Is taking Olajuwon over Shaq to start a team a bad decision?

[Larry Lambo]

Ppl make a big deal about Jordan having no rival counterpart at his position during his prime. But Shaq had nobody even close to him competitively when he three-peated. There was no centers that could make him work. Dream had to go against Ewing, mutumbo, Robinson, even young Shaq.


Shaq was goin against Old Divac, number one overall kwame brown,brad Miller, Matt Geiger, 40 year old sabonis, Jason Collins, Calvin Cato, Antonio Davis. Robinson, Dream, Ewing all during the twilight of the career


Shaq was the most dominant big man I ever seen but I always said that time coincided with the weakest Era of bigs.

He put up numbers against elite centers in their prime. He didn't win championships but he held his own. He averaged 28 and 12 in the 1995 Finals against Olajuwon. Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott were trash that series. Houston just had the better squad and coaching.

 

[DlAMONDZ]

Unless you got a superstar SG next to him, you ain't winning shyt with Shaq

 

[King Poetic]

key stat will be 4th quarter

hakeem - 71% free throw
shaq - 52%

 

[Spence]

Hakeem had a jumper people seem to forget about. In today’s game he could still hoop, plug Shaq in today’s game and he’s basically Jalil Okafor

Also Hakeem hit free throws ESPECIALLY when they counted, Shaq couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean standing on the beach

 

[letti cook]

Hakeem had a jumper people seem to forget about. In today’s game he could still hoop, plug Shaq in today’s game and he’s basically Jalil Okafor

Also Hakeem hit free throws ESPECIALLY when they counted, Shaq couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean standing on the beach

 

[Sauce Dab]

What's so funny?

Tim got more rings, more MVP's than both of them and his teams never missed the playoffs. How you not start your team with him

And don't give me that prime Shaq BS when Timmy went through him twice to get titles

Going by Coli standards this is the right answer. Because the only thing the Coli cares about is rings and Tim's got more than both of them :Ehhletsseewherethisgoes:
And if this thread was about guards, as Kobe stans would put it

 

[Ineedmoney504]

Hakeem. The spacing he creates would be next level

 

[TrebleMan]

A lot of folks forget that playing Shaq ball slows the game down and neutralizes a lot of what the NBA is doing today. Teams will have to crowd the paint defensively.

This is another matchup that happens all in theory land in people's head anyways.

 

[Liquid]

Yeah I am taking Dream.

 

[Miggs]

I just copped a Hakeem rookie card last week,been wanted it for a decade...

My Raptor goat

 

[nieman]

Patrick was the last C to give Shaq 30+

 

[nieman]

What era is the discussion though? You can't go wrong with either. It's moreso the era that will determine the pieces you put around them. Sac-Town took Utah's blueprint for beating Lakers and amplified it, to the point Shaq would be immobilized on defense....partly because he got lazy. Polished Shaq was a force, and the 2man game would still kill in today's NBA but with Dream, you could put him in anywhere and not hinder today's NBA players. I don't think most modern players even know how to run the 2-man game.

 

[KidJSoul]

KG will translate the best in this era.

Those long 2s that he shot at a good percentage will be threes in today's game.

At his peak, he averaged 5 assists as a big man, better than Hakeem, Duncan, or Shaq. His lateral/perimeter defence is just as good or close to Hakeem's.

KG
If only he played on a better team than Minnesota in his prime

 

[SuperNintendo Chalmers]

Hakeem had a jumper people seem to forget about. In today’s game he could still hoop, plug Shaq in today’s game and he’s basically Jalil Okafor

Also Hakeem hit free throws ESPECIALLY when they counted, Shaq couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean standing on the beach

Compare Shaq to Jalil Okafor brehs. The Coli.com

 

[Spence]

Compare Shaq to Jalil Okafor brehs. The Coli.com

The traditional center (which can’t hit free throws) in today’s game is all but useless

Shaq was THE man in his prime, but you can’t body ANYONE in the paint like he did now. His entire game was physicality once he touched the ball