At his peak, Oneal was more dominant, but he wasn't always consistent with his efforts. Duncan played more consistently at a high level throughout his career. I also give the vote to Duncan because his game was just more enjoyable to watch. Much better than watching Shaq bully his way to the basket and dunk it for the Nth time. Yawn.
When did this happen? If Stat had indeed outplayed Duncan they would have won the series Amare's dunks blinds you to the fact that he sucks at D. He had that one block where he blocked Duncan, but before he did that he let so many shots go in the hoop. Look at where their careers are ending up. Duncan has been a force in San Antonio ever since he got there-Shaq is playing for his what, 6th team now? He's getting passed around like a hot potato because he can't get along with other stars. The only time you'll take Shaq over Duncan is if you're playing NBA Live or NBA2K, because in video games conditioning, chemistry and focus don't matter
Who should have been 1st team all-nba then? Yao? He missed even more games than Shaq. Ben Wallace? I have a hard time giving first-team all-nba to a player that is such an offensive liability. And good job cherry-picking the stats. Winning a championship requires winning four playoff series, not one. Shaq put up 19+ points in five of the six games against Detroit in the Eastern Finals. He dominated the close-out games against Chicago and Detroit. Hell, even in the Finals Shaq was pretty good in the games Miami won, with three double-doubles (missing another by a single point).
I really hope you're joking here. Not necessarily about this particular series, but just about the idea that no player can outplay the guy he's matched up against if his team ends up losing the series.
It's close, but I'm going to go with Shaq. He's helped three teams make it to the finals. It shows his worth. He goes to a new system, coaching style, etc, etc, and makes it happen.
Amare is not the player he once was. There's no question he was dominant that year - and he did completely **** on Duncan in the playoffs.
Oh, God! Not this again. IMO, for the millionth time, I would say Duncan. Sure, Shaq was more dominant for a period of time, but he had the services of 2 future HOF SG in his 4 championship years, and also, for the past 4 years he has been reduced to journeyman. I feel that Duncan will play his entire carrer in SA where he will be their all time greatest player, something Shaq cannot say. Also, while I love Shaq and I think he is a god amongst men, he comes across as kind of a jerk whenever he leaves a team. Even if Tim leaves SA, it will be classy and uneventful.
Totally, but even then he is still way younger than Tim and in his "prime", and he still dosen't play defense, nor will he ever lead his team to a title. Hope he can handle playing for a mediocre Knick team without Steve Nash for the next 6 years.
Also, his (Shaq) whole offensive game consisted of runnng people over, which he cannot do now, since the NBA changed the way they officiate him. If they had started doing that 12 years ago, he has one or two championships.....maybe.
People are still under the assumption that Shaq isn’t a consistent player. This is blatantly false. I think this stems from the perception that he is lazy and following that must mean that his play is inconsistent. Here is a sample of the careers of some of the greats of all time. Hakeem Olajuwon http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olajuha01.html Kareem Abdul-Jabbar http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulka01.html Bill Russell http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/russebi01.html Wilt Chamberlain http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html David Robinson http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/robinda01.html Moses Malone http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonmo01.html All these players experienced seasons which were clearly better than others. Their careers all had several peaks and valleys until the end when invariably everyone must fade away and retire. Nobody’s career really ascends steadily to a point in their primes where they are the best and then descends but never drops off too much, even when they cut them off like Wilt and Russell. Tim Duncan isn’t even immune to this. His stats have been steadily declining for the last 3 years and his best one it seems was just his 5th. Season Age Tm Lg G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS 1997-98 21 SAS NBA 82 82 39.1 8.6 15.7 .549 0.0 0.1 .000 3.9 5.9 .662 3.3 8.6 11.9 2.7 0.7 2.5 3.4 3.1 21.1 1998-99 22 SAS NBA 50 50 39.3 8.4 16.9 .495 0.0 0.1 .143 4.9 7.2 .690 3.2 8.2 11.4 2.4 0.9 2.5 2.9 2.9 21.7 1999-00 23 SAS NBA 74 74 38.9 8.5 17.3 .490 0.0 0.1 .091 6.2 8.1 .761 3.5 8.9 12.4 3.2 0.9 2.2 3.3 2.8 23.2 2000-01 24 SAS NBA 82 82 38.7 8.6 17.1 .499 0.1 0.3 .259 5.0 8.1 .618 3.2 9.0 12.2 3.0 0.9 2.3 3.0 3.0 22.2 2001-02 25 SAS NBA 82 82 40.6 9.3 18.3 .508 0.0 0.1 .100 6.8 8.5 .799 3.3 9.4 12.7 3.7 0.7 2.5 3.2 2.6 25.5 2002-03 26 SAS NBA 81 81 39.3 8.8 17.2 .513 0.1 0.3 .273 5.6 7.8 .710 3.2 9.7 12.9 3.9 0.7 2.9 3.1 2.9 23.3 2003-04 27 SAS NBA 69 68 36.6 8.6 17.1 .501 0.0 0.2 .167 5.1 8.5 .599 3.3 9.2 12.4 3.1 0.9 2.7 2.7 2.4 22.3 2004-05 28 SAS NBA 66 66 33.4 7.8 15.8 .496 0.0 0.1 .333 4.6 6.9 .670 3.1 8.0 11.1 2.7 0.7 2.6 1.9 2.2 20.3 2005-06 29 SAS NBA 80 80 34.8 7.2 14.8 .484 0.0 0.1 .400 4.2 6.7 .629 2.9 8.1 11.0 3.2 0.9 2.0 2.5 2.7 18.6 2006-07 30 SAS NBA 80 80 34.1 7.7 14.1 .546 0.0 0.1 .111 4.5 7.1 .637 2.7 7.9 10.6 3.4 0.8 2.4 2.8 2.5 20.0 2007-08 31 SAS NBA 78 78 34.0 7.5 15.1 .497 0.0 0.1 .000 4.3 5.9 .730 3.0 8.3 11.3 2.8 0.7 1.9 2.3 2.4 19.3 2008-09 32 SAS NBA 75 75 33.6 7.4 14.8 .504 0.0 0.0 .000 4.5 6.4 .692 2.7 8.0 10.7 3.5 0.5 1.7 2.2 2.3 19.3 2009-10 33 SAS NBA 78 77 31.3 7.2 13.9 .518 0.0 0.1 .182 3.5 4.8 .725 2.8 7.3 10.1 3.2 0.6 1.5 1.8 1.9 17.9 Career NBA 977 975 36.4 8.1 16.0 .508 0.0 0.1 .187 4.9 7.1 .687 3.1 8.5 11.6 3.2 0.8 2.3 2.7 2.6 21.1 His career to this point is on a similar arc to Hakeem, Kareem, and Malone. Steady great seasons for the first 10 with the best ones coming in the first few like Kareem or two peaks with a valley between like Hakeem but not a perfect bell curve. Then rebounding starts to drop off and they decline until retirement. I suspect this will happen to Duncan as well. After seeing the career arcs of these great centers Shaq’s career and decline to his current play isn’t exactly an unprecedented event in basketball history. In fact by some measures Shaq is one of the most consistent players ever. Season Age Tm Lg G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS 1992-93 20 ORL NBA 81 81 37.9 9.0 16.1 .562 0.0 0.0 .000 5.3 8.9 .592 4.2 9.6 13.9 1.9 0.7 3.5 3.8 4.0 23.4 1993-94 21 ORL NBA 81 81 39.8 11.8 19.6 .599 0.0 0.0 .000 5.8 10.5 .554 4.7 8.5 13.2 2.4 0.9 2.9 2.7 3.5 29.3 1994-95 22 ORL NBA 79 79 37.0 11.8 20.2 .583 0.0 0.1 .000 5.8 10.8 .533 4.2 7.3 11.4 2.7 0.9 2.4 2.6 3.3 29.3 1995-96 23 ORL NBA 54 52 36.0 11.0 19.1 .573 0.0 0.0 .500 4.6 9.5 .487 3.4 7.7 11.0 2.9 0.6 2.1 2.9 3.6 26.6 1996-97 24 LAL NBA 51 51 38.1 10.8 19.4 .557 0.0 0.1 .000 4.5 9.4 .484 3.8 8.7 12.5 3.1 0.9 2.9 2.9 3.5 26.2 1997-98 25 LAL NBA 60 57 36.3 11.2 19.1 .584 0.0 0.0 6.0 11.4 .527 3.5 7.9 11.4 2.4 0.7 2.4 2.9 3.2 28.3 1998-99 26 LAL NBA 49 49 34.8 10.4 18.1 .576 0.0 0.0 .000 5.5 10.2 .540 3.8 6.9 10.7 2.3 0.7 1.7 2.5 3.2 26.3 1999-00 27 LAL NBA 79 79 40.0 12.1 21.1 .574 0.0 0.0 .000 5.5 10.4 .524 4.3 9.4 13.6 3.8 0.5 3.0 2.8 3.2 29.7 2000-01 28 LAL NBA 74 74 39.5 11.0 19.2 .572 0.0 0.0 .000 6.7 13.1 .513 3.9 8.8 12.7 3.7 0.6 2.8 2.9 3.5 28.7 2001-02 29 LAL NBA 67 66 36.1 10.6 18.3 .579 0.0 0.0 .000 5.9 10.7 .555 3.5 7.2 10.7 3.0 0.6 2.0 2.6 3.0 27.2 2002-03 30 LAL NBA 67 66 37.8 10.4 18.1 .574 0.0 0.0 6.7 10.8 .622 3.9 7.2 11.1 3.1 0.6 2.4 2.9 3.4 27.5 2003-04 31 LAL NBA 67 67 36.8 8.3 14.1 .584 0.0 0.0 4.9 10.1 .490 3.7 7.8 11.5 2.9 0.5 2.5 2.9 3.4 21.5 2004-05 32 MIA NBA 73 73 34.1 9.0 15.0 .601 0.0 0.0 4.8 10.5 .461 3.5 6.9 10.4 2.7 0.5 2.3 2.8 3.6 22.9 2005-06 33 MIA NBA 59 58 30.6 8.1 13.6 .600 0.0 0.0 3.7 8.0 .469 2.9 6.3 9.2 1.9 0.4 1.8 2.8 3.9 20.0 2006-07 34 MIA NBA 40 39 28.4 7.1 12.0 .591 0.0 0.0 3.1 7.4 .422 2.4 5.0 7.4 2.0 0.2 1.4 2.4 3.5 17.3 2007-08 35 TOT NBA 61 61 28.7 5.4 9.1 .593 0.0 0.0 2.8 5.5 .503 2.7 6.4 9.1 1.5 0.5 1.4 3.0 3.7 13.6 2007-08 35 MIA NBA 33 33 28.6 5.8 10.0 .581 0.0 0.0 2.7 5.4 .494 3.0 4.8 7.8 1.4 0.6 1.6 3.0 4.1 14.2 2007-08 35 PHO NBA 28 28 28.7 5.0 8.2 .611 0.0 0.0 2.9 5.7 .513 2.4 8.2 10.6 1.7 0.5 1.2 3.0 3.4 12.9 2008-09 36 PHO NBA 75 75 30.0 6.8 11.2 .609 0.0 0.0 .000 4.1 6.9 .595 2.5 5.9 8.4 1.7 0.7 1.4 2.2 3.4 17.8 2009-10 37 CLE NBA 53 53 23.4 4.9 8.7 .566 0.0 0.0 .000 2.1 4.3 .496 1.8 4.9 6.7 1.5 0.3 1.2 2.0 3.2 12.0 Career NBA 1170 1161 35.2 9.6 16.5 .581 0.0 0.0 .045 5.0 9.5 .527 3.6 7.5 11.0 2.6 0.6 2.3 2.8 3.4 24.1 Looking at his stats there he has the most 20 point 10 rebound seasons, the modern benchmark of a great center, in NBA history with 13 consecutively. In player efficiency rating Shaq has the most seasons with a 28 or greater PER with a total of 8. Shaq also has the record for most times leading the NBA in field goal % with 10. Additionally his playoff stats are quite impressive. Shaq ranks 3rd in playoff games played despite having played for 5 teams in his career, one of them being an expansion team only three years earlier. He ranks 3rd in total rebounds behind Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. He ranks 3rd in playoff points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan. And he ranks 3rd in playoff blocks behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All this while leading three different teams to NBA finals appearances. I’d say that’s some decent consistency to go with Shaq’s universally recognized peak dominance.
I have to say Shaq. He was the better scorer and slightly better rebounder than TD. Duncan's overall numbers are going to come down if he plays as long as Shaq. Shaq was feared, TD is respected.
Fair enough. I didn't follow O'Neal's career closely, but later in his career I remember every year there would be questions about him taking more games off after injuries than needed. Duncan was more consistent in his approach IMO. Then again, it's probably why O'Neal was always so fresh during the playoffs and has been able to play for as long as he has. So in hindsight his was the smart course of action.
