Has Rudy Tomjanovich compared Moses&Hakeem?

[fpliii]

I think it was a shooting breakdown of how well the starters had done in the 1994 finals from all spots on the floor against the defenders they faced.

That'll be a bit hard to track especially since I can't remember any specific details from the article so I'm not sure what 'keywords' you can search with.

Oh, after the Finals? I can just try searching for a bunch of the starters' names. If it was a graphic though, I probably won't be able to find it since the archive is text only. I'll take a look when I have some free time later today.

[NugzHeat3]

I think it was either after the finals or late in the finals, not a 100% sure but don't worry about it. No need to sweat it.

[NugzHeat3]

fpliii, just skimming through some of my files and I have part of the article which I posted in the "Was Hakeem ever considered better than MJ?" thread but just wondering if you can post the entire piece.

It's from 1993 and it included this quote by Garry St. Jean.

"Hakeem is as good as anyone in the entire league right now," says Sacramento coach Garry St. Jean

[Odinn]

Great reads.

Especially fplii.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated.

---

It is truly great to read such things. Three legends in the thread title and right now thread contains why they're some of the true legends.

[fpliii]

fpliii, just skimming through some of my files and I have part of the article which I posted in the "Was Hakeem ever considered better than MJ?" thread but just wondering if you can post the entire piece.

It's from 1993 and it included this quote by Garry St. Jean.

I think I found it:

Sports Spotlight: Pro basketball - HAKEEM Vs. BARKLEY - Poll has pair nearly even for MVP . . .

Houston Chronicle - Wednesday, MARCH 31, 1993
When Charles Barkley returned to Philadelphia last weekend for the first time since being traded to Phoenix, he was met with ovations and chants of "MVP, MVP."

Barkley is having a whopper of a season, but there may yet be one huge obstacle standing between him and the top individual honor the NBA offers.

Hakeem Olajuwon.

According to players and coaches around the league and a sampling of voters for the award, Olajuwon is waiting for Barkley like he waits for incoming drives down the paint. Barkley is rising up with a full head of steam. Olajuwon is looming, ready to swat away Barkley's best shot.

It's one-on-one for the Most Valuable Player award.

For Olajuwon and Barkley, the best advice about the MVP trophy should be that there is no disgrace in finishing as the second-best player in the world. One of them likely will come in second when the award is announced in May. The other will win it.

Michael Jordan, Chicago's wondrous star, has won the past two MVP awards and cannot be counted out this year. But his otherworldly ability seems to have numbed voters and peers. After expecting Jordan to be the best player on earth for years, it's easy to take him for granted just because he still is.

This year, as the season chugs into April, the sentiment is firmly on the side of Olajuwon and Barkley. And the next month could decide who wins and loses. That's how close it is.

"Hakeem and Barkley, you could throw their names in a hat and draw out either one for MVP," Charlotte's Kenny Gattison said recently. "And no matter which one was drawn out, nobody would be able to argue against him."

Not that there aren't some biased opinions out there. Everybody from top to bottom in the Rockets organization is confident Olajuwon is having the best season of anybody in the NBA.

Of course, the award isn't for best player. It's for whoever is deemed most valuable.

On Tuesday, the Chronicle took an informal poll of 20 media members around the country, most of whom are on the panel to vote for the award next month.

Voters were asked to list their top three choices for MVP. A first-place vote was worth five points, second was worth three, and third was worth one point.

Olajuwon was the only player named on all 20 ballots. He gathered seven first-place ballots and finished with 66 total points.

Barkley gained more first-place votes (11) than Olajuwon but was left off three ballots completely. There still seemed to be sort of a love-hate relationship between Barkley and media members as he received only two second-place votes and finished with 65 total points.

Jordan was third with 34 total points, including two first-place votes. Nobody else had more than seven points.

Olajuwon has maintained throughout the past month that the MVP isn't his overriding ambition.

"What is important is to keep winning," he says. "If we do that, individual awards will take care of themselves. We have to worry about winning our division first."

Olajuwon is absolutely correct. The last eight MVP awards have gone to Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. This seems to be the year that somebody else will step into that elite group.

The Rockets certainly have their idea of how the rating system should go.

"I've got to go with Hakeem," says coach Rudy Tomjanovich. "The guy has done so much. I'd hate to think where we'd be without him."

At the very least, says guard Kenny Smith, Olajuwon is leading as the field turns for the finish line.

"Our guy is the front-runner," says Smith. "From where we've come from, Hakeem deserves it.

"It's one thing to sustain your play from season to season. It's a bigger feat to elevate your play from one season to the next. Hakeem has done that.

"And our team came out of obscurity. That's the big thing in determining the MVP -- how well a team is doing."

The Rockets, who were 42-40 last season, have surpassed every preseason expectation that was placed on them. Olajuwon has been the main reason the team has compiled a 44-25 record. Phoenix (52-15) has been the best team in the league since the first month of the season. Barkley's addition obviously has turned a good Phoenix team that won 53 games last year into what will be a 60-plus-win team.

"They should be co-MVPs," says Scott Brooks, one of the few players who has had the opportunity to team with Barkley and Olajuwon. Brooks was with Philadelphia when the Sixers won the Atlantic Division title in 1990.

"Hakeem and Charles both have helped their teams play well this year," Brooks said. "They worked hard for so many years when they didn't have a chance for the MVP because their teams weren't very good.

"Hakeem is unbelievable in the things he does.

"But I don't want Charles to get mad at me. He deserved it the year we won the division."

That year, Barkley gathered more first-place votes (38) than Magic Johnson (27). Yet there was a certain amount of disdain for the controversial Barkley, and he still finished second to Johnson 636-614.

The official MVP balloting consists of about 95 voters who rate their top five players. The voting is done with about two weeks left in the regular season.

There will be other things that enter into the final tally besides statistics. Put Barkley, Olajuwon and Jordan side-by-side statistically, and it would be like choosing between a Corvette, a Jaguar and a Porsche.

There are at least three other key departments.

... How strong a player has made his team.

In many respects, this may be the reason Jordan is lagging in the early returns.

"You can give Michael the trophy every year if you go on who is the best player," Brooks says. "You can argue that point, and it would be a fair argument.

"But I think other guys are deserving. This year, it's Hakeem and Charles."

Jordan's greatness, says Washington coach Wes Unseld, tends to become boring.

"I think people sometimes expect too much from Michael," Unseld says. "He's on such a high plane, people expect him to do it every night. That's tough to live up to."

As Tomjanovich said: "Michael is one of the greatest players of all time. Maybe the greatest player of all time. I'm sure that works against him."

Rockets forward Matt Bullard said the fact that there are no other All-Stars on the Rockets this season helps Olajuwon's case.

"In Chicago, Jordan has got guys around him who are All-Stars, like Scottie Pippen. In Phoenix, Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle are All-Stars.

"But we don't have any other All-Stars."

It is universally agreed upon that Olajuwon has done more with a weaker supporting cast than rival centers Patrick Ewing in New York and David Robinson in San Antonio.

Barkley's team has a much better record than that of the Rockets, but he also has a much better group of players around him.

Of course, Jordan has an excellent support group in Chicago, but the Bulls' world still revolves around him.

"If you take any of those guys off those teams, they don't win 50 games," Smith says. "In that respect, they are all valuable."

... The Dream Team factor.

Barkley, Jordan and the rest of the U.S. Olympic basketball players have been in the sport's limelight since July. That notoriety has done nothing but help Barkley's case for the award.

While Barkley was draping gold around his neck in Barcelona, Spain, Olajuwon still was involved in a bitter dispute with management in Houston. He wasn't even sure then if he was going to be a Rocket this season. He certainly did not want to be.

Barkley got his wish when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns from Philadelphia. It took away another reason for voters to overlook him. No longer was Barkley a great player on a poor or mediocre team.

... Fan appeal. MVP sometimes can stand for Marketing Via Performance.

There is a reason why Chicago sells out every road game. That reason is Michael Jordan.

The same goes for Phoenix. The Suns have one of the highest road-attendance averages in the NBA.

Olajuwon? He still suffers in the public-relations business by not having a major endorsement contract that includes television spots or billboards or whatever.

It is one of those obstacles Olajuwon has had to sidestep this season. He has done so by becoming an MVP candidate on productivity alone.

" Hakeem is as good as anyone in the entire league right now," says Sacramento coach Garry St. Jean. "When you analyze low-post play, if you can get a dominant big man to take baseline jumpers similar to the days of (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar, that's what you're striving to do. If a man makes those shots, so be it.

"And Olajuwon makes those shots."

And he rebounds. And plays defense. And wins games.

If Olajuwon isn't having an MVP season, it's only because Barkley is.

[fpliii]

continued...

.....................

By the numbers

How Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, left, compares statistically among the top three contenders for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. NBA ranking, (if in the top 40) is listed in parentheses next to each stat:

Category .....Olajuwon.......Barkley........Jordan.

Team rec. .....44-25 (5) .....52-15 (1) .....48-20 (2).

Scoring .......25.2 (6) ......26.0 (4) .......32.5 (1).

Rebounds ......13.0 (3) ......12.5 (6) .......7.0 (40).

Assists ........3.5 ..........5.0 (28) .......5.6 (24).

Steals ........1.68 (20) ....1.52 (32) .......2.67 (1).

Blocks ........4.12 (1) ......1.1 (35) .......0.88.

FG Pct. ........525 (11) .....523 (13) ........488.

FT Pct. ........776 ..........750 ............845 (23).

Turnovers ......3.1 ..........3.2 .............2.5.

Note: Statistics do not include Tuesday's games. ........................

Writers' picks

The Chronicle polled 20 NBA beat writers (11 from Western Conference cities and nine from Eastern Conference cities) on how they would cast their MVP vote. First-place votes are worth five points, second place three points and third place one point:

Player ......Team .......1st ...2nd ....3rd...Tot.

Olajuwon ....Rockets .....7 .....9 .....4 .....66.

Barkley .......Suns .....11 .....2 .....4 .....65.

Jordan ........Bulls .....2 .....5 .....9 .....34.

Ewing .........Knicks .....0 .....2 .....1 .....7.

Robinson .......Spurs .....0 .....1 .....0 .....3.

Wilkins ........Hawks .....0 .....1 .....0 .....3.

O'Neal .........Magic .....0 .....0 .....2 .....2. ........................

The pretenders

Top NBA players who have no realistic chance at winning the Most Valuable Player Award. NBA ranking, (if in the top 40) is listed in parentheses next to each statistic:

Player ............Team.........Points .........Reb.

.........................FG Pct......................

David Robinson ....Spurs.......23.3 (9th).....11.7 (8th).

.........................498 (37th)......................

Patrick Ewing.......Knicks......24.2 (7th) ...11.6 (9th).

.........................510 (27th)......................

Shaquille O'Neal.....Magic......23.7 (8th)....13.7 (2nd).

.........................569 (2nd).......................

Dominique Wilkins....Hawks......30.7 (2nd).....7.0.

.........................480...................... ......

Karl Malone...........Jazz......27.2 (3rd)....11.4 (11th).

.........................551 (5th).......................

This one came up while searching too (similar quote):

Olajuwon's turn steers Rockets to top

The Dallas Morning News - Sunday, March 14, 1993
One year ago, it was hard to find a relationship this side of Woody and Mia that was more explosive than the one between the Houston Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The club questioned Olajuwon's integrity and suspended him when it believed he faked an injury. The All-Star center responded by hurling insults at owner Charlie Thomas and general manager Steve Patterson. Both sides agreed it was time for a separation.

It never happened. The result: Olajuwon has thrust the Rockets into first place in the Midwest Division. The club has showered him with praise, pushed him for the league's Most Valuable Player award and is prepared to sign Olajuwon to an extension that will allow him to finish his career in a Rockets uniform.

This turn of events is almost as dizzying as the 12-game winning streak that has propeled the Rockets upward in the standings. The credit goes to Olajuwon.

A player of Olajuwon's status could easily force a trade. All one has to do is look at Charles Barkley's boorish behavior -- and uninspired play -- for Philadelphia last season for a blueprint.

Barkley got his wish. He was traded to Phoenix.

Olajuwon took a different tact.

"People will come up to me and ask, "How are you doing with that guy?' ' Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "But there's never been a problem between Hakeem and any of the coaches.

"Probably one of the biggest misconceptions is that he's got a negative deal on him. That's so wrong. He's good to be around. He's a friendly person. He's got a good sense of humor, and he cares about people.'

Olajuwon worked hard in the off-season. He practiced the turnaround jumper that had been so effective earlier in his career. He stressed conditioning.

He was driven, in part, by the thought of having a fresh start. Olajuwon was convinced he was going to be traded, and he wanted to show his new employer his skills had not diminished.

When Olajuwon reported for another season in Houston, he admits he was disappointed. But he refused to let his hard work go to waste. A long talk with Thomas on the flight back from Japan, where the Rockets opened the regular season against Seattle, helped clear the air.

Olajuwon has been outstanding ever since. He's sixth in the league in scoring with an average of 25 points, third in rebounding at 12.8 and first in blocked shots with 4.27. He has been at his overpowering best late in the game, which is one reason the Rockets have won 25 of their last 30 games.

"He's having an MVP season, his best far and away,' Patterson said.

"I think it's between him and Charles Barkley for MVP,' Miami center Rony Seikaly said. "I'd have to flip a coin. Hakeem is as good as anybody.'

Olajuwon had no problem letting Rockets management know how he felt last season. But with that goes the responsibility of helping solve the problem, not creating one.

That is exactly what Olajuwon has done.

"The worst thing that could have happened after the controversy of last season was to come in this season and let it continue,' Olajuwon said. "The bottom line is to take care of business on the floor. I have an obligation to fulfill, and I fulfill it the best way I know how.'

Olajuwon's way has put the Rockets at the top of the division.

"One thing about Hakeem, he's focused this year,' Houston forward Otis Thorpe said. "My opinion is that he's set his mind in the direction he wants to go and what he wants to accomplish. If he accomplishes those things, I think he's a happy man.

"If he was caught up in things before, I would say right now, he's on top of things. He's the king of the hill.'

Staff Writer David Moore covers pro basketball for The News. His column appears Sunday.

[fpliii]

Great reads.

Especially fplii.


---

It is truly great to read such things. Three legends in the thread title and right now thread contains why they're some of the true legends.

[fpliii]

NugzHeat3 should start coming by here again. Great poster.

[houston]

great thread