http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=smith_sam&id=1773280 Check out this article from ESPN.com courtesy of Sam Smith. Its really good!!!
I CUT AND PASTED THE ARTICLE HERE!! By Sam Smith Special to ESPN.com Think about it. Don't answer quickly or automatically. If you had a choice for your team now, would you pick Shaquille O'Neal or Yao Ming? What was a laughable question a year ago isn't so funny anymore. In fact, I've been asking that question to NBA types over the last few weeks, and the majority have said -- though they begged not to be quoted -- they would pick Yao. Yikes! Could it be, the man we ridiculed just a few years ago as a good shooting Gheorghe Muresan is better than the man who some regard as the best center in NBA history? No, I wouldn't take Yao today, and probably not Thursday when the Lakers and Houston Rockets meet for the final time this season and the Lakers try to even the season series with Houston and Shaq tries to show he can get as many points and rebounds in their matchups as Yao. It's true, although Shaq has received a little more defensive attention from the Rockets than Yao has received from the Lakers this season. Still, Yao has averaged 26.7 points and nine rebounds per game against the Lakers this season while Shaq has averaged 24.7 points and 8.7 rebounds against the Rockets. OK, if you had to win one game, Shaq would be your center. If you had to build one team, you'd have to go with Yao now. That's the opinion of many around the NBA, though they remain too afraid of a Shaq explosion to voice it. But that may be dissipating along with Shaq's explosion. Age is the obvious factor in this center debate, Yao being 11 years younger than Shaq. Yao is obviously going to be around longer, and he's made remarkable progress in two years. I know this because two years ago I was likening him to Chuck Nevitt. This may be why I'm not getting many scouting offers. Yao played in the 2000 Olympics and did little against the U.S. team, scoring just six points for a team that finished well out of medal contention with two other 7-footers who would be in the NBA. How good could he be? It sounded like the coming of another big stiff. Then, Yao came to Chicago for a workout before the 2002 draft and nobody's eyes were popping out. In fact, top NBA executives were rolling their eyes. Yao didn't do any post-up work, merely ran the floor against a big man who wasn't NBA caliber and took a bunch of jumpers. The orchestration made it look like this was another big disappointment on the way. Then, Yao showed up for opening day in Indianapolis to a major national media horde for the NBA story of opening day and went scoreless. Heck, Rik Smits even scored in his debut. In fact, it was Smits' name coming up most often in comparisons -- an awkward big man who'd forever be trailing the play and might luck into one All-Star appearance. Yao wasn't being mentioned in the same sentence with Shaq other than to say, "We'll never be mentioning Yao in the same sentence with Shaq." Yao did improve. But the Rockets missed the playoffs. Yao averaged about eight rebounds and fewer than two blocks (fewer than Shawn Bradley in his rookie year -- yup, there was another comparison) and was hardly considered a dominant force. He was easy to ride off the block and didn't seem to fight hard for position. But Yao began to toughen up. Jeff Van Gundy came in and it appeared Yao began to try harder for fear the doe-eyed Van Gundy would burst out crying one day. Patrick Ewing was brought in to show Yao about pushing back and the five-step drive. More and more, Yao Ming, right, has been able to stand up against the mighty Shaquille O'Neal. Not that any of this was making anyone forget Shaq. No, Shaq was doing that on his own. This is the 12th season for O'Neal and if you walk around with 365 pounds -- plus or minus 40 -- for more than 4,000 days, it wears you out and down. It's not easy being Goliath, especially when you're overweight and can't get down to a better weight because of troublesome foot injuries that are exacerbated due to the extra weight that doesn't let you work out because of the pain. Got that? Sort of a chicken-and-the-egg thing trying to fight their way out of a Catch-22. The result is it's not easy being Shaq. He doesn't jump like he once did, a product of both the extra weight that's hard to shed and a troublesome orthotic in his shoe that leaves him unbalanced and unable to jump quickly. Plus, there's all that stuff that spews around the Lakers and from the mouths of babes. No one said babies. There was all that Kobe and Shaq stuff at the beginning of the season, and after that came the contract extension stuff. Shaq wants one in the neighborhood of $30 million starting two years from now when he's 34. The Lakers wonder whether they should spend that kind of money on O'Neal at that age. Shaq wonders where's the love and the loyalty for all he's done. They don't necessarily want him to jump through hoops as much as just jump more often. This all said, I fully expect the Lakers to win the NBA title this season and for Shaq to be great again in the playoffs. Perhaps not all of it, as he usually builds to the last two rounds. He is a truly great player and still the prime difference between East and West in the NBA. If Shaq wasn't in the NBA, would you ever be sure an Eastern team couldn't win the championship? But age and injury catches up with all men, even those with a Superman tattoo. Shaq already has missed 25 games this season. He's missed 25 games in each of the last two seasons with a variety of injuries, all traceable in some form to his feet and the extra pounds he's forced to carry. That he's able to play through some of those injuries -- at the level he does -- is a testament to his competitive fire. And he doesn't get enough credit for that. SHAQ VS. YAO IN 2003-04 Date Shaquille O'Neal Yao Ming 12/25 22 pts, 10 rebs, 2 asts, 3 blks 18 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks 2/11 24 pts, 9 rebs, 4 asts, 4 blks 29 pts, 11 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk 3/3 28 pts, 7 rebs, 1 ast, 5 blks 33 pts, 8 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk And if I might digress for a moment, no one gets fouled more and gets fewer calls than O'Neal. I know, I know, there's all that pushing and bowling over he does. But players simply hang on O'Neal and he handles it with remarkable poise and control. Eespecially when he knows he's going to get fouled on purpose so often and he can't enjoy going to the free-throw line the way he shoots free throws. By the way, try shooting free throws with a grape. That's what the ball must feel like in Shaq's hands. Yao does shoot free throws well. He hits more than 80 percent. The Rockets run plays to set him up for outside jumpers. He's becoming tougher and more reliable. I never would have imagined this, but in two years he could be the best player in the NBA. O'Neal will be 34 then and hoping to earn $32 million for that season. Will he play more than two-thirds of the schedule? He barely plays more than that now. Where will his weight be? And what about those feet, having carried all that weight for all these years and in all those games, especially all those extra playoff games? By the end of these playoffs, O'Neal will have played the equivalent of almost two extra seasons with playoff games. And those are much tougher, more demanding games. How much can he possibly have left? How much more can be asked of O'Neal, who's averaging a career-worst 21.7 points a game? How long can anyone be the heavyweight champ? O'Neal's been the heavyweight champ of the NBA pretty much since 2000. He may soon have his fourth NBA title. Michael Jordan had to quit twice to keep himself going at that level, and he never had the injuries O'Neal has had. The torch is about to be passed among the NBA's big men. No one would have been there to take it in recent years. But now someone is about ready. It's sort of a natural progression. Someone usually appears when a great one begins to decline. Now it's Yao, and while this matchup Thursday still favors Shaq, it may not be too long before it's another Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes. Sam Smith, who covers the NBA for the Chicago Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
I just finished reading this at the ESPN site. I think the premise should be obvious, but it amazes me that people still think many of Yao's weaknesses will always be there. I don't.
This is the lamest excuse I've seen spreading around. If size is the problem of Shaq's FT shooting, then all big men should be bad FT shooters. Just admit it. Shaq's a bad shooter. He has bad form. He has bad touch. Period.
I agree. That's a big myth that's been widely accepted. He's just a bad shooter with a horrendous touch and form.
its easier for him to make excuses and make movies than to take the many hours of practice year in and year out to become a complete player.
my only question about Shaq - is why can't he be as graceful and plesent to Yao and Ewing and Dream were to him when he was a 23 new-kid in town ?!? and he wonders why he can't win the all star (paper) balloting
What are you talking about!? Big hands are a problem! Just ask Arvydas Sabonis, Shawn Bradley, Yao Ming, and Rik Smits!! Oh wait...
none of them have bigger hands than shaq. i actually believe that argument. i wish someone could figure out the hand sizes of some of these people.
How much bigger? If hand size has direct correlation to shooting, then you should see a pattern there. The fact is, there are big handed players who are great shooters. It is true that bigger bodies usually have worse coordination. That's why athletic big men are so rare. And that is also why big men are usually less accurate shooters because shooting requires bodily coordination. But shooting is more than coordination. It's about touch. It's about form. It's also about discipline. These have nothing to do with size. To say that hand size is the reason why Shaq can't shoot FT is just a lame excuse.
I dunno... just from watching game, whenever Shaq palms the ball, it's almost like a normal person grabbing a tennis ball, you know the ball's not gonna get poked out by some pesky guard. Yao just doesn't have that. Granted there's a lot more to holding on to the ball i.e. positioning etc... but Yao's hands are smaller. The size of shaq's hands definitely don't help his free throw shooting. It's like shooting pop-a-shot, the ball is smaller and the rim is near eye level. Now of course some people can get real good at pop a shot. So you'd think Shaq could get used to shooting free throws. Who knows? I just think is a valid reason why he's not good at it.
girls can throw a softball nearly 100 mph with pinpoint accuracy 43 feet away from home plate. a baseball pitcher can throw an even smaller ball faster from 60 feet away. its very hard to control those pitches, and they werent able to do it over night. it took countless hours of practice, working on their mechanics to be able to do what they do. karl malone was as bad a ft shooter as shaq. but he realized that it was a detriment to his game, and took the time and practice to become a great big man ft shooter. shaq doesnt have that devotion, never has, never will.
It reminds me that Rudy had moments where he looked like a total idiot. First for not including Yao in enough plays to score in his NBA debut (which made Yao & the Rockets look bad for drafting him) and for not making Francis & Co include him down the stretch, which cost him sharing or winning the ROY.
I read this and it makes sense to me, but of course I hate the Fakers... Yao is such a dominating player and he will only get better in the years to come... Go Rox...
