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Where Do You Rank Olajuwon All-Time As A Player?

gr8 said:
Bust? ONLY AFTER the injuries, and SEVEN years in he was STILL averaging 16 and 10 :eek:

"Potential" bust ONLY...
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not even a "potential" bust. not even close.

some people may have had their expectations unmet, but ralph sampson could play.

anyone who watched the 1986 post season knows this. you can tell who the googlers and basketball-reference addicts are because they can't pull up box scores on games that old!

:lol:

earvin johnson once said (during both of their active careers) that if the fakers ever got ralph sampson on their squad you could just start making their rings already.
 
Blunt said:
He was a #1 OVERALL pick with the hype of the next Jabbar. He was soft even in his first 3 decent years and then fell off the earth.
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Averaging 20 and grabbing 12 boards is NO SLOUCH, ESPECIALLY with a future top 6 ALL-TIME Center beside you in Hakeem.

How can you say fell off when the stats CLEARLY suggest otherwise? He was still good for an NBA center. BUT played with Hakeem in his BEST years.

Blunt said:
BOTH over 32 and on the DOWNSIDE, as I said.
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Look at the stats and then look into your memories, those guys were STILL ALL-Stars...chill with that DOWNSIDE crap. If that's the case, Kobe, Penny and D Wade were not NEAR their primes with Shaq, even though they were putting up nice stats. They were all YOUNG BUCKS!

Potential...
 
cranrab said:
not even a "potential" bust. not even close.

some people may have had their expectations unmet, but ralph sampson could play.

anyone who watched the 1986 post season knows this. you can tell who the googlers and basketball-reference addicts are because they can't pull up box scores on games that old!

:lol:

earvin johnson once said (during both of their active careers) that if the fakers ever got ralph sampson on their squad you could just start making their rings already.
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I agree, Ralph was VERY good for multiple seasons! I remember watching him first as a Tarheel fan, then during the playoffs. He was VERY GOOD.

Now if Shaq would have played with him...
:smh:
 
bar none is somewhere in the top 10 for me...the second rockets championship run is prolly the greatest basketball that i ever seen in my life and he was a big part of that:yes:
 
cranrab said:
not even a "potential" bust. not even close.

some people may have had their expectations unmet, but ralph sampson could play.

anyone who watched the 1986 post season knows this. you can tell who the googlers and basketball-reference addicts are because they can't pull up box scores on games that old!
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You've got to be kidding. Sampson's career is considered a joke. Way overhyped, even by Auerbach, who tried to get him to leave early. The fact that he was "pretty good" his first couple of years (as a 7'4" monster with unlimited ability) says it all. He was expected to be a force and he ended up being a very soft 21-11 guy for his first couple of years (and then only really viable for a few years after that). Olajuwon passed him quickly as soon as he arrived.

When someone says "NBA bust," Sampson's name is usually the first that comes up.

(And I watched his entire career.)
 
Blunt said:
(And I watched his entire career.)
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what exactly did you watch? sports page headlines and editorials?

again, anyone who watched that 1986 post season knows better.

whenever akeem olajuwon got into foul trouble, it was ralph sampson that put the rockets on his shoulders and carried them.

by today's vernacular, one would call it "beasting".
 
Amajorfucup said:
Lets not go too far now. Dude was a monster in his own right but lets not act like he housed shit for an entire decade. Dream was a great player no doubt, but his true dominance was only about a 3year span, which didnt take place until his early 30's. Between the ages of 31-33 is where this guy just went apeshit on the league. Dream was a great player throughout his career, but he was truly dominant for about 3 of those years. Not a knock on him be any means but it definitely serves to separate him from the best of the best. He's between 5-7 on my list.
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who was you watching...the dream i watched thru out the eighties til the end of the ninety's put on a sho til he blew both knee's which ended his career. :yes::yes::yes:
 
cranrab said:
what exactly did you watch? sports page headlines and editorials?

again, anyone who watched that 1986 post season knows better.

whenever akeem olajuwon got into foul trouble, it was ralph sampson that put the rockets on his shoulders and carried them.

by today's vernacular, one would call it "beasting".
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I know he got into a bitch fight with the tough Jerry Sichting in the finals, and that pretty much summed up his career. Total wimp, and a historic "bust."

It was really nice of him to show up and have a decent playoff run with a flukey Houston team (that didn't really belong in the finals). Great. Now where was he for the rest of his career???
 
cranrab said:
what exactly did you watch? sports page headlines and editorials?

again, anyone who watched that 1986 post season knows better.

whenever akeem olajuwon got into foul trouble, it was ralph sampson that put the rockets on his shoulders and carried them.

by today's vernacular, one would call it "beasting".
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:lol:
KOOKOOMONKEY said:
who was you watching...the dream i watched thru out the eighties til the end of the ninety's put on a sho til he blew both knee's which ended his career. :yes::yes::yes:
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Sometimes i wonder why guys even respond or if they even read the posts they respond to. I never said he didnt put on a show, or wasnt a good to great player throughout his career. In fact i agreed he was a phenomenal talent. My point is that when it comes time to determine the best of the best, in order to distinguish one players greatness from another you need to look deep. In terms of dominance and time spent as the best at his position while putting his team in position to compete on the ultimate stage, Hakeem had a 3 (maybe 4) year run. Hakeem's prime and dominant era was during the ages of 31-33. This is fact.
 
Hakeem by far. Let this stat end this thread now: Only player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, finals MVP, defensive player of the year, and a championship...all in the same season. Game over. Good night.
 
Amajorfucup said:
Hakeem's prime and dominant era was during the ages of 31-33. This is fact.
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Maybe that was his TEAM's dominant era, but Hakeem was a sensation from Day One. He was an All-NBA player and an MVP contender virtually every year from '84-'98. That's a 15-year run.
 
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Llano said:
The Knicks were supposed to beat the Rockets easily...
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:confused:

how you figure "easily"?

the knicks were tied for 3rd best record in the league overall. the rockets were 2nd overall.

the knicks went 7 games in the semifinals against the bulls.

the rockets went 7 games in the semifinals against the suns.

the knicks went 7 games in the conference finals against the pacers.

the rockets went 5 games in the conference finals against the jazz.

the knicks and rockets went 7 games in the NBA finals.

nothing after the 1st round of the playoffs went "easily" for the knicks.

the length of the rockets frontcourt bothered the knicks frontcourt, and when charles oakley and charles smith couldn't share enough of the scoring load with patrick ewing, too much of the scoring burden fell to the backcourt of john starks and derek harper.
 
Prep Starr said:
Hakeem by far. Let this stat end this thread now: Only player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, finals MVP, defensive player of the year, and a championship...all in the same season. Game over. Good night.
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Let it be known that he only got those because Jordan temporarily retired...............
Even though the Buls didnt have a Center to match H.O.... it really didnt matter. Jordan never played with a good Center in his entire career. Look at the great Centers, that were better than H.O. that the Bulls have played against and defeated during their reign.

Game Over! Good Night!


:lol:

but seriously....
H.O. was good at what he done IMO.
not in the top 10 for centers.....but still good.
 
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all any of these posts are doing is proving that Olajuwon is a top 5 center. You can argue for or against whether he was better than O'Neal or not, but they are both top five with only Jabbar, Russell and Chamberlain up there with them.

@Cran, I would co-sign what you said about Malone schooling Olajuwon. But I would still put him ABOVE Malone as a player due to the PHYSICAL skills he possessed. He actually exceeded his teacher (like a good student is supposed to do). So while Malone would probably OUTWORK any center on the top 5, I would still have to put him outside top 5 status. Probably at around number 6 or 7.
 
cranrab said:
:confused:

how you figure "easily"?

the knicks were tied for 3rd best record in the league overall. the rockets were 2nd overall.

the knicks went 7 games in the semifinals against the bulls.

the rockets went 7 games in the semifinals against the suns.

the knicks went 7 games in the conference finals against the pacers.

the rockets went 5 games in the conference finals against the jazz.

the knicks and rockets went 7 games in the NBA finals.

nothing after the 1st round of the playoffs went "easily" for the knicks.

the length of the rockets frontcourt bothered the knicks frontcourt, and when charles oakley and charles smith couldn't share enough of the scoring load with patrick ewing, too much of the scoring burden fell to the backcourt of john starks and derek harper.
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"Easily" might have been too strong of a word but the consensus was that the Knicks were more talented and were favorites to beat the Rockets. I was here in Houston when the Knicks took a 3-2 lead in the series and everybody wrote the Rockets off at that point.

The Knicks front court weren't really at a big disadvantage, its just that Dream dismantled everyone they threw at him. You had Oakley (an all star), Smith, Ewing (another all star) and Mason who were all formidable defenders.

And if the burden fell to the back court like you said then the Knicks back court should have took advantage since they were more talented than the Rockets. I will say that Starks helped the Rockets in game seven with his choke job but he was lighting it up the previous games. My point is that the Knicks had 3 All Stars, a deeper roster front to back, a mastermind in Riley on the bench and they still lost. Dream beat them with less talent on his side.
 
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I don't see how the Knicks were more talented and were favorites to beat the Rockets.

I think ppl forgot the Rockets bench.

The Rockets swept the Knicks in the regular season (1 st meeting winning their 15 gm in a row and set a record for best start) and Houston had the reigning MVP and defensive player of the year.

How the Knicks end up being favorites?

Even a Jordan-less Bulls took them to gm 7.
 


Man, David Robinson was his bitch!

-sidenote- Patrick Ewing has to have the most posterized moments in NBA history.
 
Amajorfucup said:
:lol:

Sometimes i wonder why guys even respond or if they even read the posts they respond to. I never said he didnt put on a show, or wasnt a good to great player throughout his career. In fact i agreed he was a phenomenal talent. My point is that when it comes time to determine the best of the best, in order to distinguish one players greatness from another you need to look deep. In terms of dominance and time spent as the best at his position while putting his team in position to compete on the ultimate stage, Hakeem had a 3 (maybe 4) year run. Hakeem's prime and dominant era was during the ages of 31-33. This is fact.
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YOU GOTS TO BE ONE OF THOSE GUY'S WHO WOULD TAKE KOBE OVER JORDAN.:lol:
 
Rudey said:
I don't see how the Knicks were more talented and were favorites to beat the Rockets.

I think ppl forgot the Rockets bench.

The Rockets swept the Knicks in the regular season (1 st meeting winning their 15 gm in a row and set a record for best start) and Houston had the reigning MVP and defensive player of the year.

How the Knicks end up being favorites?

Even a Jordan-less Bulls took them to gm 7.
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exactly
the rockets was a deep team
olajuwon
mario ellie
vernon maxwell
sam casell
robert hory
kenny smith
 
Rudey said:
Why?
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2ui847b.jpg
 
Amajorfucup said:
Nah. I can think of about 14 players i would take over Kobe. Hakeem being one.
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O.K I CAN ROLL WITH THAT...Hakeem JUST FILLED THE VOID TIL JORDAN S SWIFT RETURN. SHAQ BEING THE HIGH PROFILE PLAYER HELD IT DOWN TIL WHAT'S KNOWN AS THE KOBE LEBRON ERA NOW. STILL IN ALL Hakeem PLAYED THE ERA ALL OF WHEN THE GREATEST PLAYERS OF THE GAME WITH THE EXCEPTION OF RUSSEL WERE AT BATTLE TO GET THE GAME WHERE IT IS TODAY. :D
 
ron_mexico said:
You ever notice how the weakest era for centers became one of the strongest eras for Power Forwards. Its no coincedence, it's because when Shaq came into the leauge, all of a sudden you see a bunch 7'1" niggas start playing the 4.




And thats why you saw many teams switch thier best big man to the 4. Look at a team like Boston, KG 7'1" plays the 4 mainly and Pekins 6'10" plays the 5. How often did you see a 7 fter playing the 4 before Shaq. hell if you were 6-9 to 6'10 before Shaq there is a good chance your playing 5.
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Tim played the 4 because the Spurs already had Robinson. Not like he was running from Shaq, he gave Shaq the business when they played and if it wasn't for the fact that he had D. Anderson and co. going against Kobe, Shaq might not have every made it past him. Even if niccas played the 4 the often ended up guarding him so it's not like playing the 4 was some sort of escape. Lastly niccas like C-Webb and KG playing 4 and playing a more perimeter based game is more about Magic and his impact on bigger niggas and making them wanna play handle the ball and play outside than niggas running from Shaq.
 
Rudey said:
what if, what could have happen, is the chanting of losers.

Basketball is play on a court not a piece of paper.

I believe it when I see it.
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huh?

We ALL know what could and WOULD have happened, let's not be naive here :smh:
 

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