Is it not also true that yester-year centers would not be as effective in today's modern game without an upgrade in certain skills? Embiid is the dominant low post player of this era, and his skill level as a shooter far exceeds that of the great centers of past eras.
You cannot compare the way players get defended today vs how they got defended in the 80's and 90's. The rules are so different that the only way to compare it would be to say the 80's and 90's players were defended by adults and now they are defended by children. If they used the same defense in Hakeem's era with today's rules the entire team on BOTH sides would foul out by the end of the first half and many of those fouls would be flagrant 2's. It's total bullshit to compare how easy it is for the offensive player to score now vs then. It's a different game.
Naturally, but do you have any doubt that Hakeem wouldn't be a great 3 point shooter given his shooting touch and work ethic?
Yes, I have doubts. I'll just point out that Embiid is an 81% career FT shooter, Jokic is at 83%, and Hakeem was at 71%. It's impossible to know how he would have adapted to today's game. Most of his value on offense came from his work in and around the paint, and sucking in defenses to open up 3-point shooters. I don't think he'd be as effective stationed far from the basket unless his game radically changed.
Not ironically, but intentionally. That was the genius of Rudy T's system. Olajuwon with spread out shooters and a rebound/cleanup guy on the backside. Dream warps the floor like few ever have and demands double or triple teams leaving someone on the perimeter open for a shot or cut. If Olajuwon is left with only one defender, all the better. (Just ask David Robinson.) Because you have spread on the offensive perimeter, you also have players in position for good transition defense that limits fast breaks. Add to that Olajuwon being fast enough to beat his man downcourt and you can quickly dictate terms to the offense. That designed flow between efficient offensive spacing and defense was all predicated on Olajuwon's skills and speed and the opposing team's reactions to him.
Hakeem was a good passer and facilitator, Jokic is just better... to me it isn't really a big deal because Hakeem is better at the other parts of the game and Jokic wouldn't be able to do a lot of what he does against Olajuwon. He is a Hall of Famer, but not Dream good.
Nah. He took a lot of mid range shots and never took 3's in game because that wasn't the system in that era. FWIW you can go ask Keith Jones, Olajuwon for fun would drain 3's in practice, the only one he would lose to was Kenny Smith. As for free throw shooting, he was solid in the middle of his career. He was a poor free throw shooter the first 3-4 years of his career, and at the end of his career after an injury, but for his prime he was like a 75% free throw shooter. I find all of it silly personally..... Olajuwon is considered one of the 2-3 best defensive players to ever live, and widely considered the best defensive player of the modern era. Jokic on defense is JAG. Also FWIW Olajuwon shot 43% on shots 16 feet to the 3 point line. He was an elite mid range shooter.
Bad take by Aldridge, tbh. Things that get talked about on a daily basis more than Jokic possibly repeating as MVP: Lakers' woes, Philly and Harden, BKN and Kyrie's issues, Embiid's MVP candidacy, Memphis' rise, Chicago's rise, etc. The MVP race is usually a major topic, especially around this time of the season. Yet you barely hear a peep about how good Jokic has been. When Curry was playing well earlier, he dominated the MVP conversation and people actively talked about the award. When Embiid and Derozan were clearly the MVP frontrunners (Derozan's candidacy last for all of a week), people actively talked about the award. But when Jokic is head and shoulders above everyone else, barely a blip. Jokic absolutely deserves more love.
I agree 100%, Jokic is for sure more skilled than Hasheem Thabeet... They misspelled his name but still not sure what the point is... Hasheem was not very skilled to begin with.....
IDK.... I think he didn't get enough love a few years ago but now gets plenty of attention. He won the MVP and has a good chance of winning again. I think people assume he isn't talked about enough because of his slow style of play, but that just isn't the case... he is discussed a lot in media. Now fans may not talk about him as much, but that is on fans.... for a guy that doesn't have a ring he gets a LOT of praise and little criticism... and I say that as someone that loves watching him play.
Talk to me when Jokic wins a championship on a defensive play. Then I might entertain you but likely not. Dream was just that a dream to watch, a complete player through and through. Can't think of any area he lacked only comparable to Jordan.
Rudy T was the first coach that convinced Hakeem to trust his teammates and pass out to the open man instead of going one on three in the post. Passing out when you attract double team isn't as difficult as passing to cutters or passing to the open man on the other side of the court while dribbling. There is no doubt Jokic is a much better passer than Hakeem. That said, if Hakeem played in this era, I am pretty sure he would have worked on a 3pt shot. He would be a better version of Embiid. Heck, I think even Yao Ming would be shooting some 3s if he played now. These guys are good shooters. They didn't shoot long balls because the game was played differently back then.
Jokic has great vision for a big man and makes some sick passes. But Hakeem just didn't pass out of double teams to the perimeter:
Go back and look at those rosters from 87-92. Who was Dream going to pass to? They were horrible which is why Dream damn near forced his way out. This whole more skilled thing is just a fallacy anyways, a clickbait article. Dream was a couple of notches better than Jokic will ever be.
Embiid gets compared to Hakeem a lot, but to me, he’s more like an upgraded, injury prone Patrick ewing…Hakeem would likely do him like he did Ewing in the finals Hakeem would wear Jokic out too
Agreed on both points. Embiid is probably more skilled and dedicated than Ewing, but I wonder how he would have held up in Hakeem's era of rough and tough basketball.
Yeah, I watch Joel and while he's a really good player, there are more than a few times each game where I think to myself, "Olajuwon would have made a play there."
Shawn Livingston was a guard, he played on warriors in modern era and they shot a lot of 3 ball, but he never did, he was a good shooter and his midrange was lethal, but he never could shoot 3s...shooting longball is not the same as just shooting....
thanks for the work but nothing of this makes much sense to me and i weren't being sarcastic 1. if the drives were harder as there wasn't the 3 seconds rule back then as you claim wouldn't it make 3 point shot even more valuable and even more efficient then? 2. how come hakeem or MJ didnt get it then if their bb iq was high? what if they werent so smart as we think of them? 3. how come they didnt get that 3>2? 4. you say 3 pt shot was much harder to create but the fact is people shot a lot of long 2s...see how it doesnt make sense again? if these people had such a big brains and that was classic era of basketball because some of the finest coaches and players were involved back then, how come they were so stupid not to take 3 pointers instead of long 2? 5. Also you say But it was a different era where three point shooting wasn't as critical to success... how come? oh boy if utah jazz, or suns or whoever could scored more efficiently and could spread the floor better they surely could have beaten jordan...see how i am having trouble finding a lot of substantiated claims in your post? so much for now, let me hear back from you, thank you and good night! i hope to find an explanation why it wasnt a good idea for hakeem to shoot 3 pointers because who could have blocked him with his wingspan, vertical and high release? nobodys blocking a 3pt shot of kevin durant or nikola jokic even if theyre right in front of them...
