Robert Horry - Hakeem Olajuwon Greatest Center

Cougar Basketball
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Interesting convo with Robert Horry on the greatest NBA center he played with and he played with 3 of the best of all time: Olajuwon, Shaq and Duncan. No question in Horry’s mind who is the best. The only thing I disagree with Horry on is his comment that he wasn’t developed at UH. I saw Olajuwon as a freshman and not giving the UH coaching staff credit for developing him is completely inaccurate.

Kenny Smith and Stephen A. Smith weigh in. Stephen A. makes a valid point that is underplayed: People forget that Olajuwon was drafted AHEAD of Michael Jordan, and no one to this day thinks that was the wrong choice.

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Absolutely no doubt.

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Guy V. took a Nigerian soccer goalie and rode him to the Final Four becoming a high draft Center. Pretty good coaching (and talent on The Dreams part)

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I was eating at a Vietnamese restaurant in West U area and the server says “Do you know who Robert Horry is…?”

Me… “Of Course.”

Server… “He’s sitting right behind you…”

I didn’t want to bother him so I didn’t ask for an autograph… talk about right place, right time for his career.

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If he was not developed at UH he would not have been the number one pick in the draft.

He went from the fut’bol fields to an NBA court in 4 years……I’d say he was developed.

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There’s no question that in looking at his overall trajectory, he developed far more as a professional than in college, which isn’t true of a lot of guys. If Horry didn’t really see him when he arrived at UH, I can understand his perspective, because Olajuwon was super-raw when he came into the NBA - but it wasn’t because he didn’t get developed in college.

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I understand Hakeem got upset at Coach Lewis because of insistence for Dream to work in the weight room.
I bet all these years later Hakeem is thankful.
Guy was great working and developing bigs

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I read the article in the Chronicle recently that had an interview with Hakeem and how his commitment to his religion changed his game. Perhaps what was missing from his time at UH was the mental focus aspect.

Now as someone pointed out, Hakeem was resistant to working out, perhaps there were other aspects he was resistant to that would have better developed him for the NBA. The perceived failure on the development could be on Hakeem’s shoulders and not Guy V.

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I think the biggest part of Dreams transformation was going up against Moses Malone continually at Fonde the summer before his sophomore yr. Those were some AWESOME battles!!!

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Old Cougar games are on YouTube.

You can watch Hakeem play in 1982, 1983, and 1984.

You will see tremendous improvement and development.

Guy Lewis certainly deserves huge credit for recruiting and developing Hakeem.

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That was his pro game that changed, the mental focus and he was such a hot head early on. After his commitment he really calmed down on the court.

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Yes. I understand. I believe Harry was talking about his pro game really. That it wasn’t developed enough at UH. That’s just the way I understand it.

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Misperception by many is that Dream couldn’t shoot and had no offense in college. Cato once said that to a reporter and got an eye roll and grin from Dream who was listening nearby.

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If Dream had played in NY or LA, performing at the same level, this “debate” would have been settled during his playing days.

Had Guy Lewis produced 5 Final Fours as the coach of UT or A&M, he would have been in the Hall of Fame at the latest concurrent with his retirement.

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Shaq and Duncan were great players no doubt. IMHO, Olajuwon didn’t get enough credit for his ability to change the mindset of his opponents. He was by far one of the fastest and most athletic big men of his time. He made the other guys think; “Do I REALLY want to go at this guy?”.

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He developed in college, he became great at the pro level. His offense became unguardable. The best was him destroying David Robinson after they gave him the MVP awatd. He didn’t dominate on offense like that in college, he gained so many moves throughout his pro career. He would go and show the refs his moves before the game to show them it wasn’t a travel. Nobody thought someone his size could do those moves. Jordan even admitted to taking moves from Hakeem.

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I remember Horry being drafted. Everyone wanted baby jordan. Glad we got Bigshot Bob instead….

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And be thankful the Horry for Sean Elliott trade fell through.

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Caroll Dawson said the Rockets drafted him #1 because of his defense and rebounding. They didn’t know his offense was as good as it was coming into the league until they saw it in training camp.

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“They” let Shaq just plow over people out of control. “They” being the LA/NBA establishment. He was never ever close to being the polished player that Dream was: skilled, disciplined, in control and athletic.

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