The Great Wall vs. The Dream

No he was not THAT good. The average starting center did not foul out in 10 minutes and have half his shots blocked.

I highly doubt that Yao would foul out in 10 minutes. By that logic the boxscores would be something like:

Hakeem - 27/12/4 blocks (very near his career bests)
Yao - 6/3/0 blocks (and 6 fouls in 10 minutes)

I just don't see why some of you think Hakeem would actually do better against Yao than the average early 90's starting center.

Are guys like James Donaldson, Sam Bowie, Bill Cartwright etc. etc. that much better than Yao? Hakeem did have to against the Ewings and ONeals too but not on every night. In fact, I would hazard a guess and say that his "average" opponent was of much lesser ability that Yao.

I've heard things about how guys like Ben Wallace would render Yao worthless for many of the same reasons that Hakeem would but have not really seen that happen when they play.

 

agreed Ben wallace is probably the closest player to Hakeem on the defensive end that is currently playing

he hasnt rendered Yao useless....nor has ANYONE so far this season

 

Dream will outplay Yao, but not destroy him, Yao will get 20+points. Dream will get 30+. That is all.

 

I didn't read any of the posts yet because damn, I've only been away from the board for 7 hours and people piled up more than a 100 posts. it's a very interesting question though.

Hakeem would absolutely DOMINATE. he would OWN Yao Ming. not to take anything away from Yao Ming, but I think Hakeem would own any given center at any given time from any given period of time. yes, including Wilt, Russell, Shaq (obviously), Walton, and even Kareem. the only player that can compete with Hakeem is the guy who taught him, the one and only Moses Malone, which, by the way, just like Hakeem, is very underrated.

Hakeem is way up there. Dream is not only the best center in history of basketball, he is IMHO the best player to ever touch a basketball (in your face MJ )

as for stats, I would expect the following:

Hakeem 37pts, 18 boards, 4 assists, 7 block shots, and 6 dunks
Yao 15pts, 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 block (not on Hakeem, of course )

it would be interesting to know who gets more fouls though, considering that both men always get robbed by the officials. I think officials will not call any fouls on anybody. neither guy shoots a free throw

 

I have a question for you. If Hakeem would have such stats against Yao, why didnt he average such stats over a season? Do you mean Yao would be a below average center if he plays in Hakeem's era?

 

1. English is not my mother tongue and neither is Chinese .I just wonder how many languages you can speak .
2.I don't live in Shanghai and Ive never been to China before .sorry I can't make that survey which is useless IMO for you .What's more, I am not a YOF EVEN NOT A YF.Check my comments before and you should find out acutally I don't like him and the way he plays .
3 .YOU ,as the Administrator of this site ,making this comments that Dream will dominate yao for sure is baseless.Have you watched them playing against each other.How many centers like yao did Dream dominate in his time ? In fact ,fans outside of Houston don't consider Dream as a good center as you do.You make him omnipresent just as YOF did to Yao.
I am trying to be rational and realistic.I did watch a lot of Yao's and Dream's games.I admit Dream should outplay Yao now but can't make such a ignorant "omnipotent Dream beating Yao in a few minutes"crap to kiss you ass.I really think Yao isn' worth playing for Houston basing on what guys like you really think of him in deep heart.
4.I just wanna know the reason why I was downgraded from member to rookie after a unintentionally offensive post.
sorry for my poor english making you feel worse again.I won't response to a bias person any more.

 

defensively, yes. I am not taking anything away from Yao. Yao is a great player. but considering that Dream mostly destroyed Big/Slow (as in not quick) players, I think Dream would put up such numbers. Hakeem is so freakin fast, I mean, the guy is just too quick for a center, he is too quick for a guard. one dream shake would have Yao laying on the ground (hyperbole ). Hakeem has an advantage over bigger player, that's why he destroyed Shaq. he also destroyed smaller/quicker centers like Robinson, but it wasn't as easy as destroying a big guy.

 

IMO,if there is just one game between the two great, Dream will win. If more than ten, hard to tell, maybe even. I believe Yao is the player that learns fast to adjust himself.

 

Dream's line against Yao: 37pts, 18 boards, 4 assists, 7 block shots

Dream's season career high was 27.8pts, 14reb, 3.6ast, 4.59blocks. By your estimation, not only Yao would be below average center defensively in Hakeem's era, you actually mean Yao would be the one of the worst? Can you list like 25 centers in one particular year in Hakeem's era that were better than Yao defensively?

 

Dream did not destroy Shaq, Dream's teamates did to Shaq's teamates. shaq's teammate sucked. If I remeber correctly, their numbers were very close in that series. Do you remember Anderson sukced at free line? Do you remeber Smith's game tie 3 points. Dream did destroy Robinson in the West conference finals.

 

so, I went googling for that photo of Hakeem blocking Jordan...couldn't find it (rockHEAD's rox Gallery is down among other things)

<a href="http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=625915&postcount=3">but I found this.</a>

full thread here
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=45003

lol

So, can someone find the Jordan block for RocketsMac and I...please!

 

It's moot trying to argue against Hakeem on this forum. But the question of Hakeem vs. Yao is a very intriguing one, to say the least. The contrast in styles makes it that way. I followed the entire career of Olajuwon, not as a fan, but as an objective observer. Admittedly, with Yao I've been a die-hard fan, so maybe my opinion is a little biased. I think we can get some indication of what this match-up would be like based on their performances against similar contemporaries.

Yao (Offense) vs. Hakeem (Defense) might look like...
1. Yao vs. Ben Wallace - Big Ben frustrates Yao with his quick hands, slapping balls away, denying the entry pass, etc. But Yao has also had some big nights on Wallace because he's typically single-covered.
2. Kareem vs. Hakeem - Yao has greater height and similar versatility to Kareem. In one of Hakeem's early years, Kareem poured in 46 pts against him. Kareem was very effective using his height advantage on hook shots and turnaround jumpers, two things that Yao is perfecting.

Yao (Defense) vs. Hakeem (Offense) might look like...
1. Yao vs. Amare Stoudemire - ultra quick and explosive, Amare is one player who can go off on Yao. In fact he's the only "center" this year who has outscored Yao in head-to-head competition. However, the comparison breaks down due to a contrast in styles: Hakeem had a supreme post game, while Amare lives mostly off of pick-and-roll feeds from Steve Nash. There's really no one out there today who is a good analogy for the Dream.
2. Mark Eaton vs. Hakeem - this has already been mentioned ad nauseum, but Eaton was a real challenge for Hakeem. With all his quickness advantage, you'd think he would have spun past him at will. He didn't. Hakeem's post game really suffered in the face of Eaton's towering height. I can't see Yao not having similar success, given his superior quickness vis-a-vis Eaton and similar strength.

Therefore, my conclusion is: it's inconclusive. I highly doubt Hakeem would dominate - as many here believe. Yao would hold his own statistically. But he's yet to prove that he can lead his team to victory consistently and Hakeem has. Give him a couple more years and Yao will show that he's worthy of the comparison to the legend of Hakeem.

 

just remembered Rocketeer did a desktop of it...note the frame by frame section.

<img src="http://www.clutchfans.net/images/wallpaper/2000rockets29.jpg">

here for higher resolution

http://clutchfans.net/wallpaper_archive.cfm

 

LOL at people who went "stop living the past" or whatever.

guys, one advice, just go watch a couple games for Hakeem. you will be more than satisfied.

I am not acting like an "old person" or anything. I barely got a chance to catch Hakeem play in 95 until the end of his career, which is somehow considered his "declining period". but despite being young, I happen to be a lover of old school basketball. I love the game of basketball the way it was played back then. no between the legs dribble, no fancy/showoff moves, just getting it done. that's why I own a wide collection of old basketball games videos. and of course, being from H-town, I have almost every game for the rockets since Hakeem started playing. I watch them over and over again and even though I am a 5-6 point guard, I learn something from dream every single time I watch the tapes. Dream is more than a superstar, he is more than a legend, he changed the way basketball is played. he had a huge effect on what the game came to be in our day.

one thing that I found really surprising is that almost every single player in the NBA today copies one move or another from Hakeem. I am serious, I find it really amazing. it doesn't matter whether it's a guard/forward/center. for centers, it's really obvious, you can see it clearly. and by centers, I mean big men/post up players. from Elton Brand, to Kevin Garnett, to Amare. those are some of the most successful players in imitating Dream's moves (even though they still cant get it quite right). every single post up player in the league right now tries to do the one and only dreamshake. even our own Yao Ming. in fact, Yao Ming's favorite player IS Hakeem. all the post up players try to do the "show the ball from the left, go right" move that Hakeem did on Robinson and countless other players. now we it come to guards, u might argue that guards dont really copy Hakeem's move, but if u look closely, you will find out that a lot of moves are taken from him. Sam Cassell is known for his fast break where he did a dream fake. Tracy Mcgrady likes to do his semi-spin move and then go back and fade away especially from the left side of the basket. u will find that every single player uses something he learned from Hakeem.

Dream was kinda like MJ, he didn't just play the game, he contributed to the game. that's what seperates them from many others. Larry Bird was a great player, but he just simple played the game really well, just simple jumpshots and layups (he was obviously super good at shooting the ball). MJ and Dream were creative, they gave the game new dimensions. they came up with totally new moves that would be taken from for generations and generations. Kareem is up in that category as well, he obviously "invented" the skyhook. George Gervin did the finger roll. MJ introduced so many new moves that everybody tries to imitate until this day (from the top of my head, Steve Nash's runner where he fades sideways and extends his right leg, Kobe's jump shot...). Hakeem is the same, he introduced so many NEW moves. and by new, I mean never done before. he was so creative. the guy who taught him the fundamentals was Moses Malone, he just gave him something to begin with. Hakeem worked on the moves and he improved them, added new stuff to them, he took what he learned from Moses and developed great moves that are still used by players today.

sorry for this super long post. I just have this thing where, once I start talking about Hakeem, I cant stop. I really went way off topic here. but it's really important to know the lasting effects of Rockets great Hakeem Olajuwon. he was more than just a great basketball player.

 

yes he did. they even said it on the documentary on NBA TV (which always underrates Hakeem). for further info, check out my sig

Shaq's teammates didn't suck, they were in the finals. even though our "average" supporting cast did really well back then, I wouldn't say they outplayed their counterparts.

but still, truth is truth and everybody knows it, Hakeem did destroy Shaq not only in the finals but single time the played against each other

 

LOL.

I love that pic. I think I still have that original pic from the newspaper. I wasn't even in the U.S, I was overseas. but I watched the game and I went crazy. and my dad was in the U.S back then so he cut out the picture out of the newspaper and he sent it to me by mail. it was one pleasant surprise. he got me a championship Tshirt as well. I really love my dad for doing that

 

lol at Jordan's face. he looks scared as hell. he actually looks kinda mad to me because he knew that this pic will be remembered for generations and will haunt him for the rest of his life