DJ's left nut |
02-22-2022 10:57 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by JudasRising20
(Post 16157109)
Hakeem carried two teams to championships. Shaq had Kobe and Wade, who were both elite players. Before that, he had Penny. Shaq never carried a team by himself.
Hakeem was miles better defensively. Look at his all-NBA defensive team accolades, plus defensive player of the year. Shaq didn't have the same effect on the defensive end. Not saying he was bad defensively, but he wasn't on Hakeem's level.
Also, despite Shaq's dominance, it's not like he won scoring titles every year. He scored 29 per game three times in his career. Won two scoring titles. Yes, his free throw shooting cost him more scoring titles. Point is, his physical dominance didn't result in otherworldly numbers.
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Yet his numbers were better than Hakeems...
I don't disagree that Olajuwon was a better defender. He was - but as you said, Shaq was a very good defensive player in his own right. It wasn't merely with blocks, but simply having his presence in the paint could neutralize guys, especially in the big man era he played in where they were still looking to try to bang guys in down low.
Olajuwon was undeniably a craftier, more skilled defender, especially as a help defender given his reach and mobility. But strictly as a man defender, I think Shaq was Hakeem's equal. And his impact on the defense was significant, if not as obvious as Hakeems.
Offensively Shaq was simply a more efficient player. He scored more PPG on fewer shot attempts. He was Olajuwon's equal as a passer and was slightly more effective as a defensive rebounder given his tendency to be posted up nearer the basket than Hakeem would've been on shot attempts.
Now Hakeem was at/near his peak for longer than Shaq was because Shaq simply didn't take care of his body as well as he should've. But the Orlando/LA version of Shaq was a step beyond anything Olajuwon did. And to say "well he wasn't THAT much better than Olajuwon offensively -- he only scored 29/gm 3 times..." is a tad disingenuous when making direct comparisons.
Let's put it on more apples to apples terms. The best scoring season of Olajuwon's career would've been the 6th best of Shaqs career. His 2nd best would've been the 8th best of Shaq's career. And it just kind continues down the list.
Literally every single rank-order of their career (best vs. best, 2nd vs. 2nd, etc...) give a decided advantage to Shaq. All by more than a opint, most by more than two and many by 3-4.
And again, all of this was done on fewer shots per game. Shaq was definitely a better offensive player than Olajuwon and likely by enough to make up for Hakeem's edge on defense, IMO.
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