David Robinson was better than Hakeem Olajuwon

[ShaqAttack3234]

To those that claimed Hakeem had a crap team during their finals wins. ..no he didn't. He had Clyde Drexler, Sam Cassel, Robert Horry, and several other quality players. They were stacked.

That was the 1995 team, the 1994 team didn't have Drexler. They were far from stacked in '94, in fact Olajuwon's supporting cast was among the worst on a championship team.

The team's second leading scorer averaged 14 ppg and their 3rd leading scorer shot 39%.

They had good role players, but they didn't really have a championship caliber number 2 guy who you could rely on to consistently get his own shot. Maxwell was too inconsistent. I liked Maxwell because of how hard he played and his defense, but offensively he was a streaky 3 point shooter. Some nights he could get ridiculously hot and other nights he couldn't buy a basket.

They have the same number of MVP awards, same number of rings, and same DPY awards. Not to mention their stats are all similar otherwise.

Olajuwon won both of his titles as the undisputed number 1 guy and he had some legendary performances. Robinson won one as a number 2 guy and the other as maybe the 4th best player averaging something like 8/6. You can't compare their rings.

Olajuwon also has one more DPOY award.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

no way man. hakeem averaged 21 points 11 reb 1 steal and 2 blocks. overall he had a better stat line and was better in the playoffs. he also led a team to back to back finals with 2 final mvps as a result.

[pierce2008mvp]

Robinson was on Karl Malone's level not Hakeem Olajuwon's.

[SmackOrH.A.K]

To those that claimed Hakeem had a crap team during their finals wins. ..no he didn't. He had Clyde [COLOR="Red"]Drexler,[/COLOR] [COLOR="Yellow"]Sam Cassel, Robert Horry,[/COLOR] and several other quality players. They were stacked.

The red was not even there during the 1994 championship.
The yellow were rookies during the 1994 championship.

[CB4GOATPF]

Why are you including The Head to Heads when Hakeem was [COLOR="DarkRed"]Past his Prime [/COLOR] and Robison had Tim Duncan?

Put The Head to Head Stats only [COLOR="DarkRed"]For a Prime Hakeem ages 27-32 or 33[/COLOR] vs [COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]Robinson ages 24-30[/COLOR]

You Posted The Total Head to Head Matchups From [COLOR="DarkRed"]1989 till the Year 2001[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Rk

84

[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Blue"]Post Me ONLY THE MATCHUPS FROM 1989 TO 1996 (i could even exclude 95-96 season cause 33 is past prime 1 year for most players) [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Blue"]When Both Where Prime[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Blue"]Rk

64[/COLOR]



Lets See What Happens...

[dave520]

I dont think any sportsfan worth is weight can reasonably say that Robinson was a superior player to Olajuwon if he takes the totality of the circumstances into play (and that should be the case in all matchups that pit player against player)

Its never a sound argument to argue JUST stats, or JUST championships... they need to take the entire equation and make a judgement call.

Career stats are similar, although Olajuwon has higher all time numbers, he also played a good many more years. I think for players who play a minimum 6 or 7 years, it is much more accurateto gauge them on averages, and in this individual matchup they both come up about equal.

I think David was better team defender and Olajuwon was a slightly better individual one.

David had better peak numbers offensively, Olajuwon was more consistent.

Both were good rebounders, about the same I would say.

They were probably the best two centers ever in regards to steals.. Olajuwon being more consitent, and David having slightly better peak numbers (92 Robinson was a complete beast). Both also were pretty even as far as assists, although I think Olajuwon was a slightly better passer.

Olajuwon entered the league much younger than David, and I feel overstayed his welcome a bit as well (playing as a shell of his former self in Toronto).. so he has better all time numbers.

David started late (24)... if Dave had entered when he was 20 or so, he would be much higher on the all time lists and would be number 2 on the all time blocked shots list behind Olajuwon for sure.

They both have two championships, the difference obviously being that Olajowon wasnt only the prime player on those Rocket teams, but he steamrolled through not only Robinson, but through the other two prime centers of that era.. Ewing and O'Neal to get those rings, and THAT is where Olajuwon separates himself from the pack and from Robinson in regards to his all-time status. Not to mention he carried a grossly undermanned unit in 1994-1995 and put up one of the single greatests playoff performances in the playoffs that year, especially against the MVP Robinson.

(On a side note, WAY too much is made of that one playoff series in regards to Robinsons career, and many young people who never saw them play in their primes give the impression that they werent even close in terms of talent... not realizing from around 1991-1996 they were considered without question as the two best centers in the league.. and not only that as two of the leagues top 5 players all those years as well)

Olajuwon also had a tendency to play better in the clutch and in the playoffs, which is where Robinson gets hurt in his all time status.

There individual numbers against eachother in the regular season would be more relevant if Olajuwon had'nt had that wild performance againt Robinson in 95.

That being said, I feel overall Robinson is underrated by most casual sports fans and even knowlegable ones. He played quite well his first few years in the playoffs, and struggled 94-96 mainly because the Spurs themselves were inflitrated with role players and with the exception of Rodman and the occasional Elliot (Elliot really didnt help because he wasnt a consistant scorer on the block or in the paint, where Rob needed relief), and Robinsons game wasnt back the traditional back to the basket game... and teams could always double team him because they lacked a second go to man (Elliot WAS NOT going to go off for 30 if Robinson had a bad night, and Rodman never scored unless he was either bored or collected an inordinate amount of offensive boards).

Both were very athletic and probably are the most athletic big men in the history of the league (Dwight Howard is a great leaper, and quick for his size but lacks the footwork, quick feet around the basket that Robinson and Olajuwon had, not to mention a jump shot and some decent post moves). Again David being the more natural athlete (could do almost anything) and Olajuwon had the better footwork and quicker feet around the basket (thank you Soccer).

Overall though, Olajuwon had the more succesful career and will be remembered as the better player, (for some reasonable reasons and some not so reasonable)... and rightfully so.

[dave520]

no way man. hakeem averaged 21 points 11 reb 1 steal and 2 blocks. overall he had a better stat line and was better in the playoffs. he also led a team to back to back finals with 2 final mvps as a result.

Robinson has almost exactly the same stat line all time.. Robinson avg 3 blocks per game and Olajuwon around 2.6 or so....

[dave520]

I like the depth of your analysis, but I feel it isnt well rounded enough.. too much dependancy on stats.. needs more intangibles.

[CB4GOATPF]

Robinson has almost exactly the same stat line all time.. Robinson avg 3 blocks per game and Olajuwon around 2.6 or so....

[B]Hakeem played longer reason to why his stats diminished. If you account their primes ages 22-32 (for D-Rob 23) there is no discusson on who was better. If u wan

[Da_Realist]

I dont think any sportsfan worth is weight can reasonably say that Robinson was a superior player to Olajuwon if he takes the totality of the circumstances into play (and that should be the case in all matchups that pit player against player)

Its never a sound argument to argue JUST stats, or JUST championships... they need to take the entire equation and make a judgement call.

Career stats are similar, although Olajuwon has higher all time numbers, he also played a good many more years. I think for players who play a minimum 6 or 7 years, it is much more accurateto gauge them on averages, and in this individual matchup they both come up about equal.

I think David was better team defender and Olajuwon was a slightly better individual one.

David had better peak numbers offensively, Olajuwon was more consistent.

Both were good rebounders, about the same I would say.

They were probably the best two centers ever in regards to steals.. Olajuwon being more consitent, and David having slightly better peak numbers (92 Robinson was a complete beast). Both also were pretty even as far as assists, although I think Olajuwon was a slightly better passer.

Olajuwon entered the league much younger than David, and I feel overstayed his welcome a bit as well (playing as a shell of his former self in Toronto).. so he has better all time numbers.

David started late (24)... if Dave had entered when he was 20 or so, he would be much higher on the all time lists and would be number 2 on the all time blocked shots list behind Olajuwon for sure.

They both have two championships, the difference obviously being that Olajowon wasnt only the prime player on those Rocket teams, but he steamrolled through not only Robinson, but through the other two prime centers of that era.. Ewing and O'Neal to get those rings, and THAT is where Olajuwon separates himself from the pack and from Robinson in regards to his all-time status. Not to mention he carried a grossly undermanned unit in 1994-1995 and put up one of the single greatests playoff performances in the playoffs that year, especially against the MVP Robinson.

(On a side note, WAY too much is made of that one playoff series in regards to Robinsons career, and many young people who never saw them play in their primes give the impression that they werent even close in terms of talent... not realizing from around 1991-1996 they were considered without question as the two best centers in the league.. and not only that as two of the leagues top 5 players all those years as well)

Olajuwon also had a tendency to play better in the clutch and in the playoffs, which is where Robinson gets hurt in his all time status.

There individual numbers against eachother in the regular season would be more relevant if Olajuwon had'nt had that wild performance againt Robinson in 95.

That being said, I feel overall Robinson is underrated by most casual sports fans and even knowlegable ones. He played quite well his first few years in the playoffs, and struggled 94-96 mainly because the Spurs themselves were inflitrated with role players and with the exception of Rodman and the occasional Elliot (Elliot really didnt help because he wasnt a consistant scorer on the block or in the paint, where Rob needed relief), and Robinsons game wasnt back the traditional back to the basket game... and teams could always double team him because they lacked a second go to man (Elliot WAS NOT going to go off for 30 if Robinson had a bad night, and Rodman never scored unless he was either bored or collected an inordinate amount of offensive boards).

Both were very athletic and probably are the most athletic big men in the history of the league (Dwight Howard is a great leaper, and quick for his size but lacks the footwork, quick feet around the basket that Robinson and Olajuwon had, not to mention a jump shot and some decent post moves). Again David being the more natural athlete (could do almost anything) and Olajuwon had the better footwork and quicker feet around the basket (thank you Soccer).

Overall though, Olajuwon had the more succesful career and will be remembered as the better player, (for some reasonable reasons and some not so reasonable)... and rightfully so.

Really good analysis

[purple32gold]

geez guy gets put in the hall of fame and apparently everyone and their mama has somethin ****ty to say. life's tough i guess lol