Guarding Hakeem straight up in his prime was almost impossible. He was quick, strong, aggressive, and had great post moves, along with decent range on his jump shot. Even if they were receiving the ball in the post, Yao would have been rushed into quick shots, don't forget that Hakeem used to feature in the league top ten in steals. Very quick hands. And if Yao went up weakly, as he is sometimes prone to, he would have several shots returned to sender. Hakeem is giving up 6-8 inches, but he had long arms, and great, quick leaping ability. I honestly recommend that everyone takes another look at some old tapes of Olajuwon. I had forgotten how good he really was. In an era when there were several "great" centres playing in the league, Dream stood out. JeeberD, don't forget that Ralph played a full season for the Rockets in Akeem's second season in the league. He would have received his fair share of shots too.
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I'm amazed that anybody voted for Yao. Maybe one day this question will be more fair to ask, but right now it's bordering insanity. I'd certainly love to see Yao become a player that deserves a few votes on this poll, but at this point, it's just nuts to vote for Yao on this poll. Absolutely nuts.
Lets just put it this way. Game to 11, make it take it. If Hakeem gets the ball first, Yao aint gettin it back.....
Hakeem played in the NCAA and brought the Cougars to NCAA Final Fours. In other words, he faced great competition before he even played in the NBA. Yao played in China against less admirable foes. Although it’s fun to compare stats, the stats are not really comparable. I think Yao’s third and fourth year might be more comparable to Hakeem’s first and second
You've got to be kidding me. The Rockets dominated the Magic with the sweep, but Hakeem didn't dominated Shaq. I'll give him an edge but won't go as far as to say he dominated. Right now, Dream would beat Yao, but it's very hard to say in the near future though. Yao's length would definitely give Hakeem all kinds of problems. For the 1 on 1 game, slashers get a tremendous advantage versus jumpshooters and neither of them are really slashers like a David Robinson type of a player. Yes you heard that right, I think the mermaid can and will beat Hakeem in a 1 on 1 battle because of his slashing abilities.
Not enough BTW, watch the 95 conference finals before posting something so ridiculous on a Rockets BBS. That was <b> dominance </b>.
Just one series? It was the only year when D Robinson won the MVP. They were both in their prime that year. And Hakeem outscored him something like 36 - 18 in the <b>6 </b> game series... Its not that hard to realize Chen. Robinson was officially Hakeem's b**** after that.....even Spurs fans know that....
HeyDude, Take a step back and look at the following statistic: Regular-season meetings: 42 <b>Robinson won 30, Olajuwon won 12</b> Robinson: 19.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG Olajuwon: 21.9 PPG, 11.3 RPG Postseason meetings: 6 Olajuwon won 4, Robinson won 2 Robinson: 23.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG Olajuwon: 35.3 PPG, 12.5 RPG
Here is an article from NBA.com..... <b> Hakeem vs Robinson: 1995 Western Conference Finals First, let’s set up the participants. David Robinson was the MVP in 1995, the league’s best player. The Spurs had the better team, and the home court advantage in the series. Do you remember what happened? The Rockets took the first two games in San Antonio. The Spurs came back and won the next two games in Houston. The Rockets won the next two games to take the series 4-2. David Robinson in series: 23.8 points 11.3 rebounds 2.7 assists 1.5 steals Hakeem Olajuwon in series: 35.3 points 12.5 rebounds 5.0 assists 4.1 blocks 1.3 steals Game 1: Olajuwon: 27 pts - Robinson 21 pts Game 2: Olajuwon: 41 pts - Robinson 32 pts Game 3: Olajuwon: 43 pts - Robinson 29 pts Game 4: Olajuwon: 20 pts - Robinson 20 pts Game 5: Olajuwon: 42 pts - Robinson 22 pts Game 6: Olajuwon: 39 pts - Robinson 19 pts I can’t find a more dominating performance against a league MVP on a superior team in the postseason. In the last two games, Hakeem outscored Robinson 81-41. Sean Elliott: “It was the most dominating performance by a player that I was ever witness to. But I blame our (San Antonio’s) marketing department. Hakeem had won the MVP award the previous year, and felt he deserved it in 1995. David won it, and it was announced right before our (Western Conference Finals) series started. The first game was in San Antonio, and they put together a tape with a collage of great Robinson plays. I found out later that the tape (and the naming of Robinson as MVP) spurred Olajuwon to new heights. Olajuwon was just unstoppable. But it wasn’t just David’s fault. Dennis (Rodman) was intent on getting every rebound, but he wouldn’t come out and guard anyone. That’s why Robert Horry killed us in that series. Dennis wouldn’t guard him! That doesn’t take anything away from Hakeem in the series. He was just awesome.” </b> nuff said
Well, he averaged around 10 more points a game than he did, so you can call it whatever you want...all I know is that he outplayed him a lot more than Yao did, if you can even say he outplayed/plays him at all given last weeks performance. Not that hard. Hakeem did play against tall players like Eaton & Bradley....once he developed an outside game, those guys had no chance. They were simply too slow. While Yao might be much quicker than them and have decent speed for his size, well, its simply no match. A "slashing battle"? LOL, I've never heard of that; all I know is that he couldn't guard him 1 on 1 in 1995, slashing or not. He couldn't guard hiim facing the basket, he couldn't guard him back to the basket...from long range or from short range it didn't matter. Look, comparing Yao to Hakeem is not fair to Yao, but statistically even the second year Akeem was a vastly superior player who lead his team to the finals....Yao will never ever be the defensive player Hakeem was/is, and would just simply be overmatched by his athleticism, as was everybody else. There never has been another player like him, before or since.
Yao has been playing basketbal for his entire life. Hakeem started playing basketbal when he was 17 so saying that you should compaire yao's third or fourth year with hakeems first and second is in my opinion not true. Hakeem learned extremly fast. he was still developing when he started playing in the nba. Hakeem was a freak. he was unbelievable. if Yao becomes even half the player hakeem was i will be happy. (i really like Yao as a player. i think he can become great. But hakeem was unbelievable)
HeyDude, have you ever played 1 on 1? If not, you will never EVER understand. It's a whole different game compared to a team concept. Just the type of game that they have, I can see DRob being better than Hakeem if they play each other 1 on 1 because of DRob's slashing abilities. Hakeem can't really penetrate to the hoop. This skill is more essensial than posting up and doing fadaways, or shooting outside shots when playing 1 on 1. My apologies for causing this thread to drift off.
Hakeem met Patrick Ewing in his prime, Jabbar in pretty good shape, Shaq when Shaq was developing, D. Robinson in his prime, A. Mourning in his prime Ask any of the above centers about playing against Hakeem.. Shaq still reverences him Robinson doesn't want to talk about it P. Ewing won't forget him Jabbar saw it coming Mourning knows He redefined the position. My best description is relentless, insanely athletic and strong in body and heart. Yao will have to reach a higher peak before he could hold his own against Hakeem at his peak.
