Thabeet and Olajuwon in Workout Session

Post #1 » by **SD2042** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:28 am

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/ ... es_thabeet

Memphis Grizzlies rookie center Hasheem Thabeet, the second pick in June's NBA Draft out of UCONN, went to a different kind of school Friday and Saturday.

Thabeet and his agents asked Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon for a personal workout and the two got together for a pair of sessions in the Houston area.

Thabeet's goal was to sharpen his skills and tap into the knowledge of one of greatest centers of all-time and who better to work with than Olajuwon.

"It's always a joy for me when a great, potential talent would like to improve their footwork," Olajuwon said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports. It's a huge compliment for me that somebody realized the value of their post moves and trying to pattern their game after my game."

Thabeet said getting the opportunity to work with a Hall of Famer like Olajuwon was a dream come true.

"I still watch his tapes," Thabeet said. "He was one of the best players of all-time.

"To spend a couple of hours with him (Friday) and (Saturday), I think it's going to help me a lot. He taught me a lot of stuff that I never thought of."

It's good that Thabeet is willing to improve his game with one of the best centers in Hakeem Olajuwon. It's shows he's dedicated and determine to do what is neccessary to become a better player in the NBA. Getting some lessons from Olajuwon should help Thabeet's career last hopefully for a long time.

Downtown · Post #2 » by **Downtown** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:31 am

Four hours total? Andrew Bynum has Abdul-Jabbar full time helping him. I hope Thabeet's a fast learner. But for sure it's good to see.

dark-child · Post #3 » by **dark-child** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:33 pm

I am thankful Thabeet got that time with him as The Dream lives full time in Jordan and only visits the USA sporadically.

I think I read that Thabeet was working more closely with Tree Rollins who was the longtime Atlanta Hawks center.

We do need a big man coach in the worse way.

Downtown · Post #4 » by **Downtown** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:56 pm

PJ Brown knows defensive positioning and how to read the play developing and how to be the help defender, although I don't know what he could teach Thabeet about offense. But offense isn't what will keep him in the NBA.

RoyalStyles · Post #5 » by **RoyalStyles** » Sat Oct 3, 2009 6:14 pm

Thabeet is atrocious in the low post - 4 hrs with the Dream will be huge for him. It's basics, footwork, drills. Hakeem will show him things, and say "Practice this" he can only show him. Its up to Thabeet to put the teaching to use.

for the record, Jabbar and Bynum are no longer working out together, and havent worked out together all summer. He did spend alot of time with him in the past though, and Bynum is still a chump haha.

Mezotarkus · Post #6 » by **Mezotarkus** » Wed Oct 7, 2009 3:05 am

RoyalStyles wrote:Thabeet is atrocious in the low post - 4 hrs with the Dream will be huge for him. It's basics, footwork, drills. Hakeem will show him things, and say "Practice this" he can only show him. Its up to Thabeet to put the teaching to use.

for the record, Jabbar and Bynum are no longer working out together, and havent worked out together all summer. He did spend alot of time with him in the past though, and Bynum is still a chump haha.

Thabeet was never billed as an offensive player so calm down.

Thabeet logged 4 blocks in about 15 min of preseason play tonight.