Shaq was absolutely amazing yesterday vs the Kings. He is as close to unstoppable as there is in the NBA. Yeah I know Vlade & Vidal Sasson Hair Boy aren't the toughest centers but Shaq just dominates. Sorry I know many folks on this board hates LA & Shaq but I had to give it up for him.
I'm a Shag fan because I think he's funny but the guy has no skills at all. Every one of his buckets was on a dunk or a layup. If the refs are going to allow him to knock over anyone guarding him then how hard is it for him to score 40? Not very hard at all. Every time he had to shoot a semi-jumpshot or a jump hook it was WAY off. They call all these touch fouls on him when he's basically clearing out with his elbow every single time. It's just ridiculous. The zones on Shaq will be fun to watch because he can't hit a 5 foot shot with any kind of consistency. ------------------ The ox is slow but the Earth is patient.
Why would you want Shaq shooting jump shots? He can overpower his way to the hoop whenever he wants. Call it lack of skill if you want, but nobody else in the NBA can do what he does. ------------------ I'm about to boldly go where many men have gone before.
I don't like Shaq because of the hype surrounding him. He is unstopable when he gets the ball down in the dashed circle under the basket where the refs don't call charges. This is more a function of size and strength rather than skill. Dream is skill, Shaq is a giant body. As for giving him any credit for putting up with Hack-a-Shaq if he hit free throws consistently there never would be a Hack-a-Shaq strategy. The NBA has always hyped Shaq whether he deserved it or not. Remember that right after the buzzer of the 1995 Finals when the Rockets put Shaq and Orlando away the first commercial NBC played featured Shaq. That alone should give every Rocket fan a reason to root against him. ------------------
Wilt Chamberlain was just a giant body. ------------------ Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now! The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.
You have to kidding 4chuckie, The only props he gets is for being a player that gets every call in every game. He won the title cause of the refs and they are trying to give him another. ------------------
Shaq has many more skills than most give him credit for. Watch him in the post. He doesn't simply push into people. He is not simply a brute but he is a big man who plays aggressively. When you have a big body and play aggressively there will be plenty of incidential contact both for and against him. Shaq is the most dominating physical player in the NBA since Wilt.
Open your eyes dude. It takes no skill to catch the ball 4 feet from the bucket, turn and wipe the much smaller defender off with your elbow, and then jump to dunk. He has no jump hook. He shoots it but it is not a weapon. People WANT him to shoot that little hook and weak one handed fadeway he has. It's better than getting run over, dunked on, and getting called for a foul when you're just standing there with your hands up. He is one of the least skilled NBA stars you will ever see. ------------------ The ox is slow but the Earth is patient.
He is one of the best passing big men in the game today. Besides who cares how "skilled" he is? He still got 40-20 yesterday, along with 7 blocks. He still dominates, if he were as unskilled as you say, certainly he would have been stopped by now, right? It doesn't matter how you dominate, you still dominate. He dominates like Chamberlain did, because of his size, strength and suprising quickness. ------------------ Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now! The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.
shaq deserves all the credit he gets. the man is amazing. If all he is is big than why are'nt stanley roberts, greg ostertag, oliver miller, and many other big centers getting 30 pts and 12 boards a game? ------------------ http://www.democrats.com mgh 1925-2001 [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited May 07, 2001).]
If size is all that matters, Thomas Hamilton should be getting MVP numbers. ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
I've always liked Shaq. I've never had anything against the guy. But he gets the benefit of to many calls. He can run through anybody, and if they touch him it's a foul. But on the other side he can kill the opposing center and not get whistled for anything. There's a double standard, and that is a big reason nobody has stopped Shaq or slowed him down. ------------------ See the three, be the three.
It took years for Shaq to finally get some calls. He gets abused night in, night out from the whole "hack a Shaq" strategy. Every team throws all their big men at him just to foul him. Remember in '99 Antoine Carr used to bear hug him. If I could build a team around anybody in the NBA it would definitely be Shaq. He's simply unstoppable. He's got great post moves, like a jump hook and short jumper, not just the monster dunk as you say. If you say that Shaq gets away with charging every time he goes to the basket, then you have to say Dream used to get away with travelling, and Jordan used to get away with clearing out (B. Russell). ------------------ "Oh No..." -Bill Walton in 97 just before Stockton's buzzer beater
"Open your eyes dude. It takes no skill to catch the ball 4 feet from the bucket, turn and wipe the much smaller defender off with your elbow, and then jump to dunk. He has no jump hook. He shoots it but it is not a weapon. People WANT him to shoot that little hook and weak one handed fadeway he has. It's better than getting run over, dunked on, and getting called for a foul when you're just standing there with your hands up. He is one of the least skilled NBA stars you will ever see." Timing, I guess that's why Cato totally dominates because he has such a big body. Shaq is the best big man in the game period. If it was all size then Cato would be worth his contract. It's amazing to me that people don't give Shaq respect. Absolutely amazing.
In that post, I was just adding another guy to the list. But, yes I definitely agree with you. He is no ordinary big man. Has so many moves that people never recognize. He uses the spin move perfected by Chuck, a variation of the Dream Shake, and many other good low-post moves. ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
Shaq does not have any low post moves. And the reason he dominates is because unlike the other guys you mentioned, he has a lot of muscle. The rest of those guys are just fat (Hamilton, Miller) or tall (Cato). ------------------
