Since we are playing the Lakers today, I think it's apropo to examine the career arcs of two of the former greats on both clubs. Let's analyze each of their careers, assuming Shaq stays at the level he's at right now until the time he retires. Hakeem continued to evolve into his early 30s, adding to his arsenal each year. He lost some athleticism along the way, but more than made up for it with savvy, an aresnal of spin moves, increased court awareness and an unstopabble fade away that he mastered around this age. As such, he likey was at his peak form between the age 30 and 32...with a normal declining bell curve stretching out to years 28 and 34. Obviously, we know there was drastic deterioration after age 34, which Shaq has yet to hit. Now to Shaq...funny how everyone use to state that Shaq is more than just a dunker...that he has such a great touch and a reportoire of moves. Well, where is that touch and those moves now that he's lost some elevation? The vast deterioration in his game comes about at a relatively early stage in his playing career because he DID rely so heavily on his athleticism and never truly developed the kind of footwork or shots that could be sustained into his later playing years. Every great center needs these type of moves to sustain them when they can no longer rely on their reach advantage...Kareem had the sky hook, Hakeem had the dreamshake, many others have utilized the baby hook. What move do you think Yao needs to develop in order to maintain a high level well into his 30's...and do you think he will take more after Shaq or Hakeem? Keep in mind that while Yao's game does not rely heavily on athleticism, he WILL have to make adjustments as he nears his early 30's...as no doubt what little atheltism he does possess will begin to deteriorate nonetheless.
Well, its true that Shaq is declining well before his contract ends. Economically, he brings alot to South Beach, but he is definitely not giving them 20 million dollars worth of quality on the court. Dwayne Wade is giving them that much. Heat will suffer in the playoff because of the bad chemistry Pat Riley created in the offseason with his strange assortment of moves. Shaq failed to use finesse or for thatt matter he never developeda shot outside of 10 feet, but he has an ego the size of the Milky Way so if you remember he was suppose to have won 5 rings and working on his sixth and then retire to head into law enforcment... he should utilize the hook more and stop busting opponents chest to get to the rim. Now its more obvious because he moves so slow and he tires easily. Yao should already be using the jump hook more often and when going to the lane he should always dunk the ball...this way the officials will always be able to call the foul. The offense should also allow him to get a could of 15 footers every night. We should not let that good touch go to waste and he would really benifit from having some plays without contact.
You also forgot to mention that Hakeem became a pretty decent free throw shooter unlike the big Aristotle.
i don't get why shaq is really bad at shooting free throws? i don't know if he still does it, but before whenever a game was close, he knocked down literally all his free throws, making the hack a shaq ineffective. so was he fooling everyone?
I heard he broke his wrist when he was young and it never healed properly so he does not have the range of flexibility we all have.
