Olajuwon vs Kevin McHale 1986 NBA Finals

[Da_Realist]

1986 NBA Finals

Lost in the brilliance of Larry Bird was an interesting battle of two Hall Of Famers in the paint -- Kevin McHale and Hakeem Olajuwon. McHale, the resident king of footwork, mastered the drop-step, head fake and up-and-unders. Olajuwon, the young challenger, showed his promise on the biggest stage of all.

Hakeem, who would later master the fadeaway jumpshot and the Dreamshake (a series of quick fakes designed to keep his defender off-balance), was still a force here in 86. He was raw, but still deadly enough to force the Celtics to double and triple him consistently.

The battle down low between the master of footwork and his challenger was a nice subtext to this series.

Game 1

[Da_Realist]

Game 2

[Scott Pippen]

very nice

[gotbacon23]

very even stat wise in the end in the series.
olajuwon: 24.7 ppg 11.8 rpg 1.8 apg 3.3 bpg
mchale: 25.8 ppg 8.5 rpg 1.7 apg 2.5 bpg

just by looking at the box scores, game 5 looks like it would have been a great battle between the two.

mchale 12/23 shooting 33 points 8 rebounds 1 ast 3 stl 2 blks
olajuwon 13/25 shooting 32 points 14 rebounds 3 ast 2 stl 8 blks

rockets won the game fairly easily though.

i bet olajuwon learned a lot of his moves from mchale in this series.

[allball]

for the most part Ralph and Jim Peterson guarded McHale. he destroyed them both especially in game 6. Ralph had like 5 fouls in 5 minutes (at least it seemed that way)

[Da_Realist]

for the most part Ralph and Jim Peterson guarded McHale. he destroyed them both especially in game 6. Ralph had like 5 fouls in 5 minutes (at least it seemed that way)

Understandable. Houston couldn't afford to lose Hakeem since he was their best weapon. It would have been nice to see how he would have fared defensively on McHale. Back then Hakeem would go for fakes trying to get blocks.

For what it's worth, McHale just destroyed Sampson this series.

[juju151111]

Understandable. Houston couldn't afford to lose Hakeem since he was their best weapon. It would have been nice to see how he would have fared defensively on McHale. Back then Hakeem would go for fakes trying to get blocks.

For what it's worth, McHale just destroyed Sampson this series.

Hakeem destroyed there whole team tho.

[Sir Charles]

Kevin McHale is the Most Skilled Low Post Player Ever. Nobody was as Creative and Elegant as McHale in the Post, Ever!

McHale is the Second Best Scoring PF ever after Charles Barkley

Hakeem also is in the Top as a Low Post Scorer. Althoug he did not have as many Post Moves as McHale but he had the "Fastest Footwork Ever" and the Agil SG like "Dream Shake" which was unstoppable

Two 80s Legends Right There

[TMac&Luther]

i bet olajuwon learned a lot of his moves from mchale in this series.

Hakeem learned his moves from C.D. (Carrol Dawson) who is a master at teaching post moves and footwork (same guy that helped teach Yao his post moves).

[Da_Realist]

Hakeem learned his moves from C.D. (Carrol Dawson) who is a master at teaching post moves and footwork (same guy that helped teach Yao his post moves).

I always heard Hakeem was taught how to play by Moses Malone. I think I saw Moses say that in an interview somewhere that he and Hakeem played in some well-known gym in Houston over the summers when Hakeem was still in college.

They must have seen some great potential in the guy because he didn't start playing basketball until he was well in his teens.

[Da_Realist]

Kevin McHale is the Most Skilled Low Post Player Ever. Nobody was as Creative and Elegant as McHale in the Post, Ever!

McHale is the Second Best Scoring PF ever after Charles Barkley

Hakeem also is in the Top as a Low Post Scorer. Althoug he did not have as many Post Moves as McHale but he had the "Fastest Footwork Ever" and the Agil SG like "Dream Shake" which was unstoppable

Two 80s Legends Right There

Better than Tim Duncan?

[Sir Charles]

Better than Tim Duncan?

A Better Scorer than Duncan and Skilles Post Player by Miles....

[AItheAnswer3]

A Better Scorer than Duncan and Skilles Post Player by Miles....

Duncan>Barkley

[allball]

Better than Tim Duncan?

In terms of overall post play, yes. he was also more accurate from mid-range and more creative. I love TD but for pure post play from below the elbow in, McHale was the man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlSZC4TAYVc

there are two eras in terms of big man post play. the era before McHale and the era after..

[TMac&Luther]

I always heard Hakeem was taught how to play by Moses Malone. I think I saw Moses say that in an interview somewhere that he and Hakeem played in some well-known gym in Houston over the summers when Hakeem was still in college.

They must have seen some great potential in the guy because he didn't start playing basketball until he was well in his teens.

He had legendary battles with Moses, and learned moves from him and Guy Lewis, but he learned his extensive post game and turned into the player we all remember under C.D.