Hakeem Olajuwon's absurd post moves were only his 2nd-best skill | Greatest Peaks Ep. 8

Many people view Hakeem Alajawan's two championships in the mid-'90s as a sort of stopgap title for rent while Michael Jordan threw curveballs, but perhaps Hakeem should have been in the conversation for

greatest

player before Jordan retired. , perhaps his dazzling repertoire of annotations will unlock something. special in the playoffs and perhaps that incredible defense made him one of the

best

players of the three-point era. You're seeing what greatness is all about. Where is Larry Bird in all this? It has been blocked by Elijah Michael Jordan saves the day that this series addresses. a question who was the

best

in their prime we started with the aba merger and went through the best periods of several years examining the legends who provided the biggest impact on the court these are the biggest

peaks

i was playing other sports soccer volleyball philadelphia I jumped the most of all the athletes, but the coach was telling me that basketball is your game.

Hakeem's defensive highlights have the grandeur of some NFL movie montages. No one in NBA history recorded boar block shots that won a cable beer even though he was closer to 610 than a real seven footer his incredible combination of athleticism and timing made him feel like a very tall Oliver Khan in the basketball court. This sequence epitomizes how impregnable he could be at the rim. Scottie Pippen turns the corner with Dream up top and Otis Thorpe has no chance. against the explosive Pippen, but when Chicago runs this with Hakeem while the short man Elijahwan spits the dunk in Scotty's face and Pippin has a clue and is over the square and still goes and gets it, it ain't any easier to try slide around

hakeem

because That long straight hockey stick finds the basketball as it spins in the air.

The first cornerstone of his shot-blocking brilliance was his accuracy in targeting the ball with that dominant right hand. Note that the hand follows the trajectory of the ball while shooting even in his youth. On the days when he was a little less polished, he was incredibly accurate at aiming at the rock and growing up as a handball player prepared him to concentrate on the ball like this. Hakeem didn't play basketball in Nigeria until he was 16 so it was actually volleyball that fixed his jumping technique, he would patiently prepare to jump and wait until the right moment to take a shot which he holds until Sean Elliot flies and then He throws this thing, this is subtle and requires great reflexes, but when Alejandro moved around the painting, he was constantly ready to jump, allowing him to attack after a shooter left his feet, it's on display here where he slides to compete, but when Elliot hesitates, Hakeem drags his feet to a new jumping position and sends him back into his face.

This is an incredible ability that allows him to slide into his saving position, but he doesn't jump, but instead controls his body and waits for the moment when the shooter finally picks him up. He probably learned some of this playing his third major sport as a kid, soccer, where he appropriately played goalie, foreshadowing his career as the NBA's all-time leader in blocks, Hakeem recorded at least five blocks in 35 of his playoff games from 1986 to 1994 and in those last two years he had five in almost half of his

post

season games when he was younger he was more of an athletic force, but still quite raw since he started playing basketball at such an age advanced and by 1990 his defensive techniques were more polished and he still had that dizzying athleticism, but his 1993 season combined some wise tricks with his incredible body control that was so rare in Someone his size, for example, Hakeem, learned to stalk more closer to the ball than most big men of the illegal defense era.

You see Joe Klein points out here because Elijah won, he should be above the foul line, but Dream was so quick to the ball that he rarely got called on. these violations with david robinson at the top of the key akeem carries the ball on the edge of the legal boundary at the bottom of the small circle so his quick reaction time can erase a layup this subtle positioning was especially valuable on the weak side who is not tight on robinson and was always following the ball ready to materialize at the rim uh poor sean elliott Elijah's quick assist was a nightmare for opponents who were reluctant to shoot when he went into fly swatting mode with that right hand , he tracked threats well and was so quick to get into the lane and smother any attempt around the basket when Akeem went to the bench, opposing teams could finally breathe, suddenly those high percentage shots around the rim felt a lot more easy in the game, he lunged for the ball even with his man up high, and that speed of response generated more high-leverage contests than any contemporary I've followed.

He didn't make all the threats he made on this back cut, but it's a little late and he occasionally missed a The cutter came down the lane, but he was usually quick to rotate covering spaces in the backline, although in 1995 He was a bit slower, sometimes arriving late on these save attempts from outside the paint and a slightly slower motor meant he didn't feel like jumping into everything on command, Hakeem's agility also helped him defend the perimeter, as he was rarely attacked by wings on switches, they also didn't run as many pick and rolls in the '90s as they do today and the coverages weren't as developed back then.

However, he was still comfortable going out and facing smaller players in these spots without too much price to pay in this play from 1993. Hakeem realizes that there is too much space between him and the ball, so he closes it quickly and then he stays close to the line. so he can ruin another shot attempt here, he attacks the ball handler to completely ruin the play, although he may be overzealous in harassing the dribbler into the defensive zone, this fantastic mobility still allowed him to erase the weaknesses in these coverages old-fashioned screens, he's very short and he lunges at the ball from this squat and then somehow slides back to compete, he's hugging Shaq in this pick and roll, but that fluid footwork puts him in position to that he can seamlessly go from sliding to jumping and supernatural timing marks the layup, the culmination of

olajuwon

.

Volleyball Timing The agility of soccer and the precision of handball led to the biggest block of his career. This shot by Jon Stark is for the title in 1994. Hakeem slams on the brakes and then somehow recovers back and times this jump with his left foot to save the season. This recovery of the matrix. It seems kind of impossible, but he somehow blocks it to force a Game 7 that Houston would win in large part because of Olajuwon's offense, which may have been even more flexible than his defense. I remember one time I bowed to him and he just laughed, nice, nice, nice elbow, brother and then he came out and gave me and by shaq means the dream move the rotating series of head feints and

hakeem

turns that prepared many of his

moves

his combination of size and balletic footwork made him a deadly isolation weapon and these were

skill

s he possessed early in his career, pulling off crazy jump shots or faking a way to freeze defenders and then spinning to achieve a jump hook;

That agility and balance gave him an advantage over most of the greats of that era, but shot selection was an issue in those early days, sometimes going into triple teams and in other cases just shooting deep jumpers early. of the shock clock, in 1993 Hakeem's scoring game was more polished and under control, he was shooting shots like some kind of basketball dancer, all his movements flowed together, which made it so difficult to stop a turn in one direction and then back into the other doing a feint and then a hook from there, he could fake the hook to set up his fade to the opposite shoulder and at about 250 pounds he was able to spin with power. and finding clean shots in traffic, even double teams couldn't always stop his fade because he could spin and contort comfortably on the shot and Dream could also look up from the perimeter and work his way into those Michael Jordan once called seven-footers. . guard because Hakeem's handle was safe enough to drive into an open space and that speed was a challenge for most opponents who worked very hard just to keep up

only

to be dragged straight to Highlightville after all those Big men still had to worry about their spin, oh.

That's so off-putting that Hakeem's variety of spins and dizzying bomb fakes grew in the 1995 Western Finals against David Robinson, who often stayed on an island to defend him, inviting Akeem to shoot into that single cover. This series actually wasn't that different from the normal Olajuwon series. Scoring these years there were a number of those wild fades, some of which were still really difficult and not always accompanied by a variety of feints, spins and hook shots. The lack of double teams made life easier for Akeem, who obviously welcomed the opportunity to dance with Robinson in an isolation game.

Alajawan is one of the few players to improve his scoring numbers in the playoffs and from 1993 to 1995 he was just behind the all-time scoring giants in volume, while scoring with positive efficiency as a Leading Scorer, he compares favorably to other contemporary great men; However, the brilliance of Akeem's shots was a double-edged sword. These

moves

were difficult for defenses to make without hard double teams, but they were also difficult shots that caused most players to get easy points against weak defenses but are forced to take harder low-percentage shots against elite ones, but akeem's attempts were already difficult in the first place, he just made a ton of them and since he could generate these shots almost on demand, stronger defenses couldn't really take away his score.

Because he was already taking those tough shots, this type of resilient or inelastic scoring meant that Elijahuan's numbers weren't affected as much when he faced stiffer defenses compared to other players in this series. Elijahuan shows some of the smallest changes among volume scorers when facing high-finishing defensive teams versus facing weak defensive teams. One way to limit Hakeem's scoring was by sending effective help that forced him to make a pass. He was dangerous enough that defenses doubled him frequently and that created a lot of outside shots for his teammates, but Elijah winning didn't come naturally. As a passer, his instinct was to catch and immediately move on to a scoring play, which is why he threw so many wild throws when he was younger in 1993.

Hakeem said he finally felt comfortable trusting his teammates to make his open throws and Coach Rudy Tomjanovich implemented a more focused offense in Elashawon with shooters around Hakeem in a sort of talking wheel model. He was more patient at points, allowing the defense to commit to a double team before making a decision, and this substantially helped his playing over the years by punishing defenses with some basic passing. Instead of his own scoring, his balance and body control allowed him to switch from his dance steps to passes if he felt too much pressure. This is a stark contrast to Robinson in the last episode, who could get pinned by Hakeem's tough doubles in the other. his hand easily transitions from a dream squeeze to a pass, this helps replace some difficult shots with passes.

He misses a nearby teammate, but at least finds the open shooter and here he senses the double misses a more advanced inside pass, but still calmly kicks it. A teammate now, even in those years,

olajuwon

still took a good number of double team shots where he left the shooters stranded. His instinct to simply catch and immediately look to score was still strong even at his peak, but I think a bigger weakness was his lack of vision at this point. He looks like he's on the periphery of him, but he misses it and rarely makes these types of passes.

He's still there when he pitches. Some of this was a byproduct of playing with his back to the basket and not turning and surveying the court, but Elijah was gone. For someone who mapped the court or kept an eye on advantages like this, his main focus was reading the double team and here he drifts away from it and loses track of where his teammates are. To be fair, he could make passes if he sensed an extra defender. in a preview and he certainly had the athletic prowess to drop dimesin those situations, even more of his passes were off the

post

and the results from there were certainly mixed.

Maximizing Akim's playing ability really required shooters who were spaced around the three-point arc and this likely increased his offensive value in 1995, when the NBA shortened the three-point line. A higher percentage of shooters amplified Akeem's game by charging more for those double teams in the post. In 1995, the Rockets set a new NBA record for three-pointers made in a season, making nearly eight. per game with 37 percent, then in the playoffs they were closer to nine triples per game with a considerable 39. The record they broke was held by the 1994 Rockets, who made five per game in the regular season and then almost seven with 36 percent in the playoffs. and you'll never guess who had the playoff record before, which the 1993 Rockets made five a game at 37 percent, some of those playoff percentages might be boosted by hot shooting, but playing inside-out was clearly the viable way to build an offense around olajuwon. and the results were pretty good, but not great, the shortened line in 1995 made this a more achievable strategy, basically doubling the number of 35 legitimate three point shooters in the league overnight, but the Houston wasn't great due to Akeem's passing limitations.

He didn't naturally go for extra passes like this, so it's unclear how he would fit alongside another offensive star. The other tools were there to fit alongside a playmaking perimeter weapon. First, he was a really solid mid-range shooter and that allowed him to play. The actual dream pick and pop game was agile enough to advance on some of these shots and the data we have on his long two near the end of his career suggests that he was quite efficient from the outside, he wasn't that big and explosive like someone. Like Robinson, either as a lob threat or a downhill header, but his agility made him a strong finisher and this meant he was always a goal threat.

As a role man who used his grace to achieve shots close to the rim, Additionally, Hakeem was also a fantastic offensive rebounder. Some of this is related to his shot blocking, where he could move and jump in one motion, the other part is that he was simply constantly chasing the target. the ball on misses and all those hits and shakes along with his physical strength made it difficult for him to stay away from the offensive glass. He was particularly dangerous sneaking in from the perimeter swimming between two players here to steal Shaq's backboard, so the building blocks were certainly there for Alajuan to play a fairly effective off-ball role, it's just a matter of how many post touches. and ball throws hero was willing to give up.

His defensive prowess alone makes him interesting to build around because, in theory, he guarantees his team a passable defense with the right pieces that can anchor an elite before Hakeem's defense began to slide in 1995, those two Tomjanovich's first teams held their opponents about four points below their regular-season playoff efficiency, which historically is around the 70th percentile, which is impressive for not fielding a slanted defense. teams like the detroit bad boys or the twin tower spurs some of these hits came from mckeem's man-to-man defense, his shot-blocking instincts made shooting around him difficult, while his nimble feet kept the faster big men in front of him, his balance and timing gave post players a lot of problems which was highlighted in the 1994 final against Patrick Ewing Ewing struggled to find clean shots when isolated against Olajuwon and ended up recording a unprecedented number of 39 true shots in that seven-game series.

Hakeem also had incredible hands, probably also in handball and one of his defensive tricks when he defended the post was to time a quick push once his man started to dribble. Sometimes just getting the ball to the post was a chore for him because he gobbled up inbound passes better than any center; he was constantly repositioning himself. he got into a slight overplay to take away the passing angle and then was quick enough to come back to the other side to bait and switch all the

skill

he produced historically excellent steel rates among big men. He had eight top 100 seasons in steals per possession. including the highest recorded in 1989, Hakeem also borrowed a little move from Bill Russell where he kept his left hand low to target passes when he left his feet in episode 2, we saw Bill Walton limit other star centers like scorers, but akeem was even.

Most impressive against all stars at their defensive peak, he held them more than 5 percentage points below their normal true shooting, while his volume numbers matched

only

a few of the other defensive giants, as we have positive data to show for it. go back to 1994, we can get a sense of how valuable this entire defense was using the same hybrid metric from last episode, his impact looks great, but it's below all-time, keep in mind that his numbers from 1993 They were probably even better and seem to get better in the playoffs. The scoring numbers we have for those postseasons see him in the top 15, and that's with limited information to capture his defensive value, given that much of Houston's success was fueled by a strong defense.

I think it's fair to take on much of Olajuwon's impact. he was defensively driven, which is hard to capture for the box score in a sense. Hakeem's isolation scoring and monster defense were functionally closer to Will Chamberlain's young players who may have poor offensive talent but might not help good offenses as much as Hakeem's three-point shooting. The offenses generated better results than those early teams, but I have some doubts about how he would scale alongside other high-level talent given his limitations in passing and shot selection. On the other hand, he had the tools to add without the ball.

His value as a rebounder and pick-and-roll partner while providing an inside-out option for any offense and his prodigious mobility and aggressiveness on defense made him arguably the best defensive player of the three-point era and , at his peak, one of the best great men. of all time For more historical content and to support this channel, visit patreon.com thinking about basketball and check out thinking about basketball, the book on Amazon that delves into a number of ideas explored in this series. There are longer discussions on many of these as well. players on the Thinking Basketball podcast and if you're curious about the stats in this video, there's a whole set of stats on this channel.

Otherwise, thank you very much for watching. I hope you enjoyed it and that wherever you are having a great day.