Who do you think would win a one on one game? Hakeem Olajuwon or Yao Ming... i know this question sounds dumb.. but how would Hakeem shoot over someone who is 7'6"... and can pretty much dominate Shaq most of the time... thanks for voting
Are you talking about the Dream on the Raptors or dream in his heyday? And Yao at his "prime" or Yao now? Hell, it doesn't matter any way you cut it. Yao would get his ass handed to him by Dream. Remember Dream vs. DRob? Dream vs (a skinny) Shaq? Dream vs. Ewing? Dream vs. just about anyone you want to throw out there? Dream would win, flat out.
yao would get murdered...how could anyone vote for yao? hakeem slaughtered the defensive player of the yao...what would yao do? nothing.
He wouldn't shoot over him, he would shoot around, in front, behind, and through him. He had some trouble....though was still good....against 7-5 Mark Eaton in his younger days when most of his offense was running and jumping and dunking...but the prime Hakeem of 1993-96? I would feel sorry for Yao. You want to see domination against Shaq? Watch the 1995 finals. People who even think about voting for Yao should send Hakeem a signed letter of apology.
Mark Eaton was one reason why Hakeem developed an outside game. If Shaq and David Robinson in their prime get destroyed by a Hakeem in his prime, Yao doesn't stand a chance (although it's debatable whether Shaq was destroyed by Hakeem). That being said, Yao hasn't hit his prime... at least I hope not.
Right now? Obviously Yao, Hakeem is out of the league already. 1995 Hakeem v. 2004 Yao? Hakeem for sure, just too fast for Yao to handle with no help defense. 1995 Hakeem v. 2007 Yao? Who knows? What if Yao fufills his potential and because a bigger, stronger Abdul-Jabbar? Probably still Hakeem because you have to dribble a lot in one on one. But you never know. I'm gonna vote for Yao though. Don't wanna live in the past.
I actually think it will be the other way around. In a team game, if they guard each other one on one, and Yao and Hakeem both are able to receive the ball on the blocks, then it's anybody's call because Yao can shoot over Hakeem and Hakeem can go around Yao. But one on one, height difference matters less than speed. Imagine: Hakeem: check (Yao checks the ball) (Hakeem blows right by Yao)
no contest. the dream would dominate yao. 1. the dream would bat all those weak stuff that yao put up 2. the dream would go yao every time. then, he would show the young center what's the real dream shake. (yao IS just an average defender. not many good players are afraid of him.)
Yao in his prime (if he reaches at least 3/4th of his potential) vs. Hakeem in his prime would be a really interesting matchup. But if it's a true 1 on 1 matchup where you have to take it out at the top arch, then Hakeem would win hands down because I don't see anyway that Yao could be effective if he had to dribble the ball that much. If however we are talking about just letting them go against each other in the post, and having someone else feeding them the ball then that's a different story. In his prime Yao should be practically unstoppable offensively (like I said if he even reaches 3/4 of his potential). At that point Yao SHOULD have have his hook shot and turnaround jumper developed into unstoppable goto moves. Hakeem would get a good advantage with his quicks, and be able steal a bunch of balls. But I still think Yao's size would give Hakeem problems on offense and defense. It would still be a very close matchup, but I'll go with Yao by a nose. Granted like I said, this is only in terms of a matchup where Yao and Dream fight for position on the block and then someone else sends an entry pass in. A real 1 on 1 game would probably be embarassing for Yao. And it wouldn't be any fun to watch either. Who wants to see two big guys going at it from the top of the arch and dribbling around. I'd rather watch a Steve vs. Cat 1 on 1 contest. Maybe someone should make a poll about that.
i'll assume this is prime hakeem versus yao now (if it was second year hakeem, hakeem wouldn't have all his moves and everything but he would aggressive yao to death and yao would be crying to make the bad man stop after a while). if they had to dribble it in, yao may never make it past the free throw line. if they just posted, yao would get some shots off and with his touch hit them. but the number of times hakeem would poke it away from behind like webber did or pull the chair out from under yao or force yao out way further than he wants or just plain scare yao into taking quick shots to prevent all that other stuff would be way too much. also, yao just wouldn't have the quickness to ever get past hakeem and would have to rely on hooks and fadeaways and would never get the offensive rebound trying to take shots like that. on offense, hakeem would just face yao up and either get easy jumpers or go by yao if he got too close. oh, and if david robinson wasn't fast enough to guard hakeem, yao would be spinning trying to guard hakeem's array of moves. now if yao one day gets bigger and stronger and better, he may only start losing 15-11 or 15-10 or something. 3/4 of yao's potential could hang with hakeem in his prime? that's another apology letter that needs to go out. hakeem in the '95 playoffs was illegal.
What about Hakeem (or Akeem) in his second season versus Yao in his second season? '85-'86 Akeem 23.5ppg, 11.5rpg, 3.4bpg, 2.0apg, .526FG%, .645FT%, 195 TO '03-'04 Yao 17.7ppg, 9.1rpg, 1.9bpg, 1.5apg, .526FG%, .812FT%, 190 TO While Akeem it's no surprise that Akeem is the better defensive player and rebounder, it's surprising to see that he averaged more assists than Yao. And while their FG percentages are identical, Akeem was more likely the focal point of the offense than Yao has been this year and obviously took more shots. Yao kicks AKeem's butt at a free throw shooting contest, and turnovers are about equal. While Yao has better range than Akeem did at that point in his career, I would have to say that '85-'86 Akeem would smoke Yao in a one-on-one contest...
Hakeem in his prime would run circles around Yao. Plus there is no answer for the Dreamshake. All of Hakeem's spins, shakes, and fadeaways would have Yao's head spinning.
