While the Miami Heat have positioned themselves to be the team to beat in Florida, if not the NBA, 2 time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard has been steadily working on increasing his defensive dominance and improve his offensive skills for the Orlando Magic. During the last NBA finals, Howard lived and trained with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. He will return to study with Obi-Wan Olajuwon before training camp begins next season.
Here'a Dwight take on his experience with the Dream.
"He made a comparison with a ninja and some other person who doesn't care who they kill, they just go out and do it."
"Basically, what he was saying was I have to become a person that is not afraid to do anything on the floor. He said right now there's only certain parts of my game that I'm not afraid to do, but other parts I am. I have to be able to do all of those things. That's the biggest thing I took from him."
"I just think he was watching and seeing me play for awhile. All the things we worked on, he was just wondering why I never used those things in a game. He saw all the things that I could do, and he was very impressed. He said that I cannot be afraid to do all these things."
Hakeem Olajuwon. One of the most dominant players of all-time on both ends of the court. Yet somehow he's an almost forgotten afterthought when fans and the media look back on the NBA of the 80s and 90s.
Usually, it's "Well, Magic did this," followed by "Yeah but Larry did that," and then "But Michael did it with the flu."
Respect to all those greats. Hakeem was arguably as good as MJ and Magic, and he was definitely better than Bird.
Olajuwon was the most dominant center in an era of skilled big men. Battling the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Robert Parrish, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning, Olajuwon had the best post moves of any big man in history while feasting on the glass & leading the league in blocked shots.
Though they never met in the finals, it's conceivable that Olajuwon's Rockets could've beaten Jordan's Bulls even if MJ hadn't chosen to waste time whiffing on minor league fastballs.
Olajuwon is the only player in NBA history to be named MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP all in the same season, 1994. He's a two time champion and Finals MVP.
Hakeem's 3,830 blocks are the most in NBA history. Mutombo is 2nd, nearly 600 blocks behind. The closest active player is Shaq with 2,690. The closest player still playing 30+ mpg is Tim Duncan with 2,235. Dwight Howard only has 1,042 in six years. Hakeem's record will likely stand for decades and beyond.
Olajuwon is 8th in all-time steals and points and 11th in all-time rebounds. Of NBA players since 1973 when blocks were first officially recorded, only Olajuwon, Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appear in three top 10s. Olajuwon is the only player to appear in four top 11s.
Last year, Kobe Bryant spent off-season time training with Olajuwon. "When you see videos of Hakeem's career, it looks easy," Kobe said. "But you miss the subtleties and the intricacies of the moves. That's why it was imperative for me to be able to talk to him, work with him. It's the details and the execution that make all the difference."
Dwight Howard enters the season as the NBA's best center. After his sessions with Olajuwon, it's possible that he'll be the best all-around player in the NBA with an MVP trophy to back it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment