Y! Shaq to Hakeem in 1995: 'I want you one on one'

Crunchy vs. soft!

 

I'm sure others here remember it as well, but there was actually a PPV set up and everything. Advertisements were run and pre-orders may have been taken too. Right up to the week it was supposed to happen, everything was looking like a go, but someone pulled out pretty last minute or something to that effect.

That is what I remember of it, however I may be wrong.

 

I ordered a double decker at taco bell last week for the first time in forever and it took me back to 1995 and this potential ppv battle all in one bite

 

If memory serves Shaq backed out due to a minor back injury or something along those lines. I was 11 or 12 so I may not be 100% correct but I remember being surprised that Hakeem didn't back out of it at the time.

 

I have some Taco Bell cups and advertising from the event in my storage unit.

 

(Please don't shoot...)
Is it just me or do good/great players become God-like in the words of men as time goes on? Shaq is respectful of Hakeem in that series, but he was not obliterated like this article makes him out to have been. Good grief, their stats were very similar with Shaq ahead in some. Hakeem outplayed him, but damn people.

... and they lived happily ever after :

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In before tinman hijacks thread.

 

Yea this over simplification is what infiltrates the minds of todays youth. The article alludes to Shaqs performance in the Finals as beneath himself while crediting it all to Hakeem, thats how you find kids saying Dream dominated Shaq, D-Rob AND Ewing when clearly one was eviscerated, one was dominated and the other was merely outplayed.

 

I had it ordered if I remember correctly.

 

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Dream did outplay Shaq but it certainly wasn't a domination like that writer made it out to be. I doubt he watched the series. Shaq was just way too physically overwhelming for Hakeem to dominate and he would rarely, if ever, leave his feet. He was one of the better defenders I saw on Dream. It's one of the reasons Eaton used to give him trouble.

 

Hakeem - 32.8 PPG . 11.5 RPG . 5.5 APG . 48 FG% . 2 BPG . 2 SPG

Shaq - 28 PPG . 12.5 RPG . 6.3 APG . 60 FG% . 2.5 BPG

Hakeem outscored Shaq, but Shaq grabbed more boards, had more assist, blocked more shots, and had a much higher FG%. Its pretty clear that neither dominated nor IMO outplayed the other in this series.

Of course stats are just one part of assessing performance as I'm sure an argument can be made that Hakeem was better in clutch moments, played better a better team game and was the best player in the series.

None of which should be a suprise as Shaq was still an evolving player at 22 years old in his 3rd season, while Hakeem was at or near his absolute peak.

 

It makes me wonder if you actually watched the games... "The man who invented the traditional boxscore should be shot..."

 

Shaq was pretty good during the finals. He was not dominated.

 

I remember this--there were ads in the Chronicle and everything.
Sadly, it was Hakeem who had the injury...something happened to his thumb, I can't remember exactly what. It happened with less than a week to go before the pay-per-view, and that thumb injury forced them to pull the plug.

 

Agree with others who've stated that Shaq was not dominated. In fact, that was by design: the Rocket's game plan was to let Shaq get his and focus on Penny, Grant and the lights-out shooting of Dennis Scott and Nick 'The Brick' Anderson.

 

Yeah, I remember this back in the day. I was really excited about it, and was deeply saddened -- almost depressed -- when it did not end up happening.

 

This is just not true man. The Rockets game plan was to double and triple team Shaq every time he got the ball. He very rarely saw single coverage and for good reason because Dream and Charles Jones would have fouled out if he did. Rudy saw a weak link in their shooting and forced Scott and Anderson to beat them from deep which fortunately, didn't happen. Those two just choked and kept missing wide open 3s.

 

It was going to be fun to watch. I have no doubt Dream would have pulled out. They had a lower deck on the card too. Van Exel was gonna go one on one with Kenny Anderson. Dream had to back out with a back injury (pun intended).