Could Shaq at his prime take this same team to the Finals?

other than the fact that the answer to this question is "without a doubt," this thread is stupid.

very stupid.

 

I think it's wrong to say Yao doesn't have any heart. I think he cares alot and tries hard.

 

The point is, who gives a damn? These are the guys we have and they're pretty good in their own right. There's no need to compare them to past players/players in their prime.

 

I agree. At the same token, why don't we start asking questions like if Michael Jackson played basketball, would he and Kobe Bryant be friends. The answer to that question is as trivial to the answer to this thread's question. Either way, we'd still be here, with Yao, going into a crucial game 7. A better quesiton might be, if we lose the series, do we trade Tmac or Yao, or just stay as is. Or, if we lose the series, will Jeff Van Gundy start to grow hair out of pure frustration. For shame thread starter, for shame.

 

this questions is a good merit test to the overall board intelligence. 90% is pretty good.

 

This thread implies that Yao is the reason we haven't finished this series and that just can't be true with the amount of bricks we've seen from the guards and mostly the bench. I'm perfectly happy with Yao. Other teams could only wish for the kind of center production that we maybe take for granted sometimes. The man shoots our technicals! That is sick!

That said, if we had Hakeem in his prime, we'd be even better than with Shaq in his. And we'd get even less respect.

 

Whoever voted no, clearly never saw Shaq play in his prime. He would've eaten Okur alive.

 

I'm not sure, but if we had Shaq in his prime, Barkley in his prime, Bird in his prime, Jordan in his prime, and Magic in his prime, along with Yao and McGrady and V-Span, I'd bet we could be a contender.

 

I don't see why anyone would vote no. There have been comparisons between Kobe and T-Mac and Shaq already had 3 with LA, so uuuuuuuuh.

yes

 

If this poll starts before this playoffs series, the result could be a 50/50 split. 10 - 20 days ago, this board was still arguing if Yao is top 10 or even top 5 all time. Man, I wish he could live up to the hype.

 

Yeah, but if JVG refused to play V-Span, they still couldn't get over the hump.

 

I think if we win this series, he will redeem himself; I am just really impressed with Okur's ability to scout Yao and defend him, he really has done a fantastic job. (btw I hate Okur, he's up there with Dirk now in my book)

Basically, this was the night (link) that the Shaq in his prime legacy ended. Phil knew right after the game they had just wasted one of the all time great Shaq postseason performances, and they didn't salvage a win out of it. Probably one of SHaq's best games ever in a loss in the postseason. Series would have been tied 2-2.


And Shaq didn't just do this once (this was the only time he did this in a meaningful game and they lost); no he did this continually throughout the playoffs in that 4 year stretch when they won 3 championships. Dominance like no other....Yao has a long way to go.

 

I have no words to say, these people are really crazy.

 

Instead of posting something smart to bash the OP in the other stupid thread, you had to start a stupid-counter-thread to waste the bandwidth of this board. That tells a lot about your intelligence level. You are as stupid as the OP of the other thread. But stupid people starting stupid threads seems to be the norm here lately after every single loss. So I am not surprised.

 

some of the blame goes on all of u here. you guys hyped yao to be a top 10 center of all time. give me a break. i knew he wasnt even close. hakeem would give yao a schooling. the blame is not on yao but on yall for hyping him.


prime shaq + prime tmac would win a championship no question

 

I voted no and I did watch Shaq in his prime - I also did watch how close LA was to lose to SacKings and Spurs if it weren't for Fisher, who is doing a good job or T-Mac in this series, and Horry, who is still sinking clutch shots for the Spurs. And in their championship runs who took over late in the games? It sure wasn't Shaq (remember hack-a-Shaq?). If it were T-Mac on that team, could he have matched the results that Kobe had?

I don't understand why people are still hoping Yao to play like Shaq - he'll never be playing like Shaq. He has a totally different game and in the right system and with right teammates, Yao can be as effective as Shaq in his prime. Besides, I don't think Yao is in his prime yet, and the right coach hasn't yet arrived for him.

If Rox lose game 7, the biggest disappointment this season is the wasted talent in V-Span & Novak. V-Span is obviously brought in for his ability to drive and make plays, and Novak has a very quick and accurate release from the 3-point line, but neither contributed and is doubtful to contribute next season under JVG. The bottom line - Rox is offsensively challanged (borrowed from forgot who on NBVTV).

 

Shaq in his prime, Hakeem in his prime, Moses in his prime, Walton in his prime, Lew Alcinder in his prime...etc...etc...etc....

Yao can get there, but he still needs to add a weeeeee bit more selfishness and aggression.

DD