq had the drive of Jordan. Imagine Shaq developed a mid-range jumper, got in shape every season, play more serious defense, and god forbid, pratice his FTs to shoot like a professional. Unfortunately he didn't. Thus he is in the same class of Mermaid Robinson, one notch below Dream.

 

I believe Russell beat Wilt for a couple of championships. Not exactly a 6'5" chump.

 

i'm picturing Hakeem saying that...

 

given that the entire team was full of all-stars...

anyone who has seen hakeem play in the late 80s/early 90s will have a hard time picking anyone else over. of course wilt was mroe dominant but hakeem literally took people off the dribble from the three point line for a Dr J jam or blocked and ran the floor and jammed. the fadeaway was ridiculously good. and his defense....dikembe aside no one in our era could touch him.

russell i refuse to put up there. his offense lacks. kareem/wilt/hakeem is the top three for me. personally ima homer and proud to be one. however kareem's longevity and wilt's dominance are hard to overlook.

drob? he was good...but i'll put him in the ewing/walton category. he would have been higher but drob just didn't last.

shaq if he lasts 2-3 years with hakeem/kareem/wilt. however i'll take hakeem to build my team and you can take the rest. that clip of dream that was posted a couple weeks ago spoke for itself.

 

Russell should be considered the greatest basketball player of all time simply because he dominated in a way that no other player in any sport has ever dominated, winning championships.

BTW, I think he won two championships at the University of San Francisco with I believe Sam Jones as the only other NBA player on the roster.

 

I'd rather have Shaq than YAO

 

I'd rather have Duncan than Howard

 

Only the Rockerts fans will take Dream over Wilt. Even Dream, sir Charles, Clyde all believe that Wilt is THE BEST player ever to grace the court.

 

If winning the championship is the only criteria for a great player, Steve Kerr should be right there as the best guard ever since he has more rings than MJ.