Healthy/Peak Bill Walton vs Peak Hakeem Olajuwon

[1987_Lakers]

Hakeem obviously was more athletic & a better scorer, Walton was the more fundamentally sound player being the better passer & rebounder. Who's the better center?

[D.J.]

Hakeem was the better overall defender. At 32, he contained 23 year old Shaq. Not many can claim that.

[ThaSwagg3r]

Hakeem was the better overall defender. At 32, he contained 23 year old Shaq. Not many can claim that.

Dream didn't contain Shaq at all.

[D.J.]

Dream didn't contain Shaq at all.

You didn't watch the series. I did. Shaq had 5 fouls in 3 of the 4 games and Hakeem shut him down in the clutch. Shaq may have put up the numbers, but Hakeem kept in check by drawing fouls. Shaq even said he didn't outplay Hakeem. Hakeem made clutch plays, Shaq didn't. Hakeem also had games of 31/7/6/4/2, 34/11/2/4/1, 31/14/7/2, and 35/15/6/3. Hakeem did contain Shaq and that's why Houston swept.

[1987_Lakers]

Hakeem was the better overall defender. At 32, he contained 23 year old Shaq. Not many can claim that.

Walton vs Kareem at 33...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxZzZ...el_video_title

[ThaSwagg3r]

You didn't watch the series. I did. Shaq had 5 fouls in 3 of the 4 games and Hakeem shut him down in the clutch. Shaq may have put up the numbers, but Hakeem kept in check by drawing fouls. Shaq even said he didn't outplay Hakeem. Hakeem made clutch plays, Shaq didn't. Hakeem also had games of 31/7/6/4/2, 34/11/2/4/1, 31/14/7/2, and 35/15/6/3. Hakeem did contain Shaq and that's why Houston swept.

Shaq had nothing to do with the sweep.....


You call this contain?

Game 1 - 26 pts, 16 rbs, 9 asts, 3 blks with 10/16 shooting
Game 2 - 33 pts, 12 rbs, 7 asts, with 12/22 shooting
Game 3 - 28 pts, 10 rbs, 6 asts, 3 blks with 11/17 shooting
Game 4 - 25 pts, 12 rbs, 3 asts, 4 blks with 11/19 shooting

His averages....

28.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 6.3 apg, 2.5 bpg, with 59% shooting.


That isn't containing anybody. Hakeem may have outplayed him.....sure but to say he contained him is laughable and nothing more than a revisionist theory.

[D.J.]

Walton vs Kareem at 33...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxZzZ...el_video_title

Kareem was pushing 40 here. Hakeem went up against a mid-20s Shaq. Come on.

[D.J.]

Shaq had nothing to do with the sweep.....


You call this contain?

Game 1 - 26 pts, 16 rbs, 9 asts, 3 blks with 10/16 shooting
Game 2 - 33 pts, 12 rbs, 7 asts, with 12/22 shooting
Game 3 - 28 pts, 10 rbs, 6 asts, 3 blks with 11/17 shooting
Game 4 - 25 pts, 12 rbs, 3 asts, 4 blks with 11/19 shooting

His averages....

28.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 6.3 apg, 2.5 bpg, with 59% shooting.


That isn't containing anybody. He may have outplayed him.....sure but to say he contained him is laughable and nothing more than a revisionist theory.

He averaged 29.3 PPG/11.4 RPG/2.7 APG/2.4 BPG and shot 58.3%. Shaq was held at his scoring average or below in 3 of the 4 games. He was held at 12 boards or below in 3 of the 4 games. He also shot 59% or lower in 2 games and matched his average field goal attempts per game only once. So yes, he did contain him. Aside from assists, Shaq did not go above and beyond what he did in the regular season.

[1987_Lakers]

Kareem was pushing 40 here. Hakeem went up against a mid-20s Shaq. Come on.

Not comparing it to Hakeem vs Shaq, just showing how Walton destroys Kareem and even though Jabbar was 38 he still made the All-NBA First Team that year.

[D.J.]

Not comparing it to Hakeem vs Shaq, just showing how Walton destroys Kareem and even though Jabbar was 38 he still made the All-NBA First Team that year.

Not taking anything away from Walton, but 38 year old Kareem(All-NBA 1st team or not) is not nearly the same as 23 year old Shaq.

[1987_Lakers]

Not taking anything away from Walton, but 38 year old Kareem(All-NBA 1st team or not) is not nearly the same as 23 year old Shaq.

Like I said, I wasn't comparing Kareem to Shaq.

[1987_Lakers]

I hate how basketball-reference has Hakeem listed at 7-0 & Walton at 6-11. Hakeem was clearly 6-10 & Walton was ATLEAST 7-1.

[D.J.]

I hate how basketball-reference has Hakeem listed at 7-0 & Walton at 6-11. Hakeem was clearly 6-10 & Walton was ATLEAST 7-1.

Walton wasn't 7'1". No one is under-listed.

[kurt_rambis]

Not comparing it to Hakeem vs Shaq, just showing how Walton destroys Kareem and even though Jabbar was 38 he still made the All-NBA First Team that year.

he destroyed a 38 year old kareem for an 8 minute stretch in the middle of january. that's not really indicative of anything

i don't really buy that walton was more 'fundamentally sound' than hakeem. i guess walton was the better passer, but by every other conceivable measurement olajuwon was the better player

[ShaqAttack3234]

It is a legitimate question, peak Bill Walton was THAT good, imo. He was the perfect team player and as well rounded of a center as you'll find. But I'll go with Hakeem, he was more dominant and so much of Houston's offense relied on Hakeem getting doubled it in the post. He'd recognize the doubles and get his teammates open shots, but he could also beat the doubles when he needed to.

And ThaSwagg3r is right, Hakeem outplayed Shaq in '95, but I'm not sure I could call it containing him. Watching that series, it's pretty obvious that neither player stood a chance of stopping the other with single coverage, Shaq got in foul trouble when he tried in game 2, and Hakeem actually got in foul trouble in the first half of game 1. Considering how much both players were doubled, and the stretches where Horace Grant guarded Hakeem and Charles Jones guarded Shaq, it really didn't seem like either player could contain the other.

Hakeem outplayed him though, but he was a better player in general than Shaq was in '95.