Retro Player of the Year 1993-94 UPDATE — Hakeem Olajuwon

[Djoker]

Yea I really don't like Shaq's PS. He was flat out bad against the Pacers on both ends and I can attest to that having tracked that series recently. He will make the back end of my ballot. My initial thoughts are #1 Hakeem #2 Robinson #3 Malone #4 Ewing #5 Shaq.

[LA Bird]

It's not an easy year to decide. Hakeem is the number one of course, but then you have the other centers (Shaq/Robinson/Ewing), fantastic season from Malone and Pippen, but also Reggie Miller who was likely the best offensive player in the league that season.

I am waiting for the discussion before deciding, all I know is that people overrate Shaq if they put him in their in top 3.

The Pacers won 47 games this year, and that's not something you can attribute to a poor support cast. Between all-star Rik Smits, all-star Davis brothers, ace defender Derrick McKey, and solid bench players like vet Byron Scott, the Pacers had alot of (unsung) talent. They did better in the playoffs, and good for them, but Reggie doesn't belong in the discussion with guys like Shaq, the centers, and Pippen.

Reggie Miller is constantly overrated by people who point to his advance stats, but if he was that impactful then the Pacers would have been a contender before the team got stacked, rather than winning 41 games a year (or less) in the 6 years prior). To this point in his career Reggie had made zero all-nba teams, garnered zero MVP votes, and made a single all-star team. Nobody thought of him as big time star in the moment.

I like how you call Smits and Davis brothers All Stars even though none of them would make their only appearance until years later. Technically correct but that's like saying the 2006 Bucks were a stacked team with All Stars Jamaal Magloire and Mo Williams. If you were actually consistent and truthful to your own method, you would have mentioned Penny making All NBA 1st the next season too but, conveniently, you omitted that.

The complete +/- numbers for this regular season show:
- Pacers were better with Reggie than Magic were with Shaq
- Pacers were worse without Reggie than Magic without Shaq
- Reggie had a larger lead over his best teammate than Shaq

So if you are arguing Shaq was the more impactful player this year, where is the evidence?

[OhayoKD]

It's not an easy year to decide. Hakeem is the number one of course, but then you have the other centers (Shaq/Robinson/Ewing), fantastic season from Malone and Pippen, but also Reggie Miller who was likely the best offensive player in the league that season.

I am waiting for the discussion before deciding, all I know is that people overrate Shaq if they put him in their in top 3.

The Pacers won 47 games this year, and that's not something you can attribute to a poor support cast. Between all-star Rik Smits, all-star Davis brothers, ace defender Derrick McKey, and solid bench players like vet Byron Scott, the Pacers had alot of (unsung) talent. They did better in the playoffs, and good for them, but Reggie doesn't belong in the discussion with guys like Shaq, the centers, and Pippen.

Reggie Miller is constantly overrated by people who point to his advance stats, but if he was that impactful then the Pacers would have been a contender before the team got stacked, rather than winning 41 games a year (or less) in the 6 years prior). To this point in his career Reggie had made zero all-nba teams, garnered zero MVP votes, and made a single all-star team. Nobody thought of him as big time star in the moment.

I like how you call Smits and Davis brothers All Stars even though none of them would make their only appearance until years later. Technically correct but that's like saying the 2006 Bucks were a stacked team with All Stars Jamaal Magloire and Mo Williams. If you were actually consistent and truthful to your own method, you would have mentioned Penny making All NBA 1st the next season too but, conveniently, you omitted that.

The complete +/- numbers for this regular season show:
- Pacers were better with Reggie than Magic were with Shaq
- Pacers were worse without Reggie than Magic without Shaq
- Reggie had a larger lead over his best teammate than Shaq

So if you are arguing Shaq was the more impactful player this year, where is the evidence?

The evidence would be his rookie-year signal and projected improvement. Of course that's never replicated again so

[LA Bird]

The evidence would be his rookie-year signal and projected improvement. Of course that's never replicated again so

Not sure I would agree with the never part. 98-04 Shaq had very strong +/- numbers.

[OhayoKD]

The evidence would be his rookie-year signal and projected improvement. Of course that's never replicated again so

Not sure I would agree with the never part. 98-04 Shaq had very strong +/- numbers.

IIRC that rookie jump is the biggest delta of his career

[Djoker]

Reggie is kind of a dark horse here especially for the OPOY vote. Taking him over Shaq overall feels a bit much to me though.

[70sFan]

Shaq only got 20-13 for the series, which by Shaq’s standards is kinda pedestrian, but you can’t just go off volume numbers. Other teams feel Shaq in a way they don’t Reggie Miller; on both ends frankly.

That's a great idea, we shouldn't limit our analysis on boxscore numbers. I encourage to you again to do a deep dive into the tape (green possessions are counted as positives, red as negatives):

Watch on YouTube

3:10 - start of the game (Shaq doesn't guard Smits)
3:38 - Hardaway draws double team, Shaq gets a lose ball foul on rebound attempt
4:00 - Shaq draws double team that leads to the bucket
4:40 - Shaq draws another double leading to the 3 point made
5:18 - Shaq gets a block after a nice help in the post
5:30 - Shaq doesn't help on the screen, giving Miller open shot
5:50 - Shaq stays under the basket without guarding his man, but he doesn't help in the post and gives away easy basket inside
6:28 - Shaq doesn't see Miller off-ball again, leading to open shot made in the paint
6:48 - Anderson makes contested three
7:00 - Reggie blows by his man and Shaq shows his horrible defensive fundamentals, fouling Miller badly even though he was in a great position to help
8:10 - Shaq runs through Smits, committing an offensive foul
8:40 - Shaq leaves Smits open on short midrange, but Rick misses badly, I don't count it as a mistake
8:55 - Shaq doesn't come back after Scott's turnover and Smits outruns him for a bucket in transition
10:08 - Shaq makes a great rotation as a help defender against P&R, but Smits finds open player inside and Shaq puts himself in a bad position to contest, leading to a goaltending (I count this as neutral, as he made a good read but then he made a mistake)
10:38 - Shaq passes the ball cross-court out of double, leading to the inside miss from Hardaway
12:02 - Shaq misses the reverse layup after spin to the baseline, while also missing existing openings
Shaq goes to the bench

19:18 - Shaq goes back to the floor, establishes a deep position after off-ball screen and seals it well, gets fouled (makes 1/2 FTs)
20:30 - Shaq loses a rebound and allows to score - it's not a mistake, but notice how he didn't care about contesting the shot
20:55 - not Shaq play, but Orlando doubles Miller out of the three point line - so much about not feeling Miller on offense
21:05 - again, it's not a mistake this time but notice how bad timing Shaq had on this contest, he goes up at the moment when the driver already passes the ball inside - it's something that happened Shaq very often throughout his prime - even in LA peak years
24:35 - Shaq gets a great pass inside after off-ball screen and he misses easy shot inside

End of the 1st quarter
Shaq stats: 1/1/0 with 1 tov and 0/2 FG

29:15 - Shaq draws foul on Smits in the post (1/2 FTs)
32:25 - Shaq gets bitten on a pump fake, allowing for layup inside
33:08 - Hardaway makes pull-up three, getting 19 points at the beginning of the 2nd quarter
36:30 - Shaq gets blocked on a drive to the middle from the post
36:33 - Shaq gets first field goal, finishing easy shot inside
37:00 - Shaq misses open teammates and takes fadeaway to the baseline, missing another shot
41:17 - Shaq forces unnecessary contact inside and gets another foul
Shaq goes to the bench with 3 fouls and doesn't come back till the end of the half (4 points on 1/5 FG).
Magic finishes the half leading by 4 points, remaining the lead without Shaq on the floor (Hardaway with 21 points, Miller with 15).

1:05:52 - first possession of the 2nd half, Shaq gets the ball in the post and gets doubled, gets an assist
1:07:15 - Shaq draws foul in the post (0/2 FTs)
1:07:53 - Shaq provides no resistance at the rim, being completely out of position
1:08:20 - Shaq gets offensive rebound and draws foul (1/2 FTs)
1:09:50 - Shaq gets doubled in the post kicks out, but misses two better passing options
1:10:10 - great post defense from Shaq, he blocks Smits hook attempt
1:10:19 - Shaq fouls inside, but this time it was not his fault
1:11:10 - Shaq kicks out of double, leading to the foul inside
1:13:18 - Shaq draws another foul on Smits in the post (2/2 FTs)
1:14:10 - Shaq rotates well preventing from inside shot and forces deflection
1:14:35 - Shaq misses easy shot inside after getting nice lay down pass, he doesn't come back in transition, costing his team points
1:15:47 - Shaq gets doubled and reads the situation well, but the delivery is bad, which is why Magic don't get any advantage
1:16:10 - Shaq forces turnover in isolation, although he didn't do much to do so
1:16:30 - Shaq struggles with double this time, but he gets fouled (1/2 FTs)
1:19:23 - Shaq gets doubled and kicks out to the open shooter, then rebounds the shot and gets fouled (2/2 FTs)
1:20:48 - bad communication on off-ball screen, Shaq's bad positioning helped Miller to get open and score
1:24:00 - Shaq gets deflection inside
1:27:10 - nice P&R play with Hardaway, Shaq finishes the play nicely
1:27:32 - Shaq blocks tough drive attempt nicely, flexing his length
1:28:30 - Shaq takes advantage of the broken action, gets a deep position and scores on nice drop step move
1:32:10 - Shaq gets fouled in the post after overplay (0/2 FTs)
1:33:00 - Shaq fouls on the contest inside again, despite being in good position - he gets 5th foul

Shaq goes to the bench


I don't have the time to finish it now, but a few observations:

- Pacers doubled Shaq quite often, but it was the typical doubling scheme from the 1990s - they didn't collapse on him like 1993 Sonics on Hakeem for example,
- Shaq did mostly basic kickouts from the post, he didn't show much creativity,
- he didn't create anything when he was guarded straight that game,
- he was still a terror on the glass, that's his main offensive value that game,
- he had a few unusual misses inside, which deflate his scoring numbers (these shots were not created by him though),
- he had a few nice plays on defense (especially the 3 blocks he got),
- he wasn't much of a factor as a rim protector outside of this one block and he was consistently out of position during contests, making dumb fouls,

- Hardaway and Miller were two best players on the floor,
- Magic supporting cast looks just as good as Pacers and they did very well with Shaq on the bench.

I agree that Pacers doubled Shaq, he wasn't much of a factor on defense though.

The difference was their support casts. Shaq had a rookie Penny and not much else. Reggie had 3 all-star bigs, all of whom were tasked with wearing down Shaq, an elite starting SF, and some good bench players.

Shaq had Nick Anderson who was a very good offensive player and a great spacer for the era. He also had Dennis Scott who was also top tier shooter of the era, while being solid all-around athlete with great size.

Reggie having "3 all-star bigs" is ridiculous - all three were lucky to get one nomination each for their whole careers and 2 of these nominations came after the 1990s. We can go back and talk about Duncan having plethora of all-stars in 2002 with these criteria, shall we? Why don't we talk about Penny like an all-nba level player already then?

Penny outplayed massively Smits if we go by the series performance.

McKey was "elite starting SF" but Anderson was "not much else"? Another example of completely unbiased "analysis" from you.

These posts always act like Kobe or Reggie Miller or [wing X] was being guarded by the big, when in reality it’s the complete opposite. It’s not like Reggie was torching Shaq on D, he couldn’t do anything inside against Shaq in fact, but the Magic’s perimeter D was mostly garbage, so Reggie could just bomb 3s unopposed. I find it hard to understand why that is Shaq’s fault.

No, they don't - you just don't read what people write.

Reggie torched the whole Magic defense, Shaq didn't torch Pacers defense. Miller also did quite fine drawing stupid fouls on Shaq inside.

Shaq joined a 21 win team. He single handedly turned that team into a 41 win team as a rookie. In year 2 we saw them win 50. That was the sort of impact Shaq had in his prime.

Of course 1992 and 1994 have exactly the same rosters, right?
I thought you don't care about WOWY numbers, but it seems that you care about everything that suits your presuppositions.

We see that elsewhere too, for example when Shaq was playing without Kobe from 00-04 and the Lakers were playing at a better than 60 win pace (while Kobe led the Lakers to a 135-137 record from 00-07 in games without Shaq).

Lakers Shaq was a substantially better player on both ends of the floor than sophomore Shaq, why do you bring it up in 1994 thread?

Reggie hit a bunch of shots this series, but guess what? The RS counts too.

Did I say that you have to pick Shaq over Miller? As far as I remember, I just said that he doesn't deserve to be in top 3.

If you switched Shaq with Reggie the Magic wouldn’t have been in the playoffs to begin with.

Yeah and if you switch Shaq with Reggie, the Pacers wouldn't be a game away from the finals.

[70sFan]

Reggie is kind of a dark horse here especially for the OPOY vote. Taking him over Shaq overall feels a bit much to me though.

I didn't propose Reggie over Shaq, although I think it's justifiable if you evaluate players mostly on postseason.

I think people see Shaq RS numbers and assume he's basically the same player throughout his prime but that's not true - Shaq improved quite significantly in the next years.

[penbeast0]

It's not an easy year to decide. Hakeem is the number one of course, but then you have the other centers (Shaq/Robinson/Ewing), fantastic season from Malone and Pippen, but also Reggie Miller who was likely the best offensive player in the league that season.

I am waiting for the discussion before deciding, all I know is that people overrate Shaq if they put him in their in top 3.

The Pacers won 47 games this year, and that's not something you can attribute to a poor support cast. Between all-star Rik Smits, all-star Davis brothers, ace defender Derrick McKey, and solid bench players like vet Byron Scott, the Pacers had alot of (unsung) talent. They did better in the playoffs, and good for them, but Reggie doesn't belong in the discussion with guys like Shaq, the centers, and Pippen.

Reggie Miller is constantly overrated by people who point to his advance stats, but if he was that impactful then the Pacers would have been a contender before the team got stacked, rather than winning 41 games a year (or less) in the 6 years prior). To this point in his career Reggie had made zero all-nba teams, garnered zero MVP votes, and made a single all-star team. Nobody thought of him as big time star in the moment.

Modern analysis puts a lot more emphasis on the 3 ball and the importance of spacing than they did in his era. Reggie is the preeminent 3 point shooter and spacer in the league, Shaq has tremendous low post gravity but is probably the least spacing of any player in the league. Thus people's opinions of Reggie have changed dramatically.

I remember coming up playing playground basketball and despising the players who would come down and jack 25 footers. (Of course the 3 point line was in the ABA but not the NBA yet). From my point of view it was a lazy shot when you didn't want to work hard to drive the lane and either get a high percentage shot or draw doubles creating open looks for teammates. It's what you did when you were too gassed to work.

Then the guys like Craig Hodges and Reggie were seen as specialists, like a shotblocker with no offensive chops, or a playmaking PG who doesn't score much.

Then around 2010-2015, there was a revolution in perception of the 3 point shot to where you get the Celtics of today, where most shots they take are 3 pointers and where a player, even a big, that can't shoot 3 is considered limited and sometimes unplayable because of it no matter how much other talent they have.

So obviously we look back and rate players who shoot a lot of 3's before the pace and space era much more highly than contemporaries did; especially when we then add in more advanced analysis (even if only using TS% instead of FG%) and those same players suddenly look like superstars statistically.

[AEnigma]

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Hakeem Olajuwon
2. Patrick Ewing
3. Dikembe Mutombo

Hakeem and Ewing had similar seasons to last year, but this time Hakeem made the disparity between him and Ewing clearer than ever by holding Ewing to an abominable 39% true shooting. Dikembe has an argument for second and even possibly for first; his rim protection was a league outlier, and he was much more mobile than prior outlier shotblockers like Manute, Tree, or prime Eaton. I have previously said that his first round is potentially the most impressive defensive series I have ever seen (certainly top five). Hakeem and Ewing to me accomplished more, with Hakeem winning the title and with Ewing missing the title by a basket, but Dikembe deserves discussion right alongside them (and personally I feel his 1995 DPoY was at least in part an effort by voters to reward him for that Sonics upset).

Robinson is not a ballot consideration for me. Top five in aggregate, sure (he did play massive minutes), but not top three. Below I link some prior posts I put together about Robinson. For commentary specific to this season, it seems notable that the Jazz offence was more limited, both in the absolute and relative to their opponent’s regular season defensive rating, by Hakeem and Dikembe than by Robinson. And unlike in 1991 (or by way of comparison, 2021 Clippers/Jazz), it was not something easily excused by hot perimetre shooting.

Malone averaged 29.3 points per game on 56.1% efficiency against the Spurs, 26.7 points per game on 53.3% efficiency against the Nuggets, and 26 points per game on 50.5% efficiency against the Rockets. Now, Rodman missed Game 3, and we know from 1997/98 that Rodman could give Malone quite a bit of trouble. So we can look game by game. In Game 1, Malone scored 36 on 68.5% efficiency… but the rest of his team scored 53 on 45.3% efficiency, for a team offensive rating of 96. Spurs earn their only win. In Game 2, Malone scores 23 on a horrible 36.9% efficiency… but thanks to low turnovers and strong offensive rebounding, the team overall manages an offensive rating of 112.3. In the Rodman-less Game 3, Malone scored 24 on 64% efficiency, and the team had an offensive rating of 118.9. And in the elimination Game 4, Malone scored 34 on 60.4% efficiency, and the team had an offensive rating of 115.1. That is one good defensive game by the Spurs in four tries, with an average Jazz offensive rating of 115.9 in the other three. Compare that to the Nuggets, who had two “good” defensive games in seven tries and permitted an averaged offensive rating of 113.6 in the four Jazz wins. Generally I think Dikembe did better in the parts he controlled (provided excellent defensive rebounding and did not allow easy baskets) than Robinson did.

Robinson was not a ferocious shotblocker like Dikembe or Hakeem (with both managing a Manute-esque block percentage in their series against the Jazz), nor was he an all-time post defender like Hakeem. In fact, at this point I might call him an outright disappointing post defender, without a sufficiently strong stance to prevent stars like Malone or Hakeem (or hypothetically Shaq) from getting into proper scoring position. I am probably spending too much time on this, but I feel like voters taking him as a top two or three player this year must at least in part be treating him as a semi-legitimate DPoY candidate, and I do not think much bears that out this season.

Offensive Player of the Year

1. Reggie Miller
2. Charles Barkley
3. Kevin Johnson

For the top spot, Reggie had the best postseason of them all, outplayed Shaq head-to-head, played more than both Suns in the regular season, and (as LA Bird detailed) was arguably more impactful per possession than Shaq even in the regular season. Will not repeat as my personal Offensive Player of the Year, but with Jordan gone, Tim Hardaway out, Price playing his now typical low minutes (and not performing well in the postseason), Shaq and Penny in their early primes (and not performing well in the postseason), and KJ and Barkley both missing over a quarter of the season, everything falls into place for Reggie — in what is likely his peak season — to be elevated to the top spot.

Was deciding between Barkley, KJ, and Shaq for the final second and third. Shaq had a significant minutes advantage, but KJ and Barkley were both notably better in the postseason and imo more offensively valuable per possession (as was Reggie). KJ and Barkley seem near equally responsible for the Suns’ league-best offence. Both did fine without the other: Barkley won both KJ-less games, and KJ went 3-1 without Barkley. Statmuse seems to give the Suns a 113.2 offensive rating in games with either, so no separation there. In their wins against the Rockets, Barkley was better in Game 2, KJ was better in Game 6, and both had rough games in Game 1. However, I suppose the ultimate point of distinction is that Barkley’s offence generally seems more playoff resilient, so he can edge out a second place finish.

Player of the Year

1. Hakeem Olajuwon
2. Patrick Ewing
3. Scottie Pippen
4. Karl Malone
5. Dikembe Mutombo

Competitive year after the top spot. Ewing’s Knicks narrowly lose in the Finals, with Hakeem’s complete dominance on both ends being just enough. Reggie’s Pacers and Pippen’s Bulls also both went to close Game 7s with the Knicks. Malone’s Jazz were the western conference runner-up, after easily dispatching Robinson’s favoured Spurs and much less easily surviving Dikembe’s Nuggets (who upset the league-leading Sonics), but Barkley’s Suns gave the Rockets their closest in-conference competition. Understand the votes for Shaq by more of a regular season lens, but for me his postseason pushes him to a distant ninth. Similarly understand the votes for Robinson as potentially the most valuable regular season player, but I do not see him as any sort of reliable MVP presence in the postseason, for reasons previously discussed at length.

As partially detailed in those links, criticism of Ewing seems more specific to uninspiring scoring numbers at a low pace against tough defensive competition; Robinson could have the exact same postseason as Ewing and receive inordinate praise and probably over a third of the first place votes. Yeah, Hakeem erased Ewing’s scoring in truly unprecedented superstar fashion… yet Ewing still led the series in blocks and rebounds, and the Rockets still had the worst offensive result of Hakeem’s entire prime (only surpassed by the 1998 Jazz series with an injured Barkley). Again, if this were Robinson, people would be composing paeans to his selfless sacrifice in an individual matchup to free up his teammates. No, he is not in the same realm as Hakeem; with Jordan out of the league, literally no one is. And none of the other mortal superstars came as close as he did to a title… although a couple were not far off:

I'd like to make a quick comment regarding the Pippen/Kukoc incident. This is covered in some detail in David Halberstram's "Playing For Keeps," but I'll summarize my understanding of it.

This wasn't symptomatic of some regular problem of insubordination or poor leadership. It was a terrible lapse in judgment in the heat of the moment based on Pippen's understanding of his place in the franchise. He was the guy who, during the MJ years, was seen as a terrific leader on the team and the man players 3 through 12 could talk to and relate to and stay connected, so to speak. Jordan was famously demanding and fierce with other players and Pippen was there for them as an outlet and a guide. Pippen took great responsibility and pride shouldering the load as the leader when Jordan left, and felt that the culmination of those events dictated that he would take the shot, make or miss, just as MIchael would have. And of course, there was the lingering taste of the migraine came from Detroit, which always seemed to hang over him according to Halberstram. All of this came to a boil in a matter of 30 seconds when Pip was basically shocked Phil drew up the play for a foreign rookie who he may not have gelled with in the first place.

Pippen came out and dominated the next game. In MSG in G5, the Knicks jumped out to a 15-4 run. Only Pippen answered with play after play - he knocked down back to back 3s and scored 12 points to spark a 15-3 counter-run, setting up 5 open scoring opportunities for teammates in the run. It was that type of leadership -- basically running a club, anchoring a defense and providing a veteran presence -- that seemed to be present year-round.

For the purposes of this project, I'm not sure how that incident could be held against Pippen. It certainly didn't affect his play or his team. On this team he was basically the point guard, orchestrating and creating a lot of offense for others while continuing his typical defense. Grant got a lot of his looks off of Pippen breaking down the defense and I don't think it's a coincidence Armstrong had a career year either. The only other Bull who could really get his own and create was rookie Toni Kukoc.

This was the height of the perimeter contact dominance and to me that makes his offensive numbers more impressive. He's guarding point guards against the Knicks and grabbing 16 rebounds in a game -- just one of the great all-around seasons in league history. The solidifier for me was Chicago's ORtg was 103.6 without Pippen and about 3 points better with him (they were also ~2 points better defensively). With Myers, Grant and Armstrong in the starting lineup with Pippen, Chicago went 43-12! (64 win pace). Pippen never attempted more than 27 shots in a regulation game and never scored fewer than 13 points in a game -- all-around consistence that contributed to their 64-win pace when intact.

Now, one could reasonably question whether the Jazz would still be better if they exchanged point guards with the Nuggets (I think yes, but someone higher on Stockton might argue no). And one could similarly argue that the Nuggets going to a Game 7 against the Jazz reflects better on Dikembe than on Malone, because of the disparity in team support. Personally though, I struggle to get there.

Both Reggie and Dikembe are less “impactful” by those plus/minus numbers next year, despite overall similar results individually and as a team. To me that indicates positive lineup variance is at play this year. (Pippen meanwhile sees an inverted plus/minus effect, which I would attribute to more active staggering with Grant — if in large part because of the missed time for both, which in some sense can be a mark against them, sure.) And then in the head-to-head with Malone, while Dikembe forces Malone into some bad games, it is not really equivalent to what Hakeem did. Yeah, Hakeem is better by a few orders of magnitude, but most (some argue all) of that advantage over Dikembe is on offence.

So where this is where I settle: I think Malone was better than both Reggie and Dikembe overall this year, and the postseason does not sufficiently justify disfavouring that initial read. (Quick note on Barkley: I think the Suns going seven games against Hakeem is more about how his cast, namely KJ, performed, and I see a more substantial advantage for Malone’s defence than I do for Barkley’s offence in their respective series.) At that point it is about picking which of Reggie or Dikembe (or Barkley) had the most accomplished season, and I personally prefer the historic 8-seed upset and similarly shocking 7-game semifinals than the narrow Finals miss by what is altogether still one of the better structured teams in the league.

Finally, one of us should discuss Hakeem’s case, even if just briefly in the wake of the painstaking discussion of the 1993 thread. Hakeem’s regular season was scaled back relative to 1993 (see my voting post on Page 2 of that thread for a comparison), but it was still the second-best of his career and was enough for the Rockets to win the second most games in the league (thus securing homecourt for the Game 7s against the Suns and Knicks). In the postseason they dispatched a decent Blazers team in the first round, survived the defending conference champion Suns in seven games (60-win team when one of KJ or Barkley were in the lineup), easily beat a Jazz core which would manage a 60-win pace in four of the next five years, and secure the title over the 6.5 SRS Knicks courtesy of one of the greatest two-way performances in league history.

Opponents scored at 50% true shooting against the Knicks. Hakeem scored 26.9 points on 55.6% true shooting and was very involved in the passing game. Hakeem grossly outplayed Ewing and held the Knicks six points below their regular season offensive rating.

This title team was indeed a lower end champion (although I would give them fair odds to upset any of the 1989-93 winners); however, I would absolutely take them over any non-champion in this era, because there is no other player I would trust more in clutch scenarios when given a reasonably capable supporting cast.

Watch on YouTube

[70sFan]

...

Have you considered Mutombo for top 5 POY?

I also hope to see your thoughts on Admiral's defense.

[AEnigma]

...

Have you considered Mutombo for top 5 POY?

Yes, he is in strong consideration. Right now I am deciding between him and Reggie for fifth, and I am also willing to entertain or otherwise explore his case against Malone.

I also hope to see your thoughts on Admiral's defense.

Will edit some of that in shortly.

[Special_Puppy]

Going to be a unanimous Hakeem victory I'm guessing

[kcktiny]

I think people see Shaq RS numbers and assume he's basically the same player throughout his prime but that's not true - Shaq improved quite significantly in the next years.

In 1993-94 Shaq missed just 1 game, played 40 min/g, averaged 29.3 pts/g, 13.2 reb/g, 2.9 bs/g, committed just 2.7 to/g. Looking at just his first 12 years in the league with Orlando and the Lakers he shot a single season high 60.0% 2pt FG%, had a career 2nd most 471 FTM, a career high 384 offensive rebounds. And this season was Orlando's best defensively (105.2 pts/100poss allowed) his 4 years there. If you think he had a better regular season statistically later on you are splitting hairs at best.

Where do you think he improved quite significantly?

[70sFan]

I think people see Shaq RS numbers and assume he's basically the same player throughout his prime but that's not true - Shaq improved quite significantly in the next years.

Improved quite significantly in the next years??

In 1993-94 Shaq missed just 1 game, played 40 min/g, averaged 29.3 pts/g, 13.2 reb/g, 2.9 bs/g, committed just 2.7 to/g. Looking at just his first 12 years in the league with Orlando and the Lakers he shot a single season high 60.0% 2pt FG%, had a career 2nd most 471 FTM, a career high 384 offensive rebounds. And this season was Orlando's best defensively (105.2 pts/100poss allowed) his 4 years there. If you think he had a better regular season statistically later on you are splitting hairs at best.

Where do you think he improved quite significantly?

1. At passing and decision making.
2. At reading defenses.
3. At off-ball movement.
4. At limiting stupid fouls.
5. At scoring in isolation.
6. At dealing with double teams.
7. At limiting turnovers.

[Djoker]

Reggie is kind of a dark horse here especially for the OPOY vote. Taking him over Shaq overall feels a bit much to me though.

I didn't propose Reggie over Shaq, although I think it's justifiable if you evaluate players mostly on postseason.

I think people see Shaq RS numbers and assume he's basically the same player throughout his prime but that's not true - Shaq improved quite significantly in the next years.

Yea he improved a lot even in 1995. I'd say 1994 Shaq was an actual defensive liability in the PS based on the tape. Just too many dumb fouls. He would come out of the paint and just get blown by too and leave his team without a rim protector. Honestly just low IQ defense. In later years he learned his strengths and stuck by them. And he hadn't yet developed the passing reads yet either so quick doubles could lead to turnovers or just ineffective passes.

I do emphasize PS quite a bit so I think Reggie could make my top 5 after all. Shaq had awesome individual numbers in the RS but little team results to speak of.

[One_and_Done]

Give Shaq 3 all-stars, Derrick McKey, and a good bench, and he's making the finals this year and possibly beating Hakeem.

[70sFan]

Give Shaq 3 all-stars, Derrick McKey, and a good bench, and he's making the finals this year and possibly beating Hakeem.

So this is all you can provide for the thread?

[capfan33]

Give Shaq 3 all-stars, Derrick McKey, and a good bench, and he's making the finals this year and possibly beating Hakeem.

So this is all you can provide for the thread?

Unfortunately I think we all know the answer to that.

[One_and_Done]

Give Shaq 3 all-stars, Derrick McKey, and a good bench, and he's making the finals this year and possibly beating Hakeem.

So this is all you can provide for the thread?

Unfortunately I think we all know the answer to that.

I look forward to you providing this same level of scrutiny to all the voters in this thread. Make it your Baller Vow.