The 'What If...' Thread

[AlexBrady]

Re: The 'What If...' Thread

Not sure about the passing evaluation you have for Olajuwon. I thought Olajuwon was one of the best passing centers in the NBA. The Rockets back then would have not been successful with their "4-out 1-in" motion offense if Olajuwon was no better than an average passer at his position. His ability to read the defense and find the spot up shooters when teams crowded him was remarkable. He would also find the cutters like Horry when the defenses tightened up on the perimeter. The Magic in the 90's tried to run the same offense and failed when they got deep into the playoffs because Shaq's passing ability was not honed at the time. The key man like the center had to be a solid-to-great passer in this type of offense and Olajuwon provided this for his team.

And as much as you crucify some of these center's 'clutch' abilities, from my understanding, Wilt wasn't as clutch as I read him to be either. As supremely talented as Wilt was back then, people would argue that Bill Russell was the best center in the league at the time. And Wilt was much more talented than Russell.

I was nitpicking a bit on Hakeem's passing. He would throw some wild passes especially when he was doubled on the move. Certainly not a crushing flaw but he wasn't Walton, Wilt, or Russell in the passing game. Good observations though on the Rockets offense.

You're right Wilt wasn't as dominant in the clutch as he should have been. He could still pin fouls on the other team though and his fade-a-way shot and fingeroll were unstoppable against tired guys. His big problem was the free throw shooting.

Russell and Wilt were both supremely talented. Russell's big edge was his competitiveness compared to Wilt. No shame in not being as good as Russell though.