I watched him practice, while at UH. When I was a kid, the Final Four was at the Pit, here in Albq., N.M. I was able to see those guys play, back in like 83. I watched him match up against Drexler and and all the rest of those Houston Guards, on the perimeter. He didn't have any problems sticking with any of those guys, except Drexler on occasion and Clyde Drexler, much, much quicker then LBJ. Honestly, his problem was not agility of quickness or speed. He could have handled the ball, bringing it up court if he had more experience doing that sort of thing, as a youngster. He was unbelievably gifted, as an athlete, an not just for his size, but compared to anybody. Remember, he only started playing Basketball at age 15. Before that, he played Soccer and Handball. I don't know if you've ever played either of those sports but he was a goalie so he had to be very quick to react, had to be able to move his feet, had to be able to shift his weight, had to be able to have excellent hand eye and reaction speed. Same with Handball. Always shifting weight, chasing down shots etc. I watched him get out on the perimeter and check those guys. His problems were not speed or agility. They beat him because of his inexperience at the time. The reason you never saw him away from the basket much, in the NBA was because the game was different. You didn't have to really defend the three, like you do in todays game, back then. You didn't have stretch Fours that stepped out and shot the three all the time. It was more of a post up, drive the basket, spot up, pick and roll game. It really wasn't because he couldn't do it IMO. It just wasn't smart to send your Center out in space to pick up a cheap foul.
James is not quicker then Olajuwon was. I watched them both and I just don't see that.
