Spurs 95 Lakers 85 In 44 min, Shaq posted game-high 32 pts and 15rb, 15 of 21 shooting, 2 of 7 FT. He was being fronted by Nesterovic and double-teamed. However, the Spurs did not double team with the other big man (Duncan) as often nor as quickly. They did not foul him nor attack him as much either. The difference was that the Spurs had better 1-on-1 defenders on Kobe and Malone. Bowen and Manu slow down Kobe to mortal level while Malone was no match for Duncan. They can survive a big game from Shaq Not having to deal with Yao Ming (and Cato) definitely makes things much easier for Shaq!
This belongs here. He's talking about how much more effective Yao and Cato are at defending Shaq. He was never close to that dominant against the Rockets. Nesterovic is supposed to be good defensively, and he's usually been one of the more difficult matchups for Shaq.
I think it's a good point. Yao didn't do much in the Lakers series according to his stats, but look at Shaq's stats. If someone had told me two years ago that we could get a player who would neutralize Shaq, I would have jumped at it.
I say this thread should go to GARM because it's about how good our center has done to neutralize Shaq in the PO series.
