You have to give credit to Shaquille O'Neal on his outstanding season, BUT I have had enough of all these broadcasters and analysts jumping on his bandwagon. Are they blind??Can't they see that if Shaq wasn't 7 foot 2, 350 pounds, he would be nowhere near as dominant as he is? I hear them talking about his great moves and his finesse game. What finesse game. 75 percent of his baskets come from rebounds and put backs or dunks. From what I see he has two moves the jump stop in the lane and hook, and a spin move and hook off the glass. I hear Shaq saying on a recent NBC halftime report, that he has more than 50 moves on each block. That is ludicrous. If Shaq was Hakeem's siz, he wouldn't be half the player Hakeem was. Hakeem, when he was healthy had so many moves he could make you dizzy. Remember what he did to David Robinson in the Western Conference Finals several years ago in '95? All I see is Shaq dunking and hook shoting over Rik Smits. I give credit to Shaq for his stats and dominance, but all that talk about him being one of the most skilled centers ever along with Dream, Kareem, an Wilt is ridiculous. Shaq may be one of the most dominant centers ever, but you can't say he is one of the most skilled. Plus Shaq is nothing outside of 8 to 10 feet.
shaq also has excellent footwork, is a very good passer, shot blocker, and rebounder. And as much as you hate the guy you have to admit there was noone in the nba that had even close to as good a season as shaq did. watching the guy cry yesterday night truly showed me that he does have his prioreties in check and he was dedicated to winning a championship.
As RP would like to say: "Again, nothing to do with the Rockets." As TheFreak would like to say: "NBA Dish." Mango ------------------ Live long and prosper. Donate blood! Now...back to updating The Serious Police Files. [This message has been edited by Mango (edited June 20, 2000).]
Shaq is definately not one of the most SKILLED centers of all time in terms of actual skill, but he is one of the most dominant as you pointed out. But his skill lies in the fact that he is 7'2 350, and is able to move with the quickness, speed, and athletecism that he moves with. Now's he's not really fast or nothing, but he moves very fast for a guy his size. I do agree with most of what you said. Shaq can't shoot free throws, and cant shoot outside of 8 feet. But Shaq has good hands, and also he's got pretty good footwork also. It's nothing compared to Hakeem, but there's not many people that you can even compare Hakeem's footwork to. It's hard to believe that Shaq has 50 moves in the post. But maybe the reason he doesnt do them is becuz his hook shot is pretty much unstoppable. In my mind, Hakeem is much more skilled than Shaq. but Shaq is probably more dominant. When Shaq scores 35 points, and people say you did a good job of holding him, then that says something about it. ------------------ treasurer of the moochie norris fan club
Watch it....Mango the hall monitor is on the prowl. ------------------ HOOP-T Hey Shaq, Acme called, and they want their bricks back!
