In different playoffs he's schooled the likes of Shaq, Robinson, Ewing and he still doesnt get a look in at being the best center of all time. I also remember his team won the titles whilst some guy by the name of MJ went on break.
2007-06-27 23:25:27 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Basketball
Olajuwon is not mentioned as much as I would like. I don't mean any harm but it bothers me when people say Bill Russell 11 championships any questions. First of all Bill Russell's team was so stacked it wasn't funny and he was like the 3rd offensive option if that. Who else was in the league at that time?
Wilt only had Russell and maybe Willis Reed to deal with. Wilt was pretty much 6 inches taller than his opponents and not to mention heavier. And who else was in the league at that time?
Olajuwon played against Jabbar, Shaq, Robinson and Ewing and pretty much ran hog wild especially when winning back to back championships 93-94 and 94-95 seasons. I remember that shimmy (Dream Shake) whom no one could do anything with. I still til this day don't know how that guy knew where the basket was when executing all those low post moves, extraordinary!
Though stats like blocks, steals, turnovers and offensive rebounds were not kept during Wilt's and Russell's time. I still feel Olajuwon was better defensively than Wilt, Russell, Shaq, Ewing, Jabbar and David Robinson. Now David Robinson may have a higher defensive rating but Olajuwon has more career steals, defensive rebounds and blocks than David. Then when you add into the equation his offensive abilities, I am willing to put him up against any big man. We all know what the Dream put on Shaq, Robinson and Ewing. How would Wilt and Russell be any different? Russell 6'9 215 lbs would have been undersized. To give you an idea of what I am talking bout, Karl Malone 6'9 250lbs. Now what is Russell going to do with Shaq 7'1 300+lbs, even though I did see Dennis Rodman 6'7 210lbs do a tremendous defensive job on Shaq one time.
Let's say Jabbar, Shaq, Robinson, Ewing and Olajuwon was in the league at the same time as Wilt and Russell. I am willing to bet those stats would read a little bit differently. I cannot see Wilt averaging 50 points and 25 boards against this guys.
In closing, even though Hakeem is not mentioned as often as Russell and Wilt, the Dream is still my favorite. Being the best defensive big man in my opinion along with having the most low post moves of any player making him just about impossible to defend . . . wait a minute, with this description that would make Olajuwon what, JORDANESQUE. Thanx for the opportunity to discuss the Dream.
2007-06-28 07:25:48 · answer #1 · answered by katdaddy0013 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i do believe Hakeem was UNDERRATED to an extent.
i say this because his name is hardly ever mentioned when people talk about champions, or when they speak of the best players to play the game. i would take Hakeem in his prime over Shaq in his prime. true...Shaq was a child when Hakeem schooled him, but it don't matter to me.
he may not be the most underrated, but he definitely is underrated. the man won 2 titles smack in the middle of the MJ era, and that alone makes people forget all about him.
and who is this fool talking about Dream Team? there was only ONE dream team, and that was the 1992 olympic team. Hakeem played in 1996. no disrespect to hakeem, he was better than David Robinson and should've been on the team, but he wasn't a U.S. citizen yet. He certainly shoulda been there instead of Christian Laetner.
2007-06-28 10:57:12 · answer #2 · answered by Bk2Az 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
uuh no! he's one of the top 50 greatest players of all time, and on a list of the greatest centers that ever played the game witj chamberlain,abdul-jabbar,russell, ewing. tom chambers, kevin johnson, dale ellis, alex english is one of the most unserrated players of all time.
2007-06-28 09:38:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No his not! If he matches to any greatest player of this time he will surely be bitten!
Let say Kevin Garnett vs Hakeem Olajuwon.
2007-06-28 06:42:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
hakeem was on the dream team right?? gold medal? he also accomplished the ever-so-easy task of getting a quadruple double. overated? hardly
2007-06-28 07:33:56 · answer #5 · answered by bonesiown 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He's never been underrated man..
He's a top 3 center dead on..
The man is a legend!!
2007-06-28 07:30:47 · answer #6 · answered by Esm[][]th 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he was never underrated! and surely never underappreciated. im from houston and he was a hero and still is in this city. any team woulda have been successful with him
2007-06-28 06:53:40 · answer #7 · answered by Francisco R 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yeah......swept a young, athletic shaq, won a championship single handedly, and ur the only one whose asked about him in like a year....
2007-06-28 14:28:06 · answer #8 · answered by me 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think he gets a LOT of Kudo's - maybe just not where you are living.
2007-06-28 06:30:49 · answer #9 · answered by jscalice292 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, i think Dennis Rodman was
2007-06-28 06:35:02 · answer #10 · answered by King Midas 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋