Hakeem Olajuwon was not overrated, pt. 1

In my opinion, much has been made about how Hakeem is overrated. To me, he is actually the opposite. I will be explaining point by point in the coming weeks how Hakeem was anything but Overrated. We will start with Hakeems playoff shortcomings, and move to a few different categories as the weeks pass by.

#1 His 1st round playoff exits

Many people point to his 1st round exits as evidence that Hakeem is overrated. We will be looking at them and we will see that this simply isn’t true. Let’s look at the 1st round exits year by year:

1985 first round vs. Jazz

The Rockets had the three seed and home-court advantage, so they were expected to win against the Jazz before they even had Karl Malone (but had Adrian Dantley and Thurl Bailey). The Rockets would lose 3-2 against this team but it was far from Hakeem’s fault. Hakeem led the Rockets in 3/5 categories at age 22, and led them in Steals and Blocks, which for a Center at the time was unheard of. In the deciding Game 5 at home, Hakeem showed up big, having 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocks on 12-19 (63.2%) shooting, against the team with the #1 Defensive Rating in the NBA. Hakeem only had 2 TO’s and 3 fouls. Having a block to foul ratio of 1-to-1 is unheard of, much less a block to foul ratio of 2-1, against one of the best defenses in the league no less. John Lucas played hero ball, shooting 7-19 in the game. Lewis Lloyd shot 4-14 and Rodney McCray shot 0-6. Hakeem shot 63.2% from the field while the rest of the Rockets choked away the game shooting 29-73 (39.7%) from the field in the deciding Game 5.

1988 WC 1st round vs. the Mavs

This one is one of my all-time favorite series for an individual player. Hakeem’s Rockets lost 3-1 to the Mavs, but this in no way was Hakeem’s fault. Hakeem led the Rockets in 4/5 categories, which was rare for a big man to do back in this era. Hakeem also had a GameScore of 34.2, which is the BEST GameScore since the merger! It’s absolutely illogical that a player who had the best GameScore in a playoff series since the merger while leading his team in 4/5 categories would be blamed for a playoff loss. For the series, Hakeem scored and rebounded like 2000 Finals MVP Shaq, but played much better defense as his statline was 37.5 – 16.8 – 1.8 – 2.3 – 2.8 on 57.1% shooting. Hakeem’s overall defense was a world ahead of any of his teammates, as Hakeem posted a D Rating of 102. No other Rocket posted better than 112, which is still 10 points per 100 possessions worse than Hakeem.

1989 WC 1st round vs. the Sonics

Hakeem would show up in a big way for his team once again as he would lead the Rockets in 4/5 categories and was by far their best defender. Hakeem would put up amazing averages of 25.3 – 13.0 – 3.0 – 2.5 – 2.8 on 51.9% shooting. Hakeem would live up to his reputation of clutch as he would lead the Rockets in 4/5 categories in the deciding game, putting up 24 – 13 – 2 – 4 – 1 on 11-17 (64.7%) shooting. Outside of Hakeem in Game 4, the rest of the Rockets would shoot 41.5% shooting as they lost Game 4 98-96.

1990 WC 1st round vs. Lakers

Now, here is where Hakeem struggled on the Offensive side of the ball, but overall we will see that Hakeem was still the best player for the Rockets. Also, before examining this series, Hakeem had something on his leg throughout the duration of the games against the Lakers. I had not seen this in the 89 or 91 season, so it would appear that this was an injury sustained in 1990. Hakeem put up 18.5 – 11.5 – 2.0 – 2.5 – 5.8 but on a gaudy 44.3% shooting. More than likely due to the injury, Hakeem was limited offensively. But defensively no one has ever averaged 2.5 steals and 5.0 blocks per game in a playoff series, and he had a Defensive Rating of 104. No other player outside of the starting lineup even played 21 minutes a game. The next closest player in Defensive Rating that played more than 19 minutes per game was Otis Thorpe, who had a Defensive Rating of 117, still 13 points per 100 possessions worse than Hakeem’s Defensive Rating, so the Rockets wouldn’t have had a chance without Hakeem. Hakeem also led the Rockets in overall GameScore. Though Hakeem struggled in the other games, Hakeem would once again come up clutch in the elimination game (Game 4) as he put up 28 – 14 – 2 – 3 – 4 but on 48% shooting. Still, outside of this game Hakeem only averaged 11.5 points per game, yet in the pivotal Final game Hakeem would raise his average in the series 7 points per game, and Hakeem would once again lead the Rockets in 4/5 categories.

1991 WC 1st round vs. Lakers

Hakeem would, once again, lead his team in 4/5 categories in this series, and this was at a time when very few players- much less Centers- were doing that. Hakeem’s Rockets were swept but Hakeem put up 22.0 – 14.7 – 2.0 – 1.3 – 2.7 on 57.8% shooting. Hakeem posted a Defensive Rating of 104, which was at least 7 points per 100 possessions better than any other Rocket that played more than 8 minutes per game. In the elimination game Hakeem would once again lead his team in 4/5 categories putting up 21 – 17 – 2 – 3 – 4 on 9-17 (52.9%) shooting, but unfortunately had 5 TO’s and 4 fouls. Still, he did what he could to lead his team to a victory, and if nothing else did his best to pro-long the series.

#2 1st round exits past his prime

Hakeem missed 35 games due to injury in the 1998 season, and was never the same player after said injury. Besides, Hakeem was 35 in 1998, 36 in 1999, and 39 in 2002, all years in which Hakeem was past his prime, so the blame should not be squarely placed on him since he was past his best. Even then, in the 1998 1st round after missing 35 games in the regular season Hakeem led the Rockets in 3/5 categories, going for 20.4 – 10.8 – 2.4 – 1.0 – 3.2, but shot terribly at 39.4%. Hakeem would once again lead the Rockets in Defensive Rating by a good margin, as only Kevin Willis came close to him with a Defensive Rating of 100 compared to Hakeem’s D Rating of 96. After this series Hakeem was never the same player he was before his injury in the 1998 regular season.

#3 Missed playoffs in his prime

1992- No playoffs
Hakeem’s Rockets would miss the playoffs in the 1992 season. But, this was no fault of Hakeem’s. Despite missing 12 games due to injury, Hakeem still led the Rockets in 3/5 categories for the season. If you are gauging it in per game stats, Hakeem led the Rockets in all 5 categories except for Assists. Hakeem missed 12 games this season, and the Rockets would go 2-10 in the 12 games without Hakeem, which is on pace for a 13-69 season. In the 70 games Hakeem played, the Rockets were 40-30, which is on pace for a 46-36 season, which would have been good enough to make the playoffs that season as the 7th seed. Additionally, the Rockets were 8.4 ppg better Defensively in the games Hakeem played in compared to the games he missed. This might not seem like much, but this is actually one of the best seasons in this category that I have studied (I plan on doing a full post on seasons in which valuable defenders have missed 8 or more games).

Conclusion

While Hakeem's teams didn't always succeed like other Centers' teams of other eras in the postseason, Hakeem played exceptionally well in these games, comparable to the best of the best. In this instance, the blame should not rest on Hakeem, but we as fans of the game should look at how impactful he was. It is my sincere belief that Hakeem did more with less than any other Center in the history of the game, and I will demonstrate as much in the coming weeks here.