You are right, we should put Shaq's game into the context for the era he plays in. Wilt had to battle with Russell. Kareem had to contend with Walton, Parish and Malone. Dream had to play against Ewing, Mourning, and Robinson all in their primes. Against whom is Shaq playing? Undersized Malik Rose/Back-pain Robinson, Stiff-knees Sabonis, Flopping Divac, Cotton-soft LaFranz, Ostertag (nuff said), No-offense Wallace, etc. . . MDE
If Shaq got called for the offensive fouls he makes with appalling regularity, during the course of a typical game, he wouldn't be racking up these numbers. His butt would be parked on the bench. Having said that, it's not his fault that the NBA sux up to him to such a rediculous extent. And he's always given respect to Hakeem, which earns some respect from me. I just wish Dream had had half the non-calls Shaq gets away with. We would be discussing different numbers altogether in comparing the two.
Well Yetti, he's too good and too smart not be better as the years go by. Just think what the Maverick fans were saying about Dirk in his rookie year. They were probably hoping he wasn't going to be known as the tall, soft German who averaged 8.5 pts and 3 rebounds in the 47 games he played as a rookie. I see similarities between the two. They play different positions and their skills differ somewhat, but it's their overall game that is very appealing.
Junk statistics. PLease go away. I hate it when folks come out here, give us silly half baked stats and think that we are fools here. Nonsense! Dig deeper and come up something better. Do you think you are dealing with teens here? Any statistician can come up with biased statistics to feed their desires and motives. I know better.
Junk statistic's? I thought it was pretty good. Shaq maybe the most dominant ever... It's not a bad thing, the guy is so big you cant do anything about it. Thats just how it is. Yao will get better but I dont think their has been such dominance in the history of the game other than Wilt maybe... The question is was Wilt playin against less talent? Or is Shaq playing against less talent?
wow, first that Sonics/Bucks, trade, now this. Never thought I'd see this happen, but I agree with pg. Hakeem outplayed, not dominated. Domination is what you saw last night.
It is junk because a WILT fan can also come up with a similar unobjective half baked statistics to favor Mr Chamberlin. Get it? Mr. Subliminal0? was only trying to make his man look good. If you want to be objective - be objective and give us a broader more transparent statistic that can be of good use. Why did he not include individual team (respective teams) stats? Why did he not tell us about the Sots per game f each of them? What about the difference in times and intangibles of the different generations? What about level of competion? What about the fact that dunks was out of the windows during parts of WILT's career. And many many many more I cannot think of now. If you want to be objective - go the damn distance. Do not attempt to covertly give us fuzzy stats - some of us know better. The fact remains that it is very had to judge or compare between greats of different generations. It is a highly subjective discuss. People forget George Michan too - because we live in a "NOW" world were history is simply history. How can we tell how someone from the past would have fared now? The further you are in history the less people will remember you. Sometime in the future people will start say how YAO is the greatest ever simply based the "Now" emotions and often times biase.
Did Hakeem dominate Shaq in the 1995 Finals? Shaq, I'll let you answer: "If I can't beat you, I'll be a man and say I can't beat you. I'm not going to [cry about it] ... I'm the first guy to say that somebody is better than me. I was the first guy to say Hakeem Olajuwon beat me in the [1995] NBA finals. He killed me. He dominated me. I didn't go, 'Oh, he's traveling. They had experience. Wah-wah-wah.' I'm a man. Hakeem Olajuwon dusted my butt." But, then again, what would Shaq know? http://msn.espn.go.com/page2/s/list/readers/nbafinals/performance.html
pg, so in other words you are saying.... "Well, uh, uh, uh, he didn't mean it...and you can't prove he did mean it." I agree, Shaq has always had nice things to say about Hakeem, and I think it is out of respect. I don't think anyone can "prove" either way who dominated who.
I completely agree with you. One more thing though, Shaq may be the MD and Kobe is super, but we still had our chances till the end of the game. Yao Ming has played non-stop basketball for almost 2 years now, he has to be really really tired.
Courtesy of ESPN: Shaq/Yao After thumping Yao last night, Shaq says he's still "M.D.E." (Most Dominant Ever). N.O.E.S.H.W. (No One Ever Said He Wasn't.) I.E.T. B.U.O.T.R. (It's Easy to Beat Up On the Rookie.) I.O.H.C.A.I.J.C.O.B.T.K. (Instead of Having a Complex About It, Just Concentrate On Beating the Kings.) OK?
Make a 70% clip at the charity stripe and win with Robert Horry as your best teammate first, Shaq. Haven, I disagree. He may end up with better career numbers, but I wouldn't say a better career. The guy is on the decline...you saw it some earlier this year, and I think you will see it even more in just 1.5-2 more seasons. The extra weight that has helped make his career, is going to kill the longevity of it.
I want to get one thing straight, and you all can argue all you want. SHAQ HAS NO REAL TALENT!!!! He has experience and SIZE...THAT IS IT!!! If I was 7'2" and 400lbs I could be the MDE too.... Heres what he's got...Catch ball-turn-dunk...catch ball-turn-dunk...catch ball-turn-layin.....catchball-lower shoulder-dunk......this is all he does...this is all he can do. That is not talent...period
I have to agree with you. I watched that series too. Hakeem may have dominated Shaq at the key moments and led his team to sweep the series but it's also the fact he gave up about 30 pts a game to Shaq in the series. Hakeem couldn't shut down Shaq, period. If Hakeem vs. Shaq in that series was no contest, I don't know how you describe Shaq vs. Yao last night. I don't know if Shawn Bradley could have played worse than Yao last night.
I think Shaq was being truthful -- probably a bit crass in his delivery, as usual. I like the fact that he's always recognized King Hakeem for the nightmare that he was at the height of his career. Shaq is one of the few youngers who came from that era who openly respects the King. Besides, Shaq knew what it felt like to be dominated...so did Robinson, Ewing, Mourning and whoever else faced the King in the paint. There is no question who's the boss in the paint right now.
