Finally, somebody with the stones to refuse kissing Shaq's ample ass. I apologize if this has been posted elsewhere. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/webb/020612.html
This article is so much bull**** I mean Hell . . .Kobe travels about as much If the league is too TALL catch the 6'0 and under leagues. . . . I like shaq He could stand to be more Finesse but to say he has no skills is one thing If shaq was 6'1 his game would be different it is stupid to beleive if Iverson was as big as shaq he'd have the same touch This is PURE HATA-AID nothing more. . .not logic to it just a BASHARAMA Rocket River
Interesting opinion. I think it's somewhat flawed. A man his size isn't supposed to be as agile as he is. And were he a foot shorter with all the same agility and explosiveness, yes, there would be a place in this league for him.
Don't let the door hit your big butt on the way out By Royce Webb ESPN.com Dear Shaq: We want it back. We want back the game you've devoured along with all the pizzas, Shaq Packs, Cap'n Crunch cereal and chocolate milk it takes to keep that 350-pound engine running. Big Aristotle, if you are as wise and generous as your namesake, the Original Big Aristotle, you'll give basketball back to the little people. Shaquille O'Neal's assault on the NBA game has got to stop. Please, if you will, let me explain: First off, and with all due respect, Big Mug, your game is U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi. You know, a lot of people say basketball at its best is like jazz ... in which case, you're a big fat tuba playing, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" Stumbling, bumbling, fumbling, rumbling, ramming, banging, bruising, elbowing, shouldering, bouldering … and that's just on your free throws. Your brutal game in the box is even harder on the eyes. Second, and I mean this only in the kindest way possible, your skillz are wack, Shaq. Big Fella, I realize that some people have flattered you -- for instance, a Very Famous Broadcaster recently said about you, "If he were 6-foot-1 and 190, instead of 7-1 and 310, I think he could still play in this league and play well." But let's keep it real, Shaq. If you were 6-1, you'd be a point guard. Can you imagine yourself as an NBA point guard? Can you imagine a 6-foot NBA point guard who: couldn't shoot from beyond 10 feet? had hit one 3-pointer in 10 years? had no handle? had a negative assist-turnover ratio? averaged less than a steal a game? shot 53 percent from the line for his career? missed five free throws per game? couldn't make a spin in traffic? couldn't shoot a left-handed layup? couldn't play defense 15 feet from the basket? I'm sure I don't have to tell you, Diesel, the guys with real skillz -- the Speedy Claxtons, Steve Nashes and Troy Hudsons, as well as the Iversons, Kidds and Kobes -- can do things you can only dream about. And I don't know how to break this to you, but they're not lying in bed at night saying, I wish I could be a 7-1 fat guy with no real game. I mean, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but every time I play pickup ball, I see five guys who've got more game than you do -- guys who can shoot pull-up Js, guys who can pick pockets, 40-year-old guys who pass behind their back like nothing. But let's be fair -- size is a talent too. So I'll grant you this, if you don't mind a backhanded compliment -- you move well for a guy your size. Third, speaking of size, you're too damn big. And here's the problem -- you and the other big guys have a triple advantage. In just about any sport, there is a basic advantage to being tall, and that's fine, because there is also an advantage to being short. But in basketball, there is a second advantage to being tall, which is that basketball is played up high, where the basket is. And, Shaq, when you're 7-1, there is a third advantage, which is why it's so hard to admire your game -- when you can play above the rim practically without leaping, how is that fair? Sure, you're unstoppable, but where's the challenge? You know, I do pretty well on 8-foot baskets against 12-year-old kids -- but what fun is that? About 80 guys in the NBA are 6-11 or taller (and as you know, a lot of them appear to be in the league just to foul you). And the taller the league is, the less skilled it is. Hate to say it, Shaq-Fu, but you have more in common with B-Mill (Brad Miller) and D-Bag (Dalibor Bagaric) than with T-Mac and J-Will. Fourth, Big Thumper, and I mean this as constructive criticism, it would be nice if you could find a way to get to the basket against a defender without fouling him. It's quite a bag of tricks you've developed down there -- the swim stroke, the hook with the elbow, the sledgehammer shoulder in the chest, the innocent elbow to the chops, the head-on charge -- and I would hate to cast aspersions on such a finely tuned repertoire, but perhaps a refresher on the rulebook would help: "A dribbler shall not charge into an opponent who has established a legal guarding position.… If a defender is able to establish a legal position in the straight line path of the dribbler, the dribbler must avoid contact by changing direction or ending his dribble…. If illegal contact occurs, the responsibility is on the dribbler." Fifth, Shaq, you've got a traveling jones. As much as I admire your, ahem, footwork and creativity, every kid knows it's not legal to pick up your dribble and then stumble-step-hop-jumpstop your way to the hoop. (No wonder you're "unguardable.") And, Big Bunny, that's not to mention the cute little shuffles and hops you take as you start your dribble. Come on, Big Sarge, that's not the kind of discipline your stepdad, U.S. Army Sergeant Philip Arthur Harrison, taught you. This is a man who marched in military parades with his fellow soldiers, hundreds of feet in perfect sync with nary a bootlace out of place. Maybe when the other Phil, your coach, gives out books to the team next season, he should put the NBA rulebook in your locker and dog-ear the page that explains traveling. To sum up, I don't know how to break it to you, Big Guy, but you represent everything that people hate about the NBA game today. The players are too tall. Being big and strong is more important than being skilled and athletic. The refs never call traveling. They let the big guys camp out in the lane. The game is too rough down low, and post players bang and barge their way to the basket. And superstars get the calls. Look, Big Man, I know all of this shouldn't be laid at your size-22 feet. If the NBA weren't so obsessed with developing larger-than-life superstars, they'd find ways to make the game more fair and exciting, regardless of size. They'd lengthen the court to force your big butt up and down faster (and to the sidelines for rest), they'd widen the court to allow shooters and creative players the space to operate, they'd widen the lane to open it up, and they'd raise the basket to reduce your advantage. But until then, it's on you, Big Onus -- if you want to accomplish something that's even bigger than you are, shape up ... or, better yet, ship out. With love, A fan of the game Royce Webb is an ESPN.com senior editor and the former editor of SportsJones.
I was wondering how quick a Laker fan would label this guy a "HATA". Yeah, this guy is just a pure HATA quoting the rule book like this.
sigh, all post players do it. it is accepted in the nba. it is called backing your man down. that is different from getting a running start and then slamming through your man with your shoulder. you are entitled to your space, and you are entitled to move. so if you dribble and walk your way down, and your defender gives way, it is legal. hakeem did it, barkley did it (boy oh boy, did charles do it), marc jackson did it, jordan did it, pippen did it, jr rider did it, mutumbo did it, chris webber did it plenty to robert horry in the sac/la series, every post player in the history of the game has done it. if you have ever played ball with your older brother, then he sure as hell did it to you. if you ever played ball with your younger brother, you sure as hell did it to him. backing someone down is legal in basketball. it only becomes illegal when you use your shoulder to slam into someone, or use your arm to push them off. shaq certainly gets away with those things, but so does every other player in the game. let's face it, it ain't easy to ref the game, and with half of the refs in the league going senile or blind, the calls detiorate.
sigh, of course backing your man down is part of basketball, turning your shoulder into him hard enough to knock him down and giving an elbow shot to the chops is not. But Shaq never does that....right?
The idiot philistine who wrote the article actually proposed, if anyone read closely enough to notice, that the height of the basket be raised. If he had a brain larger than a walnut, he'd realize that every above-the-rim player in the league would be affected by such a change, not just Shaq. I can only figure that he's one of the old timers who hated Walt Frazier and Julius Erving, too.<p> Does anyone here endorse his basket-height proposal? I didn't think so; it's too bad the Shaq-haters can't realize that the rest of his rant proceeds from the same basketball-r****ded point-of-view.
Tell that to the guy who I quote as my sig, he has brought this up numerous times, the players are much bigger than James saw, the players have changed but the game has not. NOw Do I agree with it, thats a diffrent story, but you in essence are calling the greatest basketball coach of all time an Idiot, Super Good Job
If Shaq buyes that writer a car as he did to a deaf water boy on the Lakers team, watch and see him kissing Shaq's ample ass. Shaq is tall, powerful and athletic, so was Wilt Chamberlain. Shaq can't hit free throws, so was Wilt Chamberlain. Why hate Shaq when that idiot Chamberlain proclaims he did 20000 women in his life? Shaq is a master at jump hook than any center in the league, with an array of mastered moves. He's got skills. He is kind enough not to be like Karl Malone on the court, although he can easily be five Karl Malones wrapped up in one. He is funny in a natural way. Would you hate someone in normal life just because sometimes he says dumb things from a lack of knowledge, instead of lack of intellegence? Stop the Shaq hating!
IMO I think about 20% of what the author said was legit. Anyway, I take it as a humorous article. Never take ESPN serious.
-Yeah, there'd be a place in the league for him alright. It's called "The Bench." Let's get real, out of any of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, Shaq has by far the least bball skills. He is a genetic freak with his size and the refs allow him to run over people football style.
I quite like Shaq as a person. However, he is wrecking the game from an interest point of view. Here you have a guy who is dominating simply because he is bigger and stronger than anyone else. Not because he is a better ball player, there's many players better, but because his size allows him to dominate. Look at the world cup...look at every other sport...and there's no spot where a guy can dominate simply because he is so much bigger. Let's face it, 'ball into the paint...shaq dunks' is boring. Remember the old NBA Live series...you'd love the game, and then one day work out "hey, if i go into the paint, i can dunk every time" and soon the game became boring... Shaq ball is a bit like that.
He's the most skillful big man on the planet. So they say he doesn't have any game? The writer sounds like a whiny beeyotch who wishes he wasn't 5'6. Come on, physical size, skill, and speed determines who is a champion and who is a wannabe in every sport you care to think of. I like what I heard yesterday. There are 1 million 7 footers on the planet. Only one of them is dominating the NBA finals. I know there used to be a league that this guy could watch. It had a height limitation of 6'1 or something. I guarantee that everybody in it had skills - but I don't recall ever seeing it on national TV.
height and size are part of the game. deal with it. and you can't compare shaq's skills to a guards, obviously shaq would come up lacking then. he isn't a guard, or a small forward. he is a CENTER. and he's the only one in the league that plays like one. his center skills are very, very good. best in the league. up there with the all time great centers. if shaq weren't 7'1, would he be in the league? possibly. he would have developed guard skills then. i would tend to guess not, but you never know. but it is a stupid question, because then, you have to ask if tracy mcgrady wasn't such a athletically gifted person, would he be in the league? if allen iverson weren't so lightning quick, would he be in the league? it is always stupid to deal in what ifs, and this case is no exception.
Like others have said, Shaq as a person is cool. Dude is pretty funny when he lets loose. And he gives his due props to the guys that have helped him get there (Hakeem). On the court, however, Shaq's game is a joke. The only thing he does is get the ball (max 4 feet away from the basket), turns around and bulldozes through a few bodies to get a layup or a dunk. That isnt talent. That is size and power. The guy has no moves ala Hakeem, and no jumpshot that he can bury from 10+ feet ala Duncan. This is why I dont think he is that great of a center. He just bullies his way through bodies and gets a high percentage shot.
This ignoring the nice turnaround he's developed, the spins and fakes, the drop step, and the baby hook. Plus now he scores from the FT line. All bulldozing...yup.
