2011-14 Heat: Replace Bran w/ Prime Hakeem

[DFish24]

How many Titles do the Heat win w/ Prime Hakeem instead of Bran? I say they 3-peat for sure with the definite possibility of a 4-peat.

Line-Up
G-Chalmers
G-Wade
F-Battier
F-Bosh
C-Hakeem

[Akrazotile]

Hakeem played in a WEAK era.

He would be middle class man's Luke Walton in today's game.

[moe94]

Hakeem played in a WEAK era.

He would be middle class man's Luke Walton in today's game.

Isn't that redundant?

[GimmeThat]

next up: comparing how many teams become instant contenders with a prime Lebron on their team to a prime Shaq on their team.

which, nothing suggests we have seen a prime Bron yet.

[knicksman]

i say 5 peat

[Soundwave]

It isn't really a fair comparison. Who could even match up against a prime Hakeem in the East? Hibbert would get eaten alive by Dream's foot work.

[Harison]

Rings every year.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Look at the roster Hakeem won with in 1994. The season before he got superstar help with Clyde Drexler. It was an all around well built roster yes, but no legit superstar caliber players, or quality individual scorers for help.

So you give peak Hakeem a Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh? Wade was still a beast in 2011, and 2012. He provided enough help in the Finals in 2013 to get it done putting up 20/6/5/2/1 on 48%. Won a game on his own on the road in San Antonio. Bosh's as a stretch 4 to complements Hakeem on the block, his production is icing on the cake.

I don't see them losing in 2011. 2012 is an easy win. 2013 they finish the Spurs off in 6 games. And right now it would at least be competitive. Miami's defense, rebounding, and interior dominance has gotten worse every season. Hakeem vastly improves their biggest holes. Wade can get into better rhythm, and confidence by being ball dominant again.

3 out of 4 is a lock for me. With the way D-Wade is currently player, and LeBron not overcompensating going AWOL in legendary fashion the way Hakeem, Jordan, Shaq, and others have done? Hakeem and the Heat wouldn't be dominating but they'd at least be putting up a fight. The Dream plays harder against elite competition. So he'd salivate to play against Duncan.

I know one thing, the Heat with Hakeem definitenly are not getting blown out consecutively on their own home court.

[Fazotronic]

It isn't really a fair comparison. Who could even match up against a prime Hakeem in the East? Hibbert would get eaten alive by Dream's foot work.

the way he handled david robinson this would turn very ugly for hibbert.

[played0ut]

Hakeem complements this heat roster much more than Lebron, IMO. More than other all time greats too.

His play doesn't overlap Wade's, unlike Lebron's. He's also a much better leader when it comes to intangibles. With his rebounding, low-post offensive and defensive presence?


They'd win 3, i think.

[Lebronxrings]

they win in 2011 and that's it. Anyone who disagrees is a d rider/ LeBron hater. No way hakeem would have legendary clutch games like LeBron vs okc, and LeBron vs spurs game 6 and 7.

[played0ut]

Anyone who disagrees is a d rider/ LeBron hater.

oh geez. you said it, so it must be true!

[B-hoop]

they win in 2011 and that's it. Anyone who disagrees is a d rider/ LeBron hater. No way hakeem would have legendary clutch games like LeBron vs okc, and LeBron vs spurs game 6 and 7.

Please elaborate on "Lebron legendary clutch games" show us the play by play of the 4th quarter in game 6 in 2013

[Marchesk]

they win in 2011 and that's it. Anyone who disagrees is a d rider/ LeBron hater. No way hakeem would have legendary clutch games like LeBron vs okc, and LeBron vs spurs game 6 and 7.

Hakeem would eat OKC alive.

[Thorn]

Let's say the Heat get 93-96 Hakeem in place of 11-14 Lebron.

A lot of this depends on Wade's health. If he still gets his knee injuries in 2012 onward, the Heat might not have enough playmaking competence on the perimeter if they're leaving the offense to be run by the likes of Chalmers/Cole for significant minutes, however Hakeem actually played more minutes than Lebron did in their respective championship runs so maybe they run their offense through the post only.

Hakeem's championship Rockets are actually built similarly to the current Heat, a 1 in 4 out system with shooters everywhere to space the floor. Think of it as if Lebron played in the post for the majority of the game. The Heat's best lineups come with Lebron + 4 shooters, so I think Hakeem could fill that (even Chalmers/old Wade/Cole can bring the ball up), but he would be a huge plus in rebounding and interior intimidation. I definitely think 94 and 95 Hakeem win in place of 12 and 13 Lebron. (Hakeem vs Perkins and Ibaka)?

2011 is a little trickier. The Heat started 9-8, but then went on 49-16 for the rest of the RS and then 13-3 until Game 2 of the Finals vs Dallas. Their supporting cast outside of the Big 3 sucked, but those three were good enough for the most part, until Dallas was able to vaporize Lebron. I don't think there's any way 93 Hakeem loses with a prime Wade, even accounting for a weaker supporting cast. There were still some shooters with Miller, James Jones and Chalmers. Miami could run something like Chalmers/Wade/Miller/Bosh/Hakeem, I think that's a better version of the 95 Rockets that beat 4 elite teams.

As for this year, both Hakeem and Lebron wore down and Hakeem wasn't as good in 96 as he was in 93-95 (plus he got those nagging injuries that everyone gets after repeated deep runs) Wade looks even worse. They'd probably make it to the Finals anyway because the East sucks, but they'd lose to SAS.