Blinebury: Hakeem past career's limits

Sad, ...but true !

 

Bird seems like a strange choice to use for this comparison. And the description of Birds last years is a little off (IMHO).

True, Bird played hurt his last two seasons but he played 2,227 & 1,662 total minutes. That's alot of minutes.

By contrast, Olajuwon hasn't logged nearly that amount of playing time since 1,633 in '97-98 & 1,783 in the strike shortened '98-99 season. Hakeems teammates logged the following:
Clark - 2,185 / Mo Pete - 1,988 / JYD Williams - 1,641

Bird also averaged 19.4 & 20.2 ppg in his final two seasons. Olajuwon hasn't scored over 19 ppg since the '96-97 season.

I know this will be construed as Olajuwon bashing, but I just don't see Bird as a very accurate parallel. Blinebury is using alot of writers' leeway.

 

Fran is an idiot.

First he says that Hakeem might have passed his prime before he left Houston (wow, what insight!). Then he said Hakeem sucked last year because Raptor's guards suck (he made them sound like China's guards) and didn't know how to pass him the ball. And that Wilkins sucks and didn't use Hakeem correctly - thet the offense should be run through him.

Hmmm....if a player is past his prime, why woulkd you run your offense through him, Frannie?

Gater - I had been thinking the same thing about the Bird comparison.

 

touching story, i hope olajuwon retires and becomes an assistant with the rockets.

Gater you really like Bird don't you.

 

I don't think that Fran is way off in his assessment of Bird's final years. In 1991 Bird played in 60 games and 1992 he played in 45 games. I do remember seeing Bird on his back a lot on the sidelines. Though his points per game the final two years was still good, watching him I felt he was not close to the player he once was. Jordan's points per game last season was respectable but I think that we all agree that he is a shadow of his former self.

I would have liked to have seen Fran include Barry Sanders in the group of atheletes that went out on top. Though his retirement was not graceful, Sanders definitely went out while he was still on top.

 

Sadly and unfortunately, I don't believe that Dream will be part of the Rockets organization any time in the near future. I think the way that Dream and the Rockets broke it off, left a lot of bad blood.

I'd love to see him here in some capacity, but I think he has other plans for the rest of his life than coaching in the NBA.

 

Now correct me if I'm wrong, sometimes my memory gets a little hazy. But didn't Blinebury write a scathing column early this year after getting his "exclusive" interview with Hakeem in the San Antonio locker room to the effect that the Rockets disrespected Hakeem (given that they chose Cato over Hakeem), and that Hakeem still had something in the tank? Wasn't this the subject of a 100+ post thread after the column came out? Can someone dig this up?

And now Blinebury is saying Hakeem stayed a year too long?

 

Yeah, Blinebury's jaw has snapped back into shape by now.

 

Of the Dream Team, who went out gracefully:

Pippen - No
Barkley - No
Ewing - No
Laettner - No
Drexler - Pretty much a yes
Mullin - No
Jordan - No
Bird - No
Stockton - Probably
Malone - Probably
Magic - No
Robinson - Not too bad yet

only one has retired gracefully, with the potential of three more. It's the price you pay for greatness.

 

laettner didn't come in gracefully.






and for the record, it should've been shaq.

 

The only "non graceful" thing about Barkley's exit was his annual "yes I'm retiring, no I'm not" dance. Drexler's departure was much more bizarre, and likely would've been another "No" had the UH job [which he definitely left without grace ] not come along...

 

Birds career ppg average is 24.3. While you are correct in that he only played 60 & 45 games, it's important to note that when the back was healthy he played close to 38 minutes and scored 20 points. My deduction would be that skills were still basically there, but could not be used for 82 games.

Let me put that in a different light.

Shaq is arguably the best player in the game today. What if his toe continues to hamper his play? Let's say this season, Shaq misses the first 10 games, passes on the All Star game and rests the toe further, then a little more rest at the end of the season once the playoff spots have been secured. And the toe hampers him to drop from 27.6 ppg to 23.6 ppg in the 60 games he played.

Is this a demonstration that his skill level has diminished from age or from a persistent injury?

I realize I am drawing a fine line, but there is a difference between a player who no longer has a 40" vertical because of his age and one who has a 40" vertical but the balls of his feet hurt like hell when he hits the court thus limiting the number of times he may want to use that leap.

Some of the more knowledgeable can correct me, but I also think Bird played out the two seasons with the bad back because his contract ended after those two years. I do not recall the specifics but I am almost positive his contract was part of it.

 

I'll try to keep this short, but isn't Hakeem also proving Blinebury wrong? Maybe I'm mistaken, and granted, I could figure a way to blame Frannie for the Cuban Missle Crisis if I tried (Blinebury-era reference intentional), but I seem to recall him writing more ZRB-esque "Respect The Dream" stuff than "You need to retire" stuff.

A more interesting topic would be "what would have been if we did like I wanted us to and caved to Olajuwon's 'new-reason-to-call-him-The-Dream' demands last summer.

I would like to see Frannie eat a little crow on behalf of the "Hail Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon" consituency.

Clearly clearly clearly, Rudy and Carrol Dawson were justified in their hesitance to the mortgage cap space, team chemistry and the future of the team out of "loyalty" to a aging, injured, inflexible, semi-delusional former Franchise player. If anything, they were wrong to offer Hakeem as much as they did.

The article I'd like to see? Here is what could-have-been if he had accepted our two or three year offer.

You have your topic, Frannie (or anyone else). Discuss. Prove me wrong.

CBFC

 

in my best ability to ignore a rimbaud post I will say:

You can't point out Hakeem's moment of decline (which Fran did) and have it precede a $4.1m offer for one year that Les gave (which it did precede) and have the one yr offer prove to be actually generous offer (which Hakeem's last season and his medical physical results prove) and call Rudy a coach who isn't using Hakeem (which he previously did) and then say the move is good for Hakeem (which both Hakeem and Fran did) and then say Lenny wasn't using Hakeem right (which both Hakeem and Fran did)

...and not deny

that Fran cannot get a Rockets player interview for the last 5 yrs from anyone other than Hakeem.

let me attach to Hakeem and dream on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Going to the Chron Archives...Dec 13, 2001

(I won't repost the whole thing, just a couple of key points)

WHILE HE'LL ALWAYS TREASURE HIS 17 SEASONS WITH THE ROCKETS, HAKEEM OLAJUWON IS FEELING REJUVENATED AND NEWLY APPRECIATED AS A TORONTO RAPTOR.

What a difference ten months make...

 

Huh?

HP, I suspect that most people on this board have about the same IQ as mine, which is about 80 points lower than yours. Can you state your point in plain English rather than Rocket-scientish?

 

I can't believe you would try so hard to ignore me, heypee...and then agree with me, myself, and my comment.

Maybe it would have been better if you had made your reply post into a numbered list. That way sloweasies could understand.

 

I don't know if you can say Barkley didn't retire gracefully. He took a bad injury and let it go. The man didn't try to come back.

As for Jordon, he's still the best player on that Team, and he may not be the best in the world anymore, but he's loving every minute he plays. He's not embarrassing himself out there.

Drexler is a rare yes, but even his skills were deminishing.

I don't understand why people are so intent that athletes should retire while someone is still willing to pay them a salary. These guys aren't 65, they are in their late 30's when people say they should leave. Let them play as long as they want....until every last bit of basketball juice is squeezed from them. Just because fans can't bear to see them a shell of their former selves means nothing. So long as they contribute they should be allowed to play if that's what they want.

It's the media that's ungraceful...or perhaps ungrateful.

 

Double post.