You beat me on this. But again, without hindersight, a rookie Hakeem, 6'9, atheletic but with limited passing game and Yao, 7'5, not very atheletic but skilled and having great court vision, who would you choose? It seems a hard choice to me. You can argue that "sky is the limit" for both "rookies". Well, in some sense it's like comparing Yao to Amare now. Amare may beat Yao, or vice versa, but the race is close.
Yao doesn't get matched up with TD. Yao doesn't get matched up with Dirk. Yao doesn't get matched up with KG. Yao doesn't get matched up with Pau Gasol. Yao doesn't get matched up with Tyson Chandler. Hakeem was consistantly matched up with all those players I listed, including 6 times a year against Mark Eaton who was a two time defensive player of the year monster and had 7 inches on Hakeem. Jabbar played 4 years when Hakeem was in the league. We are comparing what each player had to deal with as a rookie right? Yao, this year, consistantly had a 5-7'' height advantage over most other centers. Hakeem rarely played centers shorter than he was. There is a reason that Yao is quickly becoming the #2 center in the league. Thats because there is no talent, offensively or defensively, in the league now compared to the talent at C in the league in the 80s and 90s.
Hakeem in a heartbeat. He was more of a sure thing than Yao was. He was more dominant coming into the league than Yao was (american game). Neither Yao or Amare dominated the league in their 1st years like Hakeem did. Its not even close.
Some Hakeem-only fan just made me sad. Did they move to toronto with Hakeem too? I am glad I didn't have a full mouth of water when reading comments like "Hakeem's last year with Rockets is as effective as Yao's rookie year"
How come Yao can win the "who is more black" poll against Duncan by a landslide, but can't win a "who is #1 draft pick" poll? Anyway, it's stupid to compare Yao and Hakeem right now after Yao's first season. It's like comparing Hakeem in college against Will/Kareem back then. Another issue to consider is marketability. We all know NBA is all business. Yao hasn't win a ring yet, but he sure put Houston back into the limelight big time! Rockets profit jump from second last to second best in the NBA. LeBron is this year os #1 pick, but is he a better player than Darko?
With the zone defense, I don't think a rookie Hakeem can do much better than Amare. Talentwise, they are close, but the defense is much tougher than the 80's. Also, as many people claimed, Yao was not used properly under Rudy. If Yao were used as a go-to guy like Hakeem in their rookie year, I wonder what his numbers would be.
When Hakeem played, NBA was not even open to the globe. I can understand your pump seeing Hakeem dominated NBA, but let me tell you something, most european and asian think AS is the most dominate center ever, do you even realize it? like you stressed: >american game<, as NBA develops, more and more international players come in and the "NBA" rulesets and entertainment angles will adjust accordingly, compare a modern player after his rookie season to a 90's veteran is really a joke.
You have got to be kidding me. And how is that? In what way was Yao used wrong? Actually, just like Yao had to share touches with Steve, Hakeem had to share touches with Ralph Sampson.
Please, don't even bring up marketability, Yao would be insulted if hes watching us, Hakeem is not even close.
The NBA was so unopen to the rest of the globe, that Hakeem (from Africa) was able to come here and dominate. If most european and asian people think that Sabonis was a more dominant NBA center than Hakeem, then they don't know anything about NBA history. No question. We are talking about the NBA right? We aren't talking about who would be more dominate in Europe, or Asia, or Africa, or South America, or the Fiji Islands. We are talking about the NBA. We are talking about who you would take with the 1st pick. BTW, what rulesets have changed to accomidate overseas talent?? Also, I am not comparing a veteran Hakeem to Yao. I am comparing them as rookies and as amateurs.
Since when does marketability have to do with drafting someone? Do you really think that someone would choose one player over the other based on how marketable they are? I am sorry. I disagree. NBA teams want to win titles, not just make money off of people.
So what? Hakeem averaged 9 attempts/game? May I remind you althouth I do think Hakeem is a top 10 player, he is not the god? I also believe Amare has the potential to be the best 3 pfs ever played. Talentwise, I see him at the same level of Hakeem, Barkeley, etc.
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So you are saying that most owners would rather have someone that is marketable rather than have someone that is a ready to dominate #1 pick??? Unbelievable.
You considered Hakeem joined NBA from Africa? No question AS dominates Europe, sounds like you doubt Hakeem would do if he went there I am talking about today's internationalized NBA, if hakeem was a candidate to be drafted last year(assume he had same performance in american colleges 15 years ago). I seriously think it would be very arguable if he or YM would be no.1 pick.
If you could do the same, I have no objection. I only post .05 times/day and expect my little sacrifice would help to improve this site greatly.
Take away the scoring, and Hakeem was STILL more dominant. Defensively. Rebounding. Steals. Blocks. I never said Hakeem was God or insinuated as much. Quit being so melodramatic. Comparing Amare to Barkley is almost as silly as comparing Yao to Hakeem.
I am quit sure that Hakeem would have dominated in Europe just like he did in the NBA. And since we ARE talking about the N B A, lets leave the european leagues out of this. Especially since Hakeem never did play there. If a player that was 7'0'', 255, was athletically freaky and could absolutely jump out of the gym, had played 3 years of college ball and led his team to the final 4 all 3 years, then I can guarantee you they would have been taken ahead of Yao. That is part of the problem. No one last year was head and shoulders deserving of a #1 pick. Not Amare. Not JW. Not Dunleavy. Not Hilario. There were not picks in last years draft that were as close to a sure thing like Hakeem was.
need I remind you marketability is just one criteria. but a big plus. That brings attention, revenue and good free agents. Hakeem is damn good, but you way overestimate his dominance. His first champion came at 32. But you make me wonder he is MJ or Wilt.
