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You can suck a ing . I gave my opinion, no need for you to go on the attack about Malone and Carlos ing Boozer, because of it. In the future, don't be such a lame little pussy.
Hakeem the Dream
Duncan the big fundamental
BTW, you guys act like Hakeem could read defenses in his younger days as well as he could in his older days. He couldn't, even when they went to the finals in 86. Ralph Sampson was the big man facilitator who sees the floor well. Hakeem didn't become a good offensive coordinator until early/mid 90's.
At the same time, Duncan was turnover prone his first few years as well, but he was far and away much better than Hakeem in his youth.
And Rockets in 94 was NOT a weak team, Otis Thorpe was an all-star cailber PF, Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell were shooting lights out. Horry, Elie and alien was clutch. It was a very well constructed team who revolutionized the use of the 3pt line as a weapon by using Hakeem as a decoy in the middle.
You can suck a ing . I gave my opinion, no need for you to go on the attack about Malone and Carlos ing Boozer, because of it. In the future, don't be such a lame little pussy.
The dream by a nose.
No he isn't. However, if you really think that, you are an idiot who doesn't know about NBA ball.
I remember watch Hakeem in playoffs in past years. Duncan is not same class as him in any part of game. Duncan is great player everyone know this. he is one of best players in his time in NBA and one of the best PF of NBA probable best PF of NBA in all history.
But Hakeem was much better player than Duncan is. I see such vote here just because Spurs fans. I am Spurs fan but this is still crazy. How true fan who know game really believe Duncan better than Hakeem? This is joke yes?
Reread my post. Similar to Duncan, some (i.e. not me) put Shaq > Hakeem because he has 4 les compared to 2. Similar to Duncan, folks rarely mention or consider the fact that Shaq (and Duncan) have always been surrounding with quality teams while Hakeem played a good chunk of his career surrounded by crap. The same can be said for other great centers of Hakeem's era (David Robinson and Ewing). When comparing dudes I generally don't like to use les, unless both players went head up in the postseason when they both had teams capable of winning it all (i.e. Mj vs Drexler in Finals, Hakeem vs Robinson, Ewing or Shaq in postseason).
As much as it pains me to say it, Shaq was a more dynamic scorer than Hakeem. His career avg is 25 a game and he has never shot less that 56% from the field. He was a better scorer, and more efficient. You mention Donaldson and Gilmore...but neither one could drop 30 a night on 58% with 2-3 dudes hanging on them...much less on a le team. Yeah, Hakeem has every move in the book....but he still couldn't put the ball in the hole at the rate that Shaq could. Now IMO, I would rather have Hakeem offensively because he was not a late game liability like Shaq was. You could give him the ball in the closing seconds. And since it's clear that Hakeem was a better defender, I would rather have Hakeem. But I can see the reason why some would prefer Shaq.
Duncan, on the other hand, is not better than Hakeem was on either side of the ball. The only skillset I give Duncan an advantage on is passing. But sorry, I can't see Duncan carrying the 94/95 Rockets past Ewing, Robinson & Shaq by dropping 30 a night on them. I can't see Duncan scoring at the high efficiency level that Shaq did during his peak. We can assume all day long about both sides of the argument, but in the situations where Duncan has had to dominate offensively he hasn't been able to do it. Again, there is no way they you coulda put a frontline of Gasol/Odom or Horry/Grant on Hakeem or Shaq and not get killed.
My breakdown:
Offense - Shaq > Hakeem > Duncan
I have already stated why I would rather have Hakeem here
Defense - Hakeem > Duncan > Shaq
The only player I've ever seen who has completely owned and shutdown Shaq was Hakeem. He is hands down the better player than Duncan, and IMHO the #2 or #3 greatest C of all time behind Kareem/Wilt.
Name one thing Duncan can do better than Hakeem. Versatility, leadership, and smarts? Put Hakeem with Timmys team and you would be in the Finals right now. Hakeem was a better scorer, passer, shot blocker, rebounder, and ballhandler. I think Timmy is great but Hakeem was better.
If we're taking the entire prime, I pick Duncan. Hakeem's absolute peak in the two championship years was higher than Duncan's, but Dream was kind of a malcontent in the late '80s and early '90s leading up to that.
I not understand these argument about "player prime"? Explain me what everyone here mean. To me this mean how good player was when at his best. So how is most people say Duncan is better because he have better prime over people keep say "entire prime" or "all prime"?
Duncan is never as good as Hakeem was. Hakeem was even better than Shaq. How can Duncan be better than Hakeem?
Maybe because it's all greek to you?
at his absolute best, hakeem was a beast not even the gods could stop (and maybe score against). if its a winner-take-all, one game knockout match against a team i absolutely know nothing about, i'd go with hakeem.
duncan, on the other hand, is more disciplined in his approach. repi ion is the key to duncan's success. and his game is not predicated on jaw-dropping athleticism, duncan can give your team a lot of years of success provided with good supporting cast. duncan also will not cost a season for being ill-tempered, something hakeem was prone to early in his career.
Is it really Hakeem's fault that he won his two championships when Jordan was not in the league? It isn't like Jordan was in the Western Conference, so the Rockets would have made it to the Finals anyway. That, and over both of their careers, Hakeem straight up owned Jordan.
Really, like when was the last time Shaq drained a three to seal the deal in a NBA Finals.
this is awfully close for me but im going to have to go with the dream...
Dream
The majority of Spurs fans will choose Duncan because they are Spurs fans
The majority of other will choose Hakeem because he had the wow factor.
I think Duncan was better... and isnt there a thread about 500 pages long for this?
Hakeem was at his best for three years. Duncan was at his best for nine years.
Yet isn't it funny that Hakeems numbers for the rest of his years (not counting those 3) are still better than Duncan's for the majority of his career? Duncan has been better at having better teammates, that's about it. I have never seen Hakeem look as bad in a postseason as Duncan did this year. And again, this was against Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
You are right about #1. Spurs fans would even pick David Robinson over Shaq and Hakeem in many cases. They are unbelievably biased and delustional at times because the Spurs are the only game in town.
On #2, the majority of non-Spurs fans choose Hakeem because they think he was better, not because of any "wow" factor.
It's not like Duncan doesnt get his due. Even non-sspurs fans, most rate him as the best PF of all time.
But over Hakeem, Shaq, etc? No way...
You wouldnt see a Hakeem or Shaq shoot in their primes shoot in the low 40's against such stud defenders as Gasol, Odom, and T. Chandler. Just would never ever happen.
Duncan's a cut below Hakeem for most neutral fans...
On other sites I frequent not related to the Spurs or Rockets, Dream is winning by about a 4 to 1 margin.
DD
Karl malone
Did not want to go through all the years, but the year that duncan eliminated the shaq Kobe lakers, 2001- he averaged 28 points a game in the entire playoff run. Not quite 30 but pretty damn close. Also 3 blocks per game, 5 assist per game and 15 rebounds per game. I can remember him taking over against the lakers that year and taking it straight at shaq when it mattered the most. I agree with most of your post, but before manu and parker came in to their own Duncan was the go to guy when they needed offense, he had the luxury the last few years to not always have to be that guy.
Do you think he had that luxury this year? IMO, SA needed him to dominate that matchup and he should have. The Spurs were barely losing games because they couldn't score enough....all while he is being checked by Gasol and Odom.
Duncan was great the one year they eliminated LA (02/03), but what about the 3 times they lost to the Lakers (including this season)? I am not saying it's only Duncan's fault that they lost. I'm saying I think Hakeem and Shaq are dudes you could rely on to dominate a series offensively, and Duncan I'm not so sure about. I'm sorry, but there is just no way either of those two would be held in check by Robert Horry, Sheed, Gasol or Odom.
I dont think the stats argument holds... since Duncan had a higher PER.. adjusted for minutes and pace.... than Hakeem for most his years.
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