hakeem the dream

so i'm devouring this book i just bought.  the book of basketball by bill simmons.  i'd like to say that he's a good enough writer that even a non-sports fan would get into the book, but i'm not sure that's true.  regardless, i can't stop thinking about basketball these days and now here i am writing about it.  i mentioned simmons' all-time-player rankings to patrice, and she asked where hakeem olajuwon fell.  the dream is number ten all time.  i love that ranking.  i love this dude getting credit.  naturally, the next order of business is to watch videos of hakeem on youtube:



whoa. let's run these down.

10 - defense wins basketball games. hakeem totally blew the pass, but instead of watching a breakaway layup from midcourt as most modern-day players would do, hakeem hustled, and never gave up on the play.  and everyone thinks lebron invented the chasedown block.  please.
9 - this is just pure effort and power.  and also note that he dunked on that hack patrick ewing (it's a theme).
8 - again - defense.  hustle.  three blocks in one play?  come on.  modern day centers are lucky to get three in a whole game.
7 - this is not the most gorgeous put-back dunk i've ever seen (see number 6 for that), but this highlights the freakish athleticism of this 7-footer.  look at his head next to the rim!  did shaq ever get up that high?  jeez.  also, this is one of the rare highlights that looks better in slow-motion.  most get me out of my seat at full speed.
6 - wow.  i jump out of my seat every time.  this rivals a dominique wilkins putback.  it's so good it even excuses the ridiculous kareem goggles.  (and see, it's way better at full speed!)
5 - now, normally i hate these kinds of blocks (dwight howard style), because he could have kept it in play and got possession of the ball.  but sometimes you have to make a statement, and, uh, well, he did.
4 - look at david robinson's face!  he knows.  before this game, robinson was presented his MVP trophy, and then olajuwon went into eff-you mode and proceeded to annihilate him.
3 - not pretty, just clutch.  no other big man had that kind of soft touch.  also, this team is one of the rare examples of an aging legend jumping ship to win a ring - clyde drexler, the dude who missed the layup - and succeeding.  why?  hakeem.
2 - patrick ewing getting schooled part two!  man, he was terrible.  hakeem pauses for a second before making his move to say, "patrick, i'm about to embarrass you."
1 - gorgeous.  just perfect low post moves.  why don't all NBA centers try to emulate the dream?  who else ever has had hakeem's arsenal of moves?  look at the quickness - you only see point guards (rondo) making moves like that.  this is just perfect.

you can't really make the case that hakeem olajuwan was the best all time.  he didn't have wilt's stats, nor kareem's points and longevity, nor russell's rings and winning attitude.  but if i was playing a pick-up game with all of the all time greats (which is sure to happen because i'm really good at basketball), i'd pick hakeem first.  what a monster.