That's not a very good test and nobody is saying Jokic is better than Dream. Not really sure Dream could "shut down" Jokic he is just that skilled. Who said Dream was the lesser offensive player anyway?
I am not sure either. Anyway I am done with the topic, nobody is trying to say Jokic is better than Dream, which is actually my point.
Handles: Hakeem Post moves: Hakeem Passing: Jokic Jump shot: Hakeem Rebounding: Hakeem Defense: Hakeem Steals: Hakeem Blocks: Hakeem Leadership: Hakeem Hands: Hakeem Athleticism: Hakeem
Unfortunately, defensive stats, other than blocks and steals (which don't always tell how good a guy's defense is) are mostly variations of +/- numbers. These numbers are actually team stats. They depend heavily on what teammates you play with. This is especially true in today's NBA where defensive schemes such as switching are widely used. It's extremely difficult to track statistically which defender is responsible for what defensive results. There has never been a satisfactory metric, at least not publicly available, that can have some semblance of measuring individual defensive impact. So we mostly still have to go back to eye test when it comes to judging a player's defense.
Jokic has “fancier” passes and better 3 point shots, but is he more skilled than Dream? Hell the fu$k no. Dream is by far the most skilled big man in history IMO, only a handful of players you can confidently say “yes, he can play in any era.” I honestly think if 3 point shots were a bit more welcoming back in the Dream’s days, he could be decent , probably not a dead eye shooter but guys would still need to guard him unlike Westbrook (sorry for the Russ jab).
One thing to always keep in mind. Casual fans tend to focus on offense and rings primarily. They don't look very deep or watch defense on film or have much knowledge of defensive skills among others. Offense and rings are more exciting to the average fan, which is why the rules where changed to favor wing players and offense. It sells more tickets and brings ratings. No judgement, I was a casual fan growing up and enjoyed studying the game later. As an example, go to the article (or not, I checked knowing it does seem like clickbait after all) and search for the word "Defense", it only shows up once as defensive in that entire article. Vitrtually no defensive analysis. Not to mention there are offensive skills Olajuwon is better at. Much respect to Jokic, he's a beast, the best passing big ever and it's early but should become an even better all time great with more longevity. But imo you have to fully examine both sides of the ball, and other factors to get a larger picture of the value a player brings skillwise.
Prime Dream would have destroyed Jokic on both sides of the court. Stats nerds are getting out of control.
Olajuwon in this era would rack up 3 pointers and assists. He adopted to the game because he was that talented. Why anyone would think otherwise is shocking to me - he was the most versatile big man ever. You can't sit there and compare Jokic's 3 point shooting to Hakeems when Hakeem played in a different era where it made absolutely no sense for him to shoot three pointers.
I don't think it is all that close on offense. Hakeem was a more fluid, dynamic low-post scorer. But Jokic just does too many things on the offensive end and his efficiency is unbelievable. Hakeem did raise his game significantly in the playoffs. Not sure we've seen that yet from Jokic.
We have. Jokic went full nuclear during the bubble playoffs and when most thought it was an outlier because it was in the bubble (e.g. Herro effect), he went harder last postseason before running out of gas against Phoenix.
