CNNSI: Shaquille O'Neal was dominated, but he wasn't impressed.

i don't think you've read enough shaq quotes when he feels his dominance being threatened. he praised hakeem for whooping him in the finals because he wasn't top dog of the big men yet. but ever since he became that, he has never taken to any slight well.

if he has a bad game or the team is losing and people are questioning him, he starts saying he needs more shots, or he won't play D if he's not involved on O, or someone's just 7-6. just saying he came out on the short end won't suffice.

and by 7-6 he doesn't mean yao is so great, but that he's not really better than me, he's just tall so that's the only reason he came out on top this time. it's a pride/ego thing and he's never been magnanimous in defeat, team-wise or individual-wise. he's not the first person to have trouble dealing with the passage of time or the decline that comes with it. you could even see it as the heat were winning the title in quotes and interviews, how much he still wanted to be considered batman to wade's robin even though everyone knew the pecking order.

when things are going well, shaq is funny and making up nicknames for himself, when they aren't he's sulking and demanding more shots and dissing his rivals to the throne. doesn't make him a bad person, just occasionally a bad sport.

 

Head was not impressed either: "That's Yao being Yao."
So I'll take that as a compliment from Shaq.

 

If Shaq thinks this is Yao's normal performace, that means Shaq definitely sees the potential of Yao, he KNOWS Yao can do better than 35pt, 14boards a game from bottom of his heart.
That's actually a good thing, isn't it?
If I were Yao, I gonna take this comment as a compliment and swear to do better next time.

 

shaq needs water

 

there's some truth to Shaq's quote. Yao's game is the same. What changed is he's been able to hit his jumpers against Shaq this game which he usually missed at all their previous matchups.

 

Sometimes this board really bugs me...



Everyone that's considering this as 'praise' is indifferently focusing on "he's doing what he's suppose to do".. Are you people blind? This latter part of the quote is preceeded by " He's the same. (then goes on to describe what 'same' means') JUST big, 7'6 ". This then sets up the perfect sum of ignorance that all sportwriters/experts/scouts/players have been spouting as Yao's sole source of production.. If he is tearing teams apart, "He's big, it's what 7'6 players should do", if he has a mediocre game, "Here comes George Muresan, Shawn Bradley etc. He's big, getting overhyped is what tall stiffs should do. " in other words, not talented, just tall.. and being such, "he's doing what he's supposed to do" complete's the well guised sourgrapes dig at Yao's abilities and his constant deriding and devaluing of his true skills and abilities.

Anyone at ALL recall how often, when confronted with the question, "Who could you see as your future successor", no matter how differently asked, how alternatively approached, he's quick to ACTUALLY praise those that really are no immediate threat to him RIGHT NOW, ie: Dwight Howard and Amare Stoudemire. And, it's honest to good, sincere praise. Not this 'Shaq like praise' everyone keeps referencing to this quote. There's no such thing. We've seen Shaq praise people, and he's praised just like anyone else would. But, with Yao, it's different. His 'praise' of Yao is always veiled with a hint of bitter seperation, evasiveness and detachment.

When Shaq tries against Yao, us fans misconstrue it as "respect', and the media takes as another Shaq abusive, barraging over taking intent on the better Shawn Bradley or Rick Smits. But, in reality, Shaq is simply putting forth the effort against Yao, because deep down, he knows he's his biggest threat to succeed him right off the bat. And despite constantly being even matched, slightly bettered, or getting his ass kicked, Shaq stubbornly and woefully seeks out the one game where he can finally free himself to say, "Yao played a great game, he's no doubt a great competitor", followed by, "But, tonight he ran into the daddy.. <insert smirking wink>".

There is no 'praising' in this quote..

 

Oh, and of course...

 

Oh man, perfect.

This is Shaq being Shaq. I don't know if you guys have heard/read Shaq's other post game comments. Most players usually give the opponent some praise when they lose. Curry for example!?!? If the Heat won Shaq would have praised Yao. But they lost so Shaq gives absolutely no credit to Yao. I'm betting Shaq wants Amare or Dwight Howard to take the torch next. Too bad Yao just manhandled it from Shaq last night.

 

It's tough for Shaq to swallow this. This is just his personality. The presence of Shaq helped the growth of Yao.

 

This is a good one. I like it.

 

Shaq can say or not say what he wants but Yao is the best center in the NBA!

 

My new nickname for Shaq: "The Big Used-to-Be"...

 

People here hate shaq . . .because. he is well . . uhm . .not a rocket

I'm a big Shaq Fan
He is by far one of the most regular guys in the league
he is doing great things in his local community
He is a very Positive Role Model

Rocket River

 

Shaq is dumb. That quote was not so bad though. Yao did not stop shaq, the ROCKETS did.

 

whoever wrote the article wrote it in a misleading way. if he hadn't put 'shaq wasn't impressed' we wouldn't be offended by what shaq said. shaq gave yao his props in a backhanded way.

 

My favorite part of the game was when they had to sit Shaq down with 3+ minutes left because the Rockets were about to impose the Hack-A-Shaq strategy. Did Yao sit on the bench? Hell no, he hits his FTs better than any other player on this team. It was just another reminder to Shaq of the things that Yao does that Shaq has NEVER been able to do. And now that he is getting older, the things that Shaq used to do very well are declining and Yao can exploit that.

I don't blame Shaq for having difficulty coming to terms with that, just like I don't blame myself for wanting to **** in Shaq's hat.

 

Absolutely! Shane is really a perfect piece of the team! I watched his game since this summer in Japan WCS. He can D the posts from 1 to 5. Chunk is much better than I thought. Yao got a lot of help from these two dudes this season. Thanks to these two guys, Yao didn't get in foul trouble and grabbed
rebounds more easily.

 

Is it me or is it true when shaq does that little hop in the painting isn't that TRAVELLING?

Both feet off the floor and no shot. AKA jumping in the air with the ball and no shot. TRAVELLING

JUst tired of seeing it after so many years.

Shaq is an egomaniac without a jumpshot! Whats new?

 

Yes, I very much agree. Little things like that easily go unnoticed. But Shane played a big role in the victory.