What is Your Memory of Hakeem in 1986 Lakers Series

I was born that year, that's why I wasn't completely sure.I said that because I wasn't exactly sure when the game was played, not my b-day. Plus, I wasn't really thinking, so don't say the playoffs aren't played in September. I know now, wasn't sure then.

 

My memory recalls this:

I thought we were going to lose game 5 after Hakeem got
in that fight with Mitch Kupchek (sp).

Jim Peterson really played well, which gave a chance in the end
for Sampson.

 

Hakeem had a turn around jumper his first yr in the nba. He had the dream shake by his second yr. Just because he didn't get his recognition until later in his career, doesn't mean he wasn't good. Jordan was good way before 91, but people don't recognize you until team success. Like Bibby did last yr and Brand also, the recognition outside the hoops world doesn't come until team success.

Hakeem was dominant from the word go. Hakeem was so good that even a double and triple team couldn't stop him from shooting the dreamshake and getting a high quality shot. I will take this to my grave that that was the best Rockets team ever! That team could matchup and mismatch any team the rockets ever put in the floor.The could go quick in the backcourt with Level and Wiggins or they could go big with lloyd and reid. Despite the fact they lost a high quality pg in John Lucas.Ralph would kill Thorpe or Barkley,Akeem was more explosive than Hakeem, McCray was solid and the backcourt was no contest as well as the bench. Don't ever think hakeem just got dominant in 94. Does any remember the 23pts 14 rebs and 4.59 blks per game in like 89? Players came in with way more polish than they do now.

 

Hakeem was VERY VERY raw, but he still could shoot the turnaround as well as a baseline shot.

He was just so much quicker then any center or PF and would simply out quick them.

He led the league in offensive rebounds that year too, I believe.

No one said he ONLY got his points on putbacks, just that he was more of a rebounder then a natural scorer.

When you have Ralph and Hakeem, not to mention Sweet Lew and Wiggins and Bobby Joe Reid, John Lucas, and Jim Peterson etc...etc....you have a lot of options.

That team could have been great if it were not for COCAINE decimating the top 3 guards.

DD

 

Akeem Olajuwon brought his team to the finals in his 2nd year- it took Jordan longer. Hakeem had the team mentality in '86-I remember him fouling out of a game in the Celtics Series- He stood at the bench and cheered his team mates. - totally unselfish. He was not a raw talent.

I rememeber later when Steve Patterson - Rockets GM during the saddest Rocket days wanted to trade Akeem - or not renegotiate the contract - Magic Johnson told the media they wanted Hakeem on the Lakers - to win championships- Akeem was respected early in his career.

I started watching Rockets basketball in the 1986 series with the Lakers' I was 29 years old. I had watched Akeem in college - U of H Basketball.

Akeem got into fights early in his career until he connected with Islam- he became a very mature player later. This man had sick skills - springs in his legs. My hero- we were lucky Hakeem Olajuwon chose to remain a Rocket as long as he did.

 

Another memory I have about that series is this one play where Kareem attempted his sky hook, only to have it rejected. I remember everyone making a HUGE deal about. However, for the life of me I can't remember if it was Ralph or Dream who swatted it.

Anybody remember?

 

I remember someone saying Hakeem was the only one able to block it, so it may have been him. But I didn't get to watch the series, since I wasn't born.

 

It was Bill Willoughby that blocked the sky hook.

6'8" with a 48" vertical leap, a great athlete who never quite fulfilled his promise.

At one time before OT, he had the highest FG% by any Rocket player.548% for his career, I think.

DaDakota

 

I don't think Willoughby was on the Rockets during the 85-86 season.

 

I was just going to post that the only thing I remembered from that series other than winning was Akeem blocking the skyhook. "Unbelieveable" before the words were uttered. Everyone was just in disbelief that he got a clean block on the most unblockable shot of all time.

 

It was Ralph who blocked it because I remember Sports Illustrated having an advertisement of the block with the note saying "What's it like being 7'2 and being an inch too short". A buddy of mine had a poster of it also.

 

HP,

Hakeem did not get double teamed much at all that series, in fact he did not get double teamed much during his first few years.

Ralph and Hakeem shared the spotlight.....and Ralph was the more polished player.

Hakeem was a great athlete who came into the league and played a very Moses Malone style of game, out hustling the other team all over the court.

Also, the key to the series was that Dell Harris assigned one of our guards to pick up Magic Johnson as soon as the Rockets shot the ball, thus KILLING the outlet pass for the Lakers and ending their fast breaking. This alone kept the game close and we had a better half court team with Dream & Ralph.

As for your comments about whether or not I watched it very well, as someone who grew up on the Rockets and was in college at the time, you bet I saw every second of that series as well as the next one against the Celtics.

Maybe if you were a fan then, you would not have to rely on everyone else's interpetations looking for something to argue with people about.

S
A
D

DaDakota

 

Against the Lakers I remember Dream was very much unstoppable. Kareem had no answer for him and was constantly harassed by him and Sampson. I remember Dream spinning away from multiple defenders and still finding away to put the ball in the basket even with two or three people trying to guard him at the same time in paint. Dream had to be the most athletic man in the game back then including Jordan.

BTW as I recall Lucas had already been suspended for substance abuse and Allen Levell was wearing a soft cast on his left hand (which was also his shooting hand) and Robert Reid was starting at the point guard spot.

Against the Celtics the most I remember from Dream and Sampson both was frustration. Every time either of them got the ball in the paint one of the Celtics had a hand on it. I remember Bill Walton really having a good series as a reserve and thinking that he was the best big man on the court when he was on the floor. Dream had the same fire against the Celtics as he had against the Lakers and was still a force down low but Sampson seemed to disappear for most of this series although I think he had one real good game. I looked for the box score of this series for a long time and could not find it.

DaDa,
Dream was a good offensive rebounder but not like Moses Malone or Charles Barkley was. As I recall Dream led the league in defensive rebounding a couple of years but never in offensive rebounding. And if memory serves me right the Rockets were already starting to have a tough year before Lewis Lloyed and Mitchel Wiggins were popped for drugs. Both of those guys were good but neither was a real difference maker. Loosing John Lucas as the floor leader and Ralph Sampson to injuries was the real difference in my opinion. Allen Levall was very erratic and played out of control a lot and Robert Reid (who had a filled in well at point after Lucas went out the previous year) was just not as effective in the 86-87 season.

 

DaDakots,

Your confusing the 81 team with the 86 team.

1. Bill Fitch was the coach not Del Harris

2. Robert Reid guarded Magic most of the series.

3. Dreams game was not like Moses Malones game. Malone would out smart you and was the most dominant offensive rebounder of all time. Mo never got in foul trouble while Akeem was foul prone. Moses was very polished while Dream was very raw. Dream was 50 times more athletic than Mo but Mo new every trick in the book. If you are basing your comparison of the two on hustle then sure they both could out hustle the opponent but I'm not willing to say Edwardo Najara's game is just like a young Akeem because he hustles.

4. Dream was double teamed and triple teamed during that series a lot.

5. Ralph Sampson and Dream both played a lot with out the other due to Fitch not wanting to sit both at the same time, foul trouble and ejections. I always thought that the 86 WCF was when the Rockets stopped being Ralphs team and started being Dreams team even though Ralph hit the last second shot that ended the series.

 

HP,
I think you are taking the term RAW to the extreme. Dream was very raw in a lot of areas. He knew how to get the ball in the basket but he did not have a signature shot back then and many of his shots were just pure athleticism and put backs. While all of his shots were not put backs and dunks he certainly got a lot more than most players just based on his athleticism, size and determination alone. Dreams offensive game did not get all that far from the basket in his early years as it did later in his career. While he was highly skilled with in ten feet of the goal he was still raw once he got the pall outside of ten feet. Since he could not dribble back then he was not a real threat at putting the ball on the floor like he became later in his career.

Maybe the term Raw is not the right term to use with the young Dream but he could not dribble to save his life (slap, slap, slap was the sound his hands made hitting the basketball) and although he may not have been a selfish player he was not very good at passing out of the double team. It is certainly fair to say that there were parts of Dreams game that were very very raw.

On the other hand there were parts of his game that were far advanced even in his rookie year. I think he was in the top ten in every major statistical category accept assists during his first several years in the league which really set him apart from guys like Ewing.

 

I think a better comparison would be Shaq. Jordan's game in my opinion was very complete (although his jumper needed some work) when he first entered the league.

Shaq on the other hand just looked like a dunker to me (on the offensive end) when he first entered the league. He did not look like someone that could put the ball in the basket on any consistent basis if he was more than ten feet from the rim. I always thought that Zo's game was much more complete than Shaq's when they first came into the league. Shaq was just so physically dominating that he more than made up for the deficiencies in his game. Now Shaq has a very soft touch with very good distance on his shot. Shaqs game is certainly more complete now than in 95.

Maybe the reason the term raw is so popular with the early Akeem was because when he tried to dribble he looked like he was playing with a basketball for the first time. When Jordan would miss a wide-open jumper he didn’t look new to the game he just looked like he needed to work on his jumper.

 

I think he was mostly raw talent, which includes that turn around J. That doesn't become an effective NBA weapon unless you have the raw talent to make it work.

I didnt' mean to say that the Rockets didn't call playes for Hakeem, or that he wasn't one of the main options on Offense. What I was saying is that while he may have been a main option, and had plays run through him, it was his raw talent that made them work.

Do you think he was as refined a player in '86 as he was in '95?

In '93-'95 he had it down to a science. It was amazing. In '86 it was amazing because he made it work, relying a little less on the science and a lot more on the raw talent. Hakeem was a hard worker and already added things to his game that he could use like the Turn around J. But later he added about 150 other things, and nobody knew what to expect.