It was evident that Shaq had figured out Yao by the 4th quarter and OT (rescinded incorrect flagrant foul notwithstanding), so I'm going to say that he will flat expose Yao. At Staples, the score keepers won't credit Yao with blocks which were actually bearhugs. Six blocks on Shaq my foot... Anyway, Lakers win the next game. Since Houston has a tough schedule (the toughest of any of the teams directly in front of the Lakers), they might be in 9th place by the time 2/18 rolls around. Another thing: A fan on SportingNews.com wrote that we shouldn't make a lot out of Shaq's numbers on Yao because Yao sat out a lot. Well, HE-LOOOOOH!!!... How does that impinge upon Shaq's performance? He's not the guy who got winded in the first quarter (and Shaq's in worse shape than Yao). Shaq still made Yao look mediocre in the last 20 minutes of the game. He not only dunked in his grill 3 times, but Yao missed every single jumper that Shaq contested. Don't get me wrong, people. I like Yao and I like you all too.
The best part of that game (other than the win and SF) was Yao rejecting Shaq 4 times. Made him look like a chump.
Seriously. . . A little point of information: You don't start four new threads in ten minutes !! What makes it worse is that they aren't even interesting. Stick around and read some of the more experienced posters to find out the correct way to express your opinions or views. Starting 4 new threads in your first 20 posts is certainly not the way to go about it.
Quite to the contrary Carmine... You need to cool it..several people have tryed to hint to you that starting multiple redundant threads in such a short amount of time was not a wise move. You dont seem to get the point... geeez...Faker fans, cant live with em, can't kill em...
At least 2 of those "dunks in Yao's grill" were pretty apparent offensive fouls. One of them was a joke, when Shaq had the ball on the base line, cleared out Yao with a stiff arm and dunked the ball. Another was when Shaq put his shoulder into Yao, knocking him back 2 feet and dunked. The NBA lets Shaq get away with that because he's a star and the NBA always gives their stars a little extra. If the NBA were to take away Shaq's signature move, the shoulder drive into the chest, knock the opponent away, and dunk the ball move, he'd be up a creek. BUT, the NBA allows it, so the rest of us have to deal with it, just don't tell us that its great basketball or something...that Shaq made Yao look mediocre. Shaq makes everyone look mediocre with the "shoulder to the chest signature move" and even the "clear away defender with stiff arm move." Royce Webb states it pretty nicely in this column: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/webb/020612.html Yao handled Shaq pretty well, when Shaq tried to match up basketball skills, he struggled from the floor, when Shaq tried to match up football skills, he dominates everyone.
Wow. Let us break these statements down. "It was evident that Shaq had figured out Yao by the 4th quarter and OT (rescinded incorrect flagrant foul notwithstanding), so I'm going to say that he will flat expose Yao." Possiblely but then again maybe he didn't and Yao got tired. There were many people that thought Shaq would dominate YAO. He didn't and more then likely it will be similar in Staples. We didn't play in the game so it is hard for us to address the situation. Maybe the double teams were slower. "At Staples, the score keepers won't credit Yao with blocks which were actually bearhugs. Six blocks on Shaq my foot... " I think is was actually 4 on Shaq. The three early in the first half, one of which was a foul and I will give you that ...then again the giant push off with the baseline dunk was an offensive foul so it works out. "Anyway, Lakers win the next game. Since Houston has a tough schedule (the toughest of any of the teams directly in front of the Lakers), they might be in 9th place by the time 2/18 rolls around. " Or maybe the Rockets go in there and kick the lakers butt...a whole lot can happen between now and 2/18. Shaq might reinjure his toe, Kobe might get hurt or start taking 30+ shots a game. To so easily pass off a team that just beat you is a bit arrogant don't you think? And the laker might not be the 9th seed maybe 10 or lower and the rockets 5 or so as well. "Another thing: A fan on SportingNews.com wrote that we shouldn't make a lot out of Shaq's numbers on Yao because Yao sat out a lot. Well, HE-LOOOOOH!!!... How does that impinge upon Shaq's performance? He's not the guy who got winded in the first quarter (and Shaq's in worse shape than Yao). Shaq still made Yao look mediocre in the last 20 minutes of the game. He not only dunked in his grill 3 times, but Yao missed every single jumper that Shaq contested. " It doesn't . Shaq had a great game and Yao had 10 points, 10 boards, 6 blocks and a few assists not too bad of numbers againist Shaq. The defense versus YAO was okay, yao missed the shots there were times that the "Hand in Yao's face." was around his neck. About the shape and YAO...has Shaq played basketball pretty non-stop for 2 years? or has he had some serious rest? Also there were other people playing in that game on the 17th. You should remeber Steve Francis, and the Cat. 73 points between the two. EG with a Big block on Shaq, Horry with the pick up of the loose ball after the block from YAO. Derek Fisher....okay I can't rember anything he did except the falling down defense on SF's three, Rick Fox being Abused by Francis, TMO looking like... Well.... TMO. Fierguard Founder of MARH Members Againist Rocket Hating
Carmine Capucci -- please ease up on creating so many new threads and definitely stop posting threads in ALL CAPS.