hoosierdaddy34 wrote:dhsilv2 wrote:
You can always tell someone who doesn't know basketball by if they think hakeem was a good passer. Hakeem was considered for most of his career as a blackhole on offense. He routinely over dribbled, missed obvious passes, and even when he saw them would take too long to turned easy passes into hard ones. his teammates discussed how they'd not get to optimal SPACES on the floor but would try to get open in eye range of hakeem so they could make passing easier for him. The entire wheel spoke system was designed to make it easier for hakeem to become a passer.
Do you know what a cross over is? It hinges on for big guys being ELITE athletes, not skills. A crossover is a showcase of athletic ability, large hands, agility, being able to shift weight from side to side. Yes there is a skill level needed but it's comparative to passing a very low skill high athletic move.
So many bad takes here so little time. Hakeem wasn’t a great passer but he wasn’t a bad one like say Dwight Howard. Orlando used the same system for D12 yet he averaged only 1.5 assists per game vs 3.5 per game for Hakeem during those years.
You are conveniently ignoring that Hakeem had the greatest footwork of any player in the history of the game. Players flock to him to this day to learn his secrets. His dream shake was a move few big men have ever had the footwork, balance and court awareness to be able to pull off.
A crossover is part of ball handling. Ball handling is a skill. Having a better, quicker crossover shows a higher level of skill. You are using a ridiculous narrative to try and prop one player up while downplaying another. It makes zero sense. George Ackles of UNLV may have been the most athletic big man I’ve ever seen...go watch him try to perform a crossover and tell me again how it isn’t a skill.
This entire argument seems to be centered around passing being the most important sign of “skill” in a player. That’s nonsense. It’s one of many. Ball handling, footwork, rebounding, passing, inside scoring, outside shooting, shot diversity, hell even shot blocking is a skill. Shot blocking takes great timing and anticipation, the biggest and most athletic dudes aren’t automatically great shot blockers. Two of the best, Hakeem and Russell, were undersized compared to their counter parts but they had the skills to be great at it.
Again I’m not a Rockets fans, I’m actually a Lakers fan. But if you don’t think Hakeem was the most skilled big man, and in the conversation for skilled player ever? Help yourself and do some research. Watch some old games.
People see an Hakeem, a Jordan, a Kobe and think they live off their “athleticism”. Problem is that there are lots of 6’9 or 6’10 athletic big men. Many never make the NBA. There are plenty of 6’6 athletic defensive specialists around the league. They aren’t a Jordan or a Kobe. People like to down play their unbelievable skills and pass it off as “athleticism”. That’s a very uninformed outlook on the game of basketball. All three of those dudes have a ridiculous amount of skill and craft to their game. It speaks more about you than them if you can’t see it.
