ceiling raiser wrote:My guess is he converted at a .660 TS%. I would be interested in the data if you have it (and appreciate your data/research/footage immensely). If it is appreciably higher I would have to reevaluate my belief.
I think you overestimate how efficient you can be in isolation
My numbers gives 1974-79 Kareem a 56.5 FG% on 9.4 skyhooks per game. With the addition of fouls drawn, it gives us around 58.5 TS%.
Mind you that this is on massive volume and it's a tough shot. No other player reached that level of efficiency from shots taken away from the post on even close volume.
It's almost entirely a matter of how well I think both would translate into the modern game. Hakeem had a power game, deep two shooting range (that could extend to the three), and a finesse guard-esque scoring skillset, which I think would work tremendously today.
Is there any reason to believe that Kareem's game wouldn't translate? I mean, he was a very good ball-hander for his size in an era with restricted ball-handling rules. Kareem also had a power game - he was much better at establishing deep position than Hakeem.
The only concern with Kareem is his long range shooting, but he had the form and they were basically identical FT shooters.
Does this advantage continue or disappear when adjusted for the playoffs?
It doesn't, most of my tracked games are from playoffs anyway.
I also believe the talent differential of supporting casts makes a difference (though obviously with Rudy T Hakeem had better spacing than Kareem ever did)
Kareem had worse talent around him in 1977 and 1978 than Hakeem in 1993 or 1994 - these are the seasons which I have the most games from.
This is hard to tell. The lane was more clogged in the 70s than it was in the late 80s/early 90s, but Hakeem was the sole focus of opposing defenses for some years
I mean, it's always hard to adjust for eras. Kareem faced considerably more soft and hard doubles than Hakeem though, that's not up to debate.
I don't disagree, however I will note that very few teams exploited the illegal defense rules by placing non-shooters beyond the arc, at least through the early 90s. Hakeem also faced a lot of hard doubles since he was the sole option defensively.
This idea of exploiting illegal defense already eixsted in the 1994 and it made Hakeem's life far easier than earlier in his career (of course along with improved spacing).
I don't disagree, but Hakeem had superior shooting range.
It's true, but you don't want Hakeem to take contested midrange jumpers all the time. He's a good shooter, but he's not Dirk from there.
I don't think this is inherently a weakness since he could play inside-out pretty consistently, but any data on this would be interesting.
Sure
Hakeem took 73.5% of his post shots from the left block.
Kareem took 59.5% of his post shots from the left block.
I don't disagree, though I wonder how different they were in screening ability.
I can't quantify it unfortunately, it's just my observation.
I think this is negated by the fact that Hakeem was a superior spot-up shooter, especially from range.
Don't think it's that easy, Hakeem ate a lot of space inside due to his positioning.
Sure, but how many possessions a game does this impact?
Not a lot, around 2-3 per game at most. In comparisons like these though, everything should be taken into account.
I actually think offensive rebounding is an overrated aspect of today's game given the prevalence of three-point shooting. As such, I think all-time offensive rebounders such as Shaq, Moses, Wilt would be less impactful today (and again, I judge players based on how they would be in the present league).
If you don't feel strongly about offensive rebounding, then how you can have Shaq ahead of Kareem offensively?