Anyone interesting this topic? I think Moses is better offencer&rebounder,but Hakeem is better defender. I think Moses is better a little on drawing foul&FT.
i think the 2 greatest overall players in history are jordan and kareem. i also think for about 3 years hakeem had the best stretch ever of any player. im pretty sure a lot of people on this site would agree with me.
Moses was a beastly dominant player. I wouldn't say underrated, but perhaps overlooked in the pantheon of great bigs. Still, he didn't play the bulk of his career I n the greatest big man era which was effectively mid 80s - 2000, he wasn't as good a defender as Hakeem, and was t exactly a creator offensively for anyone other than himself. But he was indeed Shaq before Shaq.
Moses is as good as any BIG to ever play the game, with the exception of Hakeem, who was far and away the greatest in my opinion.
Interesting comparison. Shaq was more explosive and a much better (and more willing) passer, Moses had more skill away from the basket and was far better on the glass. But both guys would just overwhelm opponents with their physicality. And while it's true that Hakeem faced better competition at the position (and was in a different stratosphere defensively), it can't be forgotten that Moses would routinely throw Kareem around like a rag doll.
Hakeem was more athletic but Moses was still a great defensive player. Moses was also probably the best offensive rebounder in the history of the NBA. Its hard to sell short someone who was a 3 time MVP playing at the same time as Kareem.
Moses taught Hakeem a lot about the game that one summer. I think that says plenty, but the pupil surpassed the master. Pele, Kareem was great, but the thing that separates Hakeem from Kareem was how Hakeem really picked up his game when playing against tough centers. Kareem was just good at pounding the inferior talent with his perfected moves like the sky hook. Here's the stats of Kareem vs Moses: http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=malonmo01&p2=abdulka01 It's pretty clear that Moses was better than Kareem. Especially when it counted in the playoffs. Hakeem surpassed Moses, so what does that say? Hakeem > all other centers when it mattered in the playoffs Hakeem was pretty normal in the regular season compared to playoff Dream.
2 time MVP who is underrated and under appreciated even by Houston fans. Put him on the Celtics instead of Russell and he has rings on every finger. No where near the offensive force of Hakeem the Dream. Look at Hakeem's offensive numbers in the playoffs and you will realize he is the greatest offensive center of all time. You got the defensive part right, steals and blocks there was just nothing like Hakeem at center....so say Jordan.
I don't think many of you guys ever even saw Moses play, except maybe on some YouTube videos. I view Hakeem and Moses as equals. They are both among the top five or six Centers of all time. People can have their favorites and debate all day about who the very best is, but all of the top five or six are great players that warrant consideration as the very best. Hakeem had a prettier game, and had a more diverse offensive game. Moses was a better rebounder and was just a bulldog in the paint. I loved watching both players. And I think it was cool that Moses took the time to teach and push a young Akeem to be the great player he would become.
I saw him play. Equals? Nah. Moses was great, but nowhere near the player Olajuwon was. Olajuwon was far more skilled. Moses was probably a little tougher, definitely stronger, but nowhere close to the overall player Olajuwon was.
Moses MP season in 1982 is probably the greatest individual season in rockets history 31.1 ppg 14.7 rpg 1.5 bpg In this year he was 1st team all NBA ...was second in the league in field goals made....1st in free throws made ...leagues leading rebounder... 2nd leading scorer.
I'll take Hakeem's MVP season: 27.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 3.7 bpg, 1.6 spg, 3.6 apg Defensive Player of the Year, Finals MVP, 1st team All-NBA, 1st team All-Defense, 2nd in the league in field goals made, 2nd in the league in defensive rebounding, 2nd in the league in blocks, 3rd in the league in scoring
Yeah, Kenny was saying how Hakeem would tell he would just coast against lesser C's during regular season, and basically only have to step up against the likes of Shaq/Ewing/D Rob etc. Not arrogance, just a simple fact that he didn't have to go all out every game.
And people wonder why Robert Horry was so worthless during the regular season then all of a sudden he's the player you must have to win the big one. Hakeem, the lazy in a good way Dream, Olajuwon.
