Hakeem Olajuwon: 28/13/7/4/5 vs. Bulls (1992)

[The Iron Fist]

Just like the year Jordan hit "The Shot" huh....apparently you didn't know the Bulls lost ALL 6 games to the Cavs during the regular season that year. REGULAR SEASON and PLAYOFFS are 2 different animals.

and yet,
its 3 different seasons worth of work.

Sometimes, the team that was better in the rs, was better in the po too.

[millwad]

Maybe, maybe not...but I find it interesting that Chicago outscored the Knicks in their seven game series, and the Knicks outscored the Rockets in their seven game Finals...and virtually all games were close.

I find it hard to believe that the BEST player in the game would not have made enough of a difference to overcome whatever SLIGHT edge the Rockets would have had against the MJ-less Bulls in that post-season.

BTW, that was certainly not a great Knick team that barely lost that seven game series against the Rockets. They actually only had ONE exceptional player, in Ewing. Furthermore, the Rockets went 58-24, while NY came in at 56-26. Meanwhile, the Bulls, WITHOUT MJ, were at 55-27.

I just can't fathom a PRIME MJ not EASILY leading that Bulls team to a title.

Biggest load of crap ever, it's all about match-ups and the Rockets matched up pretty well against the Bulls. And not only that, MJ himself considered the Rockets and Olajuwon his toughest opponent.

And still, it's not like that the Bulls always crushed the Knicks. The 67-15 Bulls won it in game 7 in the playoffs vs the Knicks two years prior to the '94 season and it's not like that the Knicks that season was anything greater than two years later, they only managed to win 51 games in the regular season.

And in the season after that they won it in a 6 games series vs the Knicks and one of those games was a really close one.

Talk all you want but the Rockets beat every team in the Western the Bulls faced in the finals.

[OldSchoolBBall]

lol @ these clowns thinking the Rockets beat the Bulls in '94 when the Bulls have the best player, by far the better second option, far better third option, better role players, more championship experience, better coaching, better system etc. These people are delusional.

Jordan >= Dream
Pippen >>>> any Rocket
Grant ~= Thorpe
Bulls role players > Rockets role players (especially if they have Kukoc, but even if they don't)
PJax and crew > Rudy T and crew
Triangle offense > basic post offense
Bulls experience >>> Rockets experience

[NugzHeat3]

lol @ these clowns thinking the Rockets beat the Bulls in '94 when the Bulls have the best player, by far the better second option, far better third option, better role players, more championship experience, better coaching, better system etc. These people are delusional.

Jordan >= Dream
Pippen >>>> any Rocket
Grant ~= Thorpe
Bulls role players > Rockets role players (especially if they have Kukoc, but even if they don't)
PJax and crew > Rudy T and crew
Triangle offense > basic post offense
Bulls experience >>> Rockets experience

Terrible argument that was shredded earlier in a Bulls vs Rockets thread.

I remember you had no response to that. Wonder why.

[Fatal9]

Terrible argument that was shredded earlier in a Bulls vs Rockets thread.

I remember you had no response to that. Wonder why.

You can literally do that for most of the teams Hakeem beat throughout his career

using his laughable "player x >>>> player y" analysis, Mavs shouldn't have made it past the second round last year. or the wcf. or won the finals. you can use that method to analyze the talent a team possesses but when you get to championship level teams, all that stuff goes out the window.


anyways I don't care as much about there not being a '94 Bulls vs. Rockets finals as much as I do about them not meeting in '93.

[ElPigto]

IF its one thing NBA fans were robbed off by the basketball gods is not having a Rockets vs Bulls finals with both Hakeem and Jordan in their prime.

[Bigsmoke]

lol The Rockets in 95 might beat the 94 Bulls but 94 Rockets?

[NugzHeat3]

You can literally do that for most of the teams Hakeem beat throughout his career

using his laughable "player x >>>> player y" analysis, Mavs shouldn't have made it past the second round last year. or the wcf. or won the finals. you can use that method to analyze the talent a team possesses but when you get to championship level teams, all that stuff goes out the window.


anyways I don't care as much about there not being a '94 Bulls vs. Rockets finals as much as I do about them not meeting in '93.

Ditto.

You can use it for the Mavs this year in the finals like you said and I remember using the exact same analysis for a 1994 Rockets vs Suns comparison where the Suns had a superior starter on paper at every position except for C, superior second option, superior third option ect. They had more championship experience based on their finals appearance an year earlier, they had a better bench on paper thanks to AC Green and Danny Ainge. But they still lost the series despite being up 2-0 going BACK TO PHX while the Rockets actually had the pressure shifted towards them with their paper calling them Choke City cause of blowing two huge leads.

I feel the exact same way about the 1993 match up too. I liked the two finals in 1994 and 1995 because of the center match ups. And I liked Orlando.

I think Houston could have got them that year but the Bulls were motivated to three peat because Jordan knew that's something Isiah, Magic and Bird never accomplished and felt it was a way to seperate himself from them. Hakeem was motivated to turning his career around after all the problems he went through. Would have been a great series to say the least. I have no doubt they give them a tougher match up than the Suns and Knicks as hard as that may be to believe. Rockets would have to rely a lot on their starters though since their bench was a little subpar. It was a little better the year after with Mario Elie and Sam Cassell.

[swi7ch]

#1 center in my book

[Smoke117]

Just a note on what I was saying earlier, the two games the Bulls and Rockets played in the 1994 season they split though one of them is automatically defunct as it was at the beginning of the season during Pippen's 10 injury stint of missed games. The 2nd game the Bulls won 82-76. This is kind of the point I was trying to make in my post earlier about allowing Hakeem to go off and shutting down the rest of the scrubs. As everyone knows the 94 Bulls were an great defensive team and that's mainly how they won games and that's how they won this game and here is Hakeem's statline: 29pts 10rebs 4assist 8to's 12/19fg 5/10ft 2stls. The rest of the team? They shot 32%. On the other hand Scottie's statline was: 25pts 12rebs 6assist 3to's 1sts 1blk 12/21fg 1/2ft. He had a bit more of help, but this was obviously two star players who anchored two tough defensive teams that weren't extremely offensively talented. The Bulls were more so, but Pippen had no real 2nd option, and Scottie Pippen obviously wasn't the first option that Hakeem Olajuwon was. This the reason though that I said that if somehow the 1994 Bulls had made it to the finals they could have made it competitive themselves WITHOUT Jordan. The 94 Bulls,94 Knicks, and 94 Rockets aren't really very different teams at all when it comes down to it. They are hard nosed defensive teams who rely on a super star on the offensive end and team play and than most importantly, that tenacious defense they could play. It's why there were so many 7 game series.

Now let's add who was the best player in the league into the equation on the Bulls...yeah, the Bulls are going to win it all.

[rodman91]

If Jordan didn't retire Bulls would win in 94. Bulls gone head to head with Knicks even without Jordan.And Knicks gone head to head with Rockets even Ewing was outplayed by Hakeem.

95 would be more questionable.Bulls lost Grant, Rockets added Drexler.

[Burgz]

Rockets would have beaten the Bulls with Jordan in 94.

you turned a harmless Olajuwon appreciation thread into a comparison thread

great job, way to stay on topic

as for the video, he be dancin

[rodman91]

He was the best one in golden years for centers.

He was facing with Robinson,Shaq,Ewing,Mourning,Mutombo.Except Howard,there aren't many good centers around.

Rik Smits would destroy todays centers..No need Hakeem.

[jlauber]

He was the best one in golden years for centers.

He was facing with Robinson,Shaq,Ewing,Mourning,Mutombo.Except Howard,there aren't many good centers around.

Rik Smits would destroy todays centers..No need Hakeem.

He was not better than a PRIME Shaq.

[rodman91]

He was not better than a PRIME Shaq.

That's questionable.We haven't seen prime Hakeem vs prime Shaq.