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

[Rudey]

huh?

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

You can make ASSumptions all day, like I said I believe it when I see it.

Jordan had two chance to prove to the world that he could have won 4 or 5 championships in a row instead he went in retirement.

I don't credit ppl for things they never did.

 

[Amajorfucup]

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.

No disputes on any of that. Well, except you neglected the Tim Duncan era. Cant do that.

 

[Llano]

exactly
the rockets was a deep team
olajuwon
mario ellie
vernon maxwell
sam casell
robert hory
kenny smith

There is no way the Rockets had a deeper team than the Knicks. The Rockets had basically an 8 man rotation in the playoffs that year. If I remember, only Elie, Cassell & Carl Herrera played most off the bench. I know Horry & Cassell came out to have solid careers but they were two unproven rookies playing in the finals.

Now the Knicks had 3 All Stars in there starting line up (you cats keep forgetting that) to go along with role players like Mason, G. Anthony, C. Smith, Hubert Davis, Derek Harper and even Herb Williams as a back up center.

Kenny Smith and Barkley even said that Dream was the last superstar player take down a team in the finals without any All Star caliber help. For the record, Oakley shouldn't have made the All Star that year but still wasn't no slouch.

 

[A to Dah K]

There is no way the Rockets had a deeper team than the Knicks. The Rockets had basically an 8 man rotation in the playoffs that year. If I remember, only Elie, Cassell & Carl Herrera played most off the bench. I know Horry & Cassell came out to have solid careers but they were two unproven rookies playing in the finals.

Now the Knicks had 3 All Stars in there starting line up (you cats keep forgetting that) to go along with role players like Mason, G. Anthony, C. Smith, Hubert Davis, Derek Harper and even Herb Williams as a back up center.

Kenny Smith and Barkley even said that Dream was the last superstar player take down a team in the finals without any All Star caliber help. For the record, Oakley shouldn't have made the All Star that year but still wasn't no slouch.

nobody said they were deeper,but dont try to act like the rocket has a team of nobodies after olajuwon
it was an evenly matched series
cassell had his coming out party as well as hory
they damn sure did more than the knicks bench

herb williams? are you serious,he didnt do goddamn thing his whole tenure as a knick..he was the team barber
bum ass charles smith? bum ass greg anthony?
c`mon dude it was a evenly matched good series

 

[Amajorfucup]

There is no way the Rockets had a deeper team than the Knicks. The Rockets had basically an 8 man rotation in the playoffs that year. If I remember, only Elie, Cassell & Carl Herrera played most off the bench. I know Horry & Cassell came out to have solid careers but they were two unproven rookies playing in the finals.

Now the Knicks had 3 All Stars in there starting line up (you cats keep forgetting that) to go along with role players like Mason, G. Anthony, C. Smith, Hubert Davis, Derek Harper and even Herb Williams as a back up center.

Kenny Smith and Barkley even said that Dream was the last superstar player take down a team in the finals without any All Star caliber help. For the record, Oakley shouldn't have made the All Star that year but still wasn't no slouch.

Not to disagree with your overall point but you underestimate Cassell's contributions during that series and playoff run. Sam put in work during that playoff run.

 

[Jazzy1]

Hakeem is somewhere right behind these players alltime

russell
Wilt
Kareem
MJ
Magic
Kobe
Shaq
Duncan
Bird
Dr.J

Hakeem great great player Had as dominant a 4 year stretch as you can have as a player.Great defender his whole career. Best defensive center of alltime perhaps best defensive player of alltime. Best I actually saw.

Wouldn't have had a ring had MJ played in that 1st title season might have gotten one the 2nd go around with Drexler against anyone.

 

[Llano]

nobody said they were deeper,but dont try to act like the rocket has a team of nobodies after olajuwon
it was an evenly matched series
cassell had his coming out party as well as hory
they damn sure did more than the knicks bench

herb williams? are you serious,he didnt do goddamn thing his whole tenure as a knick..he was the team barber
bum ass charles smith? bum ass greg anthony?
c`mon dude it was a evenly matched good series

Alright, Herb Williams was a bum but at least Ewing had a backup to spell him some minutes. We'll have to agree to disagree on this debate because when the Knicks were up 3-2 every body was saying the Rockets were done. I remember my cousins calling me from New York talking mad shit that year, so this brought back some good memories.

 

[H.Clarke]

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!




but seriously....
H.O. was good at what he done IMO.
not in the top 10 for centers.....but still good.

I see u rep Chi-town and I'm from da H.. So of course we won't agree on this.. I accept that

But seriously.. I dont think you can name 10 centers better than Dream..

I aint trying to say he the best ever, but my nigga cant make the top 10??? ... Damn

 

[LeroyDibiase]

He's no lower than number 3. He's actually the best overall skilled, but if you take into account numbers, he's number 3.

Best passing center than Russell, Kareem and Wilt
Best blocker
Best low post moves
Best center jumper
More athletic than Kareem

I'm not including Shaq. Hakeem played on ASS teams for a WHILE.

 

[Blunt]

Best defensive center of alltime.

Uhhh, no.

This guy invented defensive center play.

 

[jdc12]

There is no way the Rockets had a deeper team than the Knicks. The Rockets had basically an 8 man rotation in the playoffs that year. If I remember, only Elie, Cassell & Carl Herrera played most off the bench. I know Horry & Cassell came out to have solid careers but they were two unproven rookies playing in the finals.

Now the Knicks had 3 All Stars in there starting line up (you cats keep forgetting that) to go along with role players like Mason, G. Anthony, C. Smith, Hubert Davis, Derek Harper and even Herb Williams as a back up center.

Kenny Smith and Barkley even said that Dream was the last superstar player take down a team in the finals without any All Star caliber help. For the record, Oakley shouldn't have made the All Star that year but still wasn't no slouch.

C'mon fam. You are not winning a championship when John Starks is your 2nd best player. Otis Thorpe who was an All-Star at one point was a better number 2 than Starks and/or Oakley. You yourself said later on that Oakley too was not an All-Star caliber player. That team was just real good defensively and had a HOF coach who was able to get the most out of his players.

Horry was already in his 2nd or 3rd year by that point and had already started to show flashes of being the great role player he would become. And also add in the fact that he would actually put in work during the regular season instead of the wait till the playoffs approach that he took in LA and SA. Sam Cassell also singlehandedly won games for that team during the playoffs (Game 3 of the Finals also still sticks out as a game he won for them).

 

[cranrab]

exactly
the rockets was a deep team
olajuwon
mario ellie
vernon maxwell
sam casell
robert hory
kenny smith

for llano,

look at those backcourt players and then compare offensively with derek harper and john starks.

once houston's D addressed new york's frontcourt, the advantage fell to the rockets.