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The Shaq effect

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Jump Ship, Jan 6, 2019.

  1. Jump Ship

    Jump Ship Member

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    After Shaq (and Yao) left the NBA, the league has gotten noticably smaller in tems of bigs (and bigger in terms of guards).

    Shaq was so dominat that each team had 1 or 2 useless 7 foot centers whose only job was to come in and take 6 fouls on Shaq. In the year where Shaq averaged 29.7 ppg he shot 13.1 FTs. If he made his free throws he would have been even more unstoppable.

    There is no question whether or not prime Shaq was fast enough to keep up with todays pace in the NBA. Most of todays seven footers like Salah Mehri and Boban can barely scramble a few minutes on the court before looking too tired.

    Pace is not the only reason these trees cant hang. Spacing is. The league is now filled with shooters including bigs who can shoot. Someone like Dirk could be hidden on defense by a good center like Tyson Chandler, but in today’s NBA he would give up a lot of points on switches with all the space players have to operate. Dirk probably could not hang in today’s NBA. Like 2-3 years ago when it started, he was not looking much slower, but everyone looked too fast for him. That is why his minutes started taking a hit.
     
  2. Caesar

    Caesar Member

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    Yao would be a slow Zhou Qi in todays NBA. So he'd probably be a back up on a gleague team. Shaq would be a fat and slow Boban who would get even less minutes. Honestly, probably gleague material at best when you really think about it.
    There's no more Bill Curley's for them dominate 82 games a year. They'd be facing bigger, faster, stronger, tougher, smarter, more skilled players every minute of every game.

    I do respect Hakeem though. I think he could be Jahlil Okafor offense mixed with Bismak Biyombo reb/blocking. He could probably start on a couple of teams since he'd be quick enough to defend 10% of the leagues rare non freak athletes on the perimeter. Against the rest, he'd be forced to the bench via foul trouble or just getting abused.
     
  3. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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    [​IMG]
     
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  4. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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  5. Vienna Calling

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    lol wut?
     
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  6. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Concerning his FTs, I think his technique is wrong or something is up with his huge hands.

    He palms the ball in a weird way and the release does not seem to be right.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Downtown Sniper

    Downtown Sniper Contributing Member

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    What did I just read.

    Like, what in the f*ck did I just read?
     
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  8. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    You are being funny.
     
  9. JumpMan

    JumpMan Contributing Member
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    Worst post ever.
     
  10. Jump Ship

    Jump Ship Member

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    I have to believe he was joking. Some old school heads take it personally when you question whether Larry Bird and Kevin Mchale would be greats in today’s NBA.
     
  11. steddinotayto

    steddinotayto Contributing Member

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    I think Shaq can still be very good in today's NBA. Dude was very athletic and, looking at the crop of centers now, who's going to stop him? 3s>2s but at the rate Shaq can hit them earlier in his career (mid 70% to 80%), it's like an automatic bucket. You would shift the players around him to be more perimeter oriented and run the same in and out game that got Dwight Howard and the Magic to the Finals.
     
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  12. smoothie

    smoothie Jabari Jungle

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    yao would be marc gasol, but better in the post. so, more points less assists and probably have to develop a 3 point shot. we'd slow down for him the same way the grizzlies slow down for gasol. simply because giving him the ball in the post in today's nba is still as efficient as 10 years ago. it would force a double team and open things up for 3.

    shaq on the other had modern nba speed/quickness. he would still be the biggest and strongest player in the league and still dunk over double teams without a problem. he wouldn't be able to back guys down without drawing an offensive foul, but he can get his position early before he got the ball and look to score quicker. think about how open the post would be for shaq with a 4-out, 3 guard lineup that just didn't exist during his playing days. it would be easier for him to get the ball with more passers and shooters on the floor, and harder for defenses to double and triple team the paint.

    generally i think the league adjust to its most dominant player(s). it gets bigger when there is a dominant set of big guys because every team is drafting to try to find an answer. the league gets smaller when there's a dominant set of small guards for the same reason. we're seeing now a push for versatility in the lebron era along with shooting and 1-1 ability in the moreyball era. if shaq and yao were drafted today their teams would buck the nba trend to exploit their advantages and the rest of the league would have to get bigger and better at half court defense and post defense to compete against them. you can't allow them to be guarded one on one and you can't double to give up a 3 so you must find a big defensive post player of your own. slowly the pendulum would swing.
     
  13. marky :)

    marky :) Member

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    @tinman

    I'm no 99'er so I can't speak for y'all but this blasphemy should be looked at.
     
  14. Jontro

    Jontro Member

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    holy schitte where in teh t*** is @tinman? breh be slacking in epic proportions.
     
  15. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    Shaq was pretty agile when he was younger. I don't know if he'd be able to keep his weight down to minimize the stress on his body but a young shaq would be problematic for a lot of teams to deal with.
     
  16. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    Shaq would hang in any era. The guy was just dominant. What we are discussing is the guys that were on rosters to give 6 fouls like Robert Traylor.
     

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