Chen, you're all over the map here. Now you're talking about Amare vs. Hakeem?? Look, JeeberD already posted the 2nd year numbers of Dream and Yao, which are so clearly in Hakeem's favor. Hakeem also played more minutes (36.28 vs. 33.21), but Akeem was also playing with an All Star MVP center (the previous year) he shoved over to the 4 spot during his 2nd year, Ralph Sampson, racking up those numbers anyway. Ralph was still in his prime and uninjured, but Akeem still moved him out of his position. Amazing. And who was Pat Riley most worried about during the '86 WC Finals, which the Rocks took 4-1? Well, he wrote on the blackboard in the locker room before the games, "Contain Akeem!"... that was his number one priority. And they couldn't do it. Look, I love Yao as a player and think, if he stays healthy and doesn't wear himself out during the offseason playing for China, that he's going to be a great player, but this is just an unfair comparison for Yao. It's no contest. And I watched Dream from his first days playing for the Cougars.
Chen, David took centers out to the perimeter cause his post up game was NOT as good as Dreams. Hakeem could do a multiple things, not just face up his defender like David. Why face up when u can post up? next time down, why post up when u can just cross him over? why do the crossover when u can do the dreamshake? why do the dreamshake when u can just school him to the hoop, get David jumping out of his shorts, and then just softly lay it up while the crowd just roars of laughter? Chen, you are not giving us anything other then David's 'face up moves'. Give us something else to work w/ here, eh? If David keeps doing that over and over on Dream, he will stop him in his sleep! Meanwhile u dont know what the hell Hakeem has cooking for David after each score. To all that dont think Hakeem could not put the ball on the floor. <b> He could </b>. Watch the tapes if you choose. He could freaking cross you over for God's sake. The only other big man to do that is KG! He just didnt face up always like David, cause he could do so many other things, unlike Chen's softie
One frickn play! He did not beat him to the hole with the ball. A pump fake made him jump and for the easy hoop. Basing it one play is rediculous. I base it on HOW they play, not just one play. Would you agree that Hakeem would have to do that consistently to beat DRob 1 on 1 right?
http://www.nba.com/0001Video/olajuwon_shake_052495.avi This one play directly contradicts all of the things you just claimed. Watch the long highlight clip if you want to see more as there's a few more clips of him doing the same. He took the ball out on the baseline near the three point line, faced him down, and got straight to the hoop on Robinson. I don't know what more you want. If you have any counterevidence other than just running your mouth, I suggest you post it. Otherwise, I think we've pretty much shut the door on that argument.
How is that u conviniently decide <b>not </b> to respond to my posts when i acutually talk basketball, and tell u that I have repeatedly seen Hakeem beat David with the dribble. Just last week! I freaking have that series in DVD form! I have been posting all day about several different ways Hakeem can beat him 1 on 1, taking the ball from out to the 3 point line........all u have came back is 'well, the mermaid had the face up and slash game u know'.......<b>extremely lame Chen </b>.....u r getting exposed real fast on this BBS.....
I'm just saying, you just don't know how Yao will do against Hakeem defensively one on one given Hakeem's problems with tall guys like Eaton....playing the devil's advocate here...especially for people who thinks that Hakeem is too fast for Yao.
I think he could. That one play was a good representation of how well rounded Olajuwon's game was. He wasn't awkward at all until his later year's. Remember..this guy played soccer. So he knew a lot about moving forward and laterally and that's dribbling with his feet and not his hands.
If you think Hakeem can slash to the hoop better than Amare, you're an idiot. I want to know who Amare is taking out to the perimeter and blowing by off of the dribble. Here's a Q/A from NBA.com: QUESTION: Amare, what are some of the things that you need to work on? STOUDEMIRE: You’ve got to work on everything, man. You’ve got to be a workaholic, you know what I mean. But my weaknesses, if that’s what you wanted, my ball handling skills and my jump shot, I’ve got to work on those a lot more.
I'm just saying, you just don't know how Yao will do against Hakeem defensively one on one given Hakeem's problems with tall guys like Eaton....playing the devil's advocate here...especially for people who thinks that Hakeem is too fast for Yao. Hakeem's problem with tall guys? He had problems with Eaton for 2 or 3 years, then he figured out to just take him outside and drive it past him. Eaton was no longer a problem. Now, what other big men did Hakeem ever have problems with?
Hell, he is/was too fast for Yao. He was able to be a nightmare for Jabbar during his 2nd year in the '86 WC Finals I mentioned. Jabbar was still good enough to be All NBA that year and win championships the year before and in '87 and '88. I think Jabbar in '86 was a better player than Yao is now. As a matter of fact, Akeem and Kareem had the same scoring average that year, and were among the leaders at 23.5 and 23.4 respectively. edit: I don't think Jabbar was a better player... he was a better player. If yao can ever come close to Kareem, we are incredibly lucky. And that's more likely than a comparison with the Dream.
I do not respond to insignificant or irrelevant post sometimes, sorry. So the bottom line is this: What boils down if Hakeem and Robinson playing one on one against each other is that both have to face up and dribble and slash, right? Would you agree to that? Based on that one play, is it conclusive enough to say that Hakeem can effectively and consistenly penetrate against Robinson if they were to play 1 on 1? And vise versa...
Blew by Eddie griffin so many times against the rockets. I've seen him burnt by Duncan and Garnett in games last year. Are those guys good enough defensively for ya? Can Hakeem do the same?
Its too bad u find actual basketball talk and evidence irrelevant. There you go being ignorant again, Chen. You know, it makes me wonder if you have ever even played 1 on 1 ball. You dont always have to penetrate and slash. You can still post them up w/o another player throwing in the ball to you. You have to be creative, something David was not, and neither, clearly, are you......... Bottom Line: Hakeem would beat the **** out of David in 1 on 1, wether its half court, full court, take it out of bounds after each score.......any rules......Hakeem rules David.......
I could watch that video a 100 times and it still wouldn't get old. ChenZen, you are making it sound more and more like you know nothing about the Rockets prior to 2000. Olajuwon could do all the things you seem to think he would struggle to do. If you honestly believe that Robinson and Olajuwon, alone, half court 1 on 1, would favor Robinson, you're going to lose that argument 9 times out of 10.
What I'm curious about is why doesn't Clutch come in here and lay the smackdown? At any rate, Chen, no disrespect, but to compare Dream to DRob, and then Dream to Amare UNFAVORABLY is absolutely ludicrous. Amare is power dribbling. Hakeem had finese. He was the definition of fluidity. He might not have been Tim Hardaway with a nasty crossover, but he was actually quite serviceable when it came to dribbling. Watch the long highlight clip. There are at least 3 times when Dream took it out from the 3 point line (where the 1-on-1 would begin) and drove it in, faked the living sh*t out of his defender, then made the nice lay-in. He also had a good midrange jumper, His post up usually started out higher than the low blocks so it's not like in a 1-on-1 game he'd have to back it in like CB4 all the way in. You can bash everyone else on the board saying that we're all delusional homers, but we saw the man in action. He was not just a post presence as you seem to recall. He could do just about anything. And with his learning curve, I have to think that he would be able to learn to "slash" in a matter of days and use it in the 1-on-1 to kill whoever, DRob or Yao.
