Somebody once said that Mark Eaton was too slow to keep up with all of the fakes that Hakeem did and Hakeem often juked himself out.
Well you already gave the correct answer, although it wasn't so much eaton's size as much as it was his immobility that gave Olajuwon problems. Eaton didn't jump or react to Hakeem's multiple fakes. He just held his ground and made Hakeem shoot over or around him. Other than Eaton, I really can't recall anyone else that routinely gave Dream problems one-on-one. Now, teamwise, Seattle gave him fits because they ran so much zone and the guards and power forwards weren't offensively efficient enough to make Seattle break out of it. That is...until Chuck came along and obliterated the Sonics.
True. I remember watching some of those games. Eaton would just stand there with his arms up and prevent Dream from getting to the basket. The guy couldn't jump or move, so no fakes worked.
Totally agree! Shawn Kemp was the worse. If any of you still remember the few years before the championship year, Shawn Kemp and the Sonics were our worse nightmare.
Hakeem sometimes had a little trouble with Eaton, Koncak and other really slow centers...often they would finally be getting around to reacting to Hakeem's fake when he was into his real move. Which is just a testament to how darn quick Dream was.
Sam Perkins and Michael Cage gave Hakeem fits. I hate the Sonics. and I miss that they are not in Seattle.
Eaton made Dream change his game, when they faced off. After Dream learn to adapt, I do not think Eaton posed much of a threat. Why no mention of Shaq?
Agreed, No body one on one could stop or even give Hakeem much trouble. Not even the MVP David Robinson. "That's my trophy he's holding"-Hakeem
Those who said Karl are correct! I bet y'all don't know which center played against Olajuwon the most number of games...
