In the 1990s, Qiao Gang, who was perfect in all aspects, opened a period of 8 years and 6 crowns, two consecutive three consecutive crowns of the "Bull Dynasty".
In the same time and space, the league's internal lines are brightly starry, and while the "four major centers" shock the alliance, there are stars such as Doherty, Monin, and Schmitz who kill four sides.
There's one name we can't ignore — Hakim Olajuwon.
The first of the four major centers, he won two consecutive titles during Jordan's retirement, defending the championship and finals MVP.
Jordan, who was already famous in 1984, did not join the NBA as a champion. The Houston Rockets picked up houston university center Olajuwon, who scored 16.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 5.6 blocks and 67.5 percent shooting percentage (the latter three figures all ranked first in the ncaa) in the first round.
In his rookie season, Olajuwon averaged 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.68 blocks per game, second only to Michael Jordan in the Rookie of the Year. He is also the only rookie besides Jordan to receive a vote
Big Dream almost never lost to any other top center in the playoffs of the 90s, and it wasn't until he was 36 years old in the 98-99 season that he was defeated by the "Big Sharks" who entered their heyday.
During the 94-95 double title, he cleaned up the inside stars such as O'Neal, Admiral, Ewing, Barkley, Malone and other interior stars in the playoffs.
<h1>Attack - swim the dragon into the sea, raise the fire to the sky</h1>
In the 85-86 season, the rookie year has already played a famous "big dream" in the league to further, teaming up with the team's 2m 24 center Ralph Sampson to form the original twin towers (yes, the term NBA double tower comes from these two giants). In the regular season, even in the big forward position, he contributed 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3.4 blocks, and was selected for the league's second team while helping the Rockets advance to the playoffs with a second-place finish in the West.
Facing defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, the "Twin Towers" teamed up to suppress legendary center Abdul-Jabbar, making him only grab 7 rebounds per game in the entire series! Olajuwon cut a series-high 31 points, 11.2 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Rockets to a 4-1 elimination of the Purple and Gold Army, who was still at the top and defended in the last two years.
At that time, the "Big Dream" had not yet practiced the internal footsteps of the world that would later walk alone, but with superhuman physical fitness and a bottom-line jump shot, he had already thrown up the old sky hook.
Although the 2-4 loss in the Finals to the strongest Celtics in history (the NBA's recognized best team before the 72-92 win over the Bulls in the 96-97 season), the great dominance and boundless potential shown by Big Dream even allowed him to gain more affirmation than Jordan.
Magic Johnson: "Speaking of athletic talent, Hakim is the best I've ever seen. ”
Larry Bird: "A big Moses Malone (Rockets legendary center generation, king of frontcourt rebounds, and stout center representative) is back in the making! ”
Mitch Kupcek (Lakers blue collar who was beaten down in the playoffs in '86, lakers president from 2000 to 2017): "He's as omnipotent as 'Big O' Robertson, but he's a guard. I've never seen anyone as strong, so agile, so tireless as he is, and the key is that he has 7 feet left! ”
But in the years that followed, Olajuwon got his luck off, and although his stats were gorgeous year after year, the team management began to drag his feet every year. They first exchanged Ralph Thompson for "Sleepers" Freud and Barry Carroll, who were recovering from their injuries, and broke up the "Inside King Explosion" combination that could rule the NBA. And for the next five years, they didn't build a strong lineup for Big Dream again, (87-93 for seven years, Big Dream didn't have any All-Star teammates).
Although there have been conflicts with management, "Big Dream" has always been able to stabilize the output on the field, and gradually became the strongest presence at both ends of the attack and defense after NBA Jordan at that time. The gradual familiarity of the inside offensive skills coupled with the unique coordination and explosiveness has made him the most terrifying inner line "foot master" in the NBA.
NBA history recognizes that Olajuwon's interior offensive pace is only comparable to McHale (the second Celtics in the 80s and Bird partner). And the signature of big dreams is his left-right swing and infinite back moves.
Coach TomJanovic, who started as Rockets coach in 92, was fascinated by it: "His swing is like a waltz, and I can't get tired of watching it for the rest of my life." But in fact, his "dream dance steps", like the three threats of melon and the low center of gravity breakthrough of Joe's outside line, are all based on one foundation: he has enough offensive threats.
The horror of the big dream lies in the fact that his left waist turning bottom line jump shot is extremely accurate, so that you have to defend; the middle road turning hook hand is almost the second in the history of "sky hook"; as for the bottom line turn, it is his slippery and endlessly changeable hand. So the defender had a headache: he swung from side to side, every move was fatal, and I had to follow stupidly.
So some people will think, well, then I will watch you shake, do not eat your fake action, and wait for your ball to shoot fast before I jump again!
The core problem is that "Big Dream" may be the most agile internal line in NBA history. None of his moves are original, they are traceable, but with his incredibly smooth combos, once the defender is activated, he cannot keep up, and unless he happens to stand in the most suitable position and jump at the right time, he cannot keep up with his swift offensive rhythm.
We used the most classic 1995 Western Conference Finals, "Big Dream" to tease Robinson's ball ranks: Big Dream starts at the bottom corner of the left three-point line, dribbles the ball to the penalty area, shows the ball to pretend to be basketed, shakes the fingertips back, turns over and then takes a fake action, shakes Robinson who thinks he is going to shoot backwards, and easily gets on the basket - this ball In addition to the pace of the "Big Dream", Robinson, who is already the leader in defense of the four centers, cannot keep up with the combo speed of the "Big Dream". The second is to be jealous that he may actually shoot under every fake action. Can only obediently jump up and become a "background emperor".
<h1>Defense - Tricksters, all over the world</h1>
What is even more frightening is that under his all-round offensive magic, his defensive ability is not inferior, and even his influence on the game is even greater than his gorgeous attack.
(1) Thanks to the league's 1973 cap data, Olajuwon overpowered "Lord of the Rings" Russell and Wilt " Chamberlain, crowned NBA historical block king (3.1 per game)
(2) A total of 12 single-season finishes 100 blocks + 100 steals in a single season, and the second place "Admiral" has only 6 times.
(3) The total number of steals (213) + blocks (282) in the 88-89 season exceeded 500 interceptions (the only one in history).
(4) The New York Knicks averaged 98.5 points per game in the 93-94 season, dropped to 86.9 points against the Rockets in the Finals, and core Ewing slipped from 24.5 points in the regular season to 18.9 points.
(5) In the 1986 Finals, he gave 8 blocks in a single game, a record that was not broken until 23 years later by "Warcraft" Dwight Howard.
Although he weighs only 116 kilograms, his muscular muscles plus 2 fans and 21 arm spans are enough for him to dominate the restricted area. Relying on mobility and reaction speed that is not commensurate with his body, he has always maintained the steal data that only a defender has in his career.
He can not only become the tower of the town to guard the forbidden area, but also cover the entire three divisions inside and outside, and the early steals + one dragon in the early days of his career are even more good. He is the thick eyebrow before the thick eyebrow, and the letter brother before the letter brother. Relying on its own deterrent power to cover the whole field has become the core of the team's defensive system.
Especially in the '94-95 season, the Rockets playoffs ran all the way through the Jazz, Suns, Spurs and Magic to win championships. Malone, Barkley, David Robinson and O'Neal and other legends with different styles of legendary interior linemen not only lost, but also did not get the slightest bargain in the face of "Big Dream" in the attack and defense of the inside line, reflecting the dominance of Big Dream in the NBA forbidden zone at that time.
<h1>Leader - one tree can support, merit is perfect</h1>
In the past four decades of the NBA, only Olajuwon (Rockets) in 93 years, Duncan (Spurs) in 2003 and Nowitzki (Mavericks) in 11 years have been recognized as single-core leaders. It's been 10 years since big dreams joined the league, and he has gone from a Nigerian guy who had just graduated from a U.S. university to a benchmark in the history of NBA centers.
For seven years since Ralph Sampson was traded out, his most reliable helpers have been Otis Thorpe (who averaged 14 points and eight rebounds in his career) and Maxwell (12.8 points per game). Olajuwon can only rely on his personal bravery to play alone in the space city.
Except for his absence due to injury in 1991, he entered the All-Star every year, winning 2 rebounding kings, 3 block kings, 2 best defensive players, and four league firsts.
It wasn't until TomJanovic took charge of the coaching whip in '92, when Kenny Smith, Horry matured and rookie Sam Kassel joined, that he truly had a trustworthy squad.
In the two years since Jordan retired, Barkley, Payton, Ewing, Miller, and Robinson, who had been suppressed for many years, did not want to take over the authority left by the "Flying Man", but Olajuwon did it and successfully completed the defense of the title, becoming the undoubted "one person under one, the second in the world" during the Bull Dynasty.
It wasn't until '95 that he welcomed his first true star teammate after Ralph Sampson, the Glider Drexler, who was 32 years old.
After 96 years, the old man of time also found this top center, although he successively formed a superstar trio such as "Big Dream - Glider - Buckley" and "Big Dream - Pippen - Buckley". But the superstars, who are no longer at their peak, still did not get the opportunity to stand on the stage of the finals and compete with Jordan for the championship trophy.