I would love to have Mario get into some off players head and arse if they still are learning 'heart'.
Ridiculous. Hakeem had the best footwork of any big man ever. Footwork is clearly one of the MOST fundamental parts of big-man basketball. -Hakeem's timing as a shotblocker was also a great skill. Kelvin Cato is a very good athlete, but simply lacks the skill and timing to be a great shotblocker. Hakeem had not only the athletic gifts, but also the finesse and skill to be a great player. -Your description of being primarily a great athlete without true basketball skills and fundamentals is befitting of someone like David Robinson, not Hakeem.
Wow! I am speachless.... Obviously someone has not wached much "fundamental" basketball! Next time just look at his textbook jump shot, they way he holdsthe ball, brings it up, and lets the ball go. You can use it to teach kids how to shoot. and the same motion everytime. Not to mention foot work..... He was more "fundamental" than Jordan was in their prime. Wow!!! the things you read .....
Olajuwon has no interest in coaching. He said so several times. He seems way to introverted to feel comfortable coaching.
I think that Hakeem would be one of these types that really didn't analyze what he did when it came to a dream shake. His athleticism was so great that he just got a basketball and did his thing. I could imagine seeing him with Yao and doing a dream shake and flipping the ball to Yao and saying, "Your turn." Yao will then say, "How did you do that, Hakeem?" And Hakeem will say, "I don't know how I do it...I just do it, okay?"
Hakeemology : "Give me the ball, mon!" "You must give the Yao back his change!" "Yao must etablis da post." "The game is very simple. Yao read the defense, Yao take what de give him." "Stay humble, stay hungry."
Ok I am going to be blunt here...but this is the single stupidest thing I have ever heard. Yes these guys had natual athletic talent, but to say they never had to work that hard is just flat out idiotic! Tiger Woods is great because he has played golf all his life and spend more time practicing golf than I have spent breathing. Jordan was great at basketball because he spent all his time practicing and working. How many hours a day do you think Bird spent shooting? Do you remember when Dream came into his own? It was because he started focusing and working his ass off in the offseason. You become great by working your ass off...in fact thats what seperates the great from the average in most cases. These guys at the NBA level all have amazing natural gifts, but the best of the best are the ones who work the hardest. Yes some people are naturally more athletic, but to say they didn't have to work that hard is just silly. Also your point about coaches is only partly true. Larry Brown was a great player, so was Lenny Wilkens, Rudy T was also...all of those guys are pretty good coaches.
I think it's more creativity and intelligence than athleticism. Yes, Hakeem had sick moves in his bag of tricks, but he was also a step ahead of his oppenent mentally. He knew what to do next to keep his guy off balance. I'm not going to compare myself to anyone, but the only reason why I was ever any good at basketball and soccer was because I just knew how to react when my oppenent did something. If anything that inate ability was Hakeem's biggest strength. You see your opponent and what they are doing and you know how they are going to react and what they will probably do. That's the thing you can't really teach...it's all just a feel thing.
dream is still under contract with toronto and he hasent said anything about coaching.how do we know he wants to coach anyways?wishful thinkin reality
i imagine it has something to do with the JVG-Van Gundy new york connection. If rudy were still with us, he'd have more pull with hakeem.
I'd like to see the Rockets employ the man that taught the game to Dream at Fonde: Moses Malone. I don't see any negative to utilizing Moses' skills and experience, especially since he's stated he'd love to take on the challenge.
Actually, the biggest problem with this is that Dream (other than the fact that he has said that he has no interest in coaching) and his family have built a house in Jordan and plan to move there permanently once tensions die down.
Problem with Moses as a teacher is a) He has no experience coaching and b) His game was nothing like Yao's, therefore, he might not be able to teach Yao how to utilize his potential.
