First of all, I agree. Secondly, I think it's classless for Shaq to bury Steve like this. WOW! Here is the link to the Sentinel Sports Page. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/search/dispatcher.front?target=article&Query=shaq Here is the link to the article which doesn't work at this time. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/local/orl-nbanotes2006feb20,0,6615801.story O'Neal: Francis could hinder the development of Howard February 20, 2006 Brian Schmitz / Sentinel Staff Writer Former Magic center Shaquille O'Neal, who now is the center for the intrastate rival and Southeast Division-leading Miami Heat, says Dwight Howard won't develop as long as Steve Francis has the ball in his hands in Orlando. "Howard won't reach his potential quickly as long as Steve Francis is there,'' O'Neal said Sunday before the East met the West in the NBA All-Star Game. O'Neal offered the opinion unsolicited when talking about Howard. "Nothing needs to be groomed. He [Howard] needs to be fed [the ball],'' O'Neal said. "Can't do it with Francis pounding the ball.'' Francis has been the subject of trade rumors recently. Asked if Francis should be dealt, O'Neal said, "I'm not going to say that.''...[After retirement]He said he also would serve as Howard's big-man coach. "I'd love to come in and help groom Dwight Howard,'' O'Neal said. "A big man doesn't come into his prime until he's 28, 29." Another snippet I found: "He doesn't need to be groomed, he needs to be fed. He's gotta get the ball. All that (Francis') dribbling between the legs, I don't know." http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060220/SPORTS/602200334/1002 Did I miss something about hard feelings between Shaq and Steve? I actually agree with the statements but Shaq needs to zip it and worry about his own team. What a jerk.
thats Shaq's opinion. He's entitled to it just like the people in this forum. I agree with what he said. And yes maybe he should kept that to himself. I think D.howard is going to be a monster next year when he gets more shots.
That's a bunch of crap, Howard isn't that good yet, and Francis doesn't care enough anymore to hog the ball that much.
Anywhere he wants! Good setup Pariah Shaq gets a free pass. If his voice wasn't so deep and non-broadcast-friendly, he'd be the next Charles Barkley. I know some of you guys want to strip all personality from sports coverage, but the truth hurts! I still stand behind the argument that SF3 could be a good thing for the Rockets, if he's interested in being the third option. We'd be unstoppable with that kind of firepower.
Seriously though, Wade hogs the ball way more than Francis does, at least this season, shoots a lot more, and produces more assists, I've seen the Magic a few times this season and it seems that Francis passes the ball to Howard more than everybody else.
You're probably right, Jump about Wade but I say that Shaq probably doesn't care since he likes playing with Wade so much and that Wade is a better player than Francis.
Steve had the same problem with Yao. He likes him, wants him to do well, but Steve usually feels that he is the best scoring option, right here, right now, today. So he doesn't see why he should defer to someone that's not as good an option as he is (yet). He wants everyone to catch up and isn't interested in helping them do so outside of practice. He's hindering those around him without realizing it. Evan
It's just Shaq sticking up for big men, he can't accept that he's just getting old so he complains about it, I mean on the one hand he says it's hard for them to produce, and on the other he makes it seem like it should be easy for Dwight to dominate. Whatever, I just remember the same crap was said about Francis with Yao, then the next season comes around, Francis is gone, and Yao got around the same number of touches, did a better job with them so he produced a little bit more, but that can be attributed to the natural progression of his game.
Paraphrasing long-time Bulls' announcer and former NBA player Johnny "Red" Kerr from Yao's rookie season.... "The only ones on the court right now who are stopping Yao are Francis and Mobley".
Yeah, I guess that's true, because after Francis and Mobley were traded Yao starting averaging 18 shots and 28 points a game, they must have been holding him back.
To me, the validity of Shaq's statements is irrelevant. There is no reason to publicly criticize a fellow player unprovoked like that.
I couldn't agree less. Give him Bob Costas' voice, and Shaq is stil completely brainless. It's obvious that most, if not all of the funny lines you hear from him are straight from somebody else's mouth (I heard him use the word "shaqcessories" in at least 4 interviews over the weekend). Shaq has the personality of a doorknob, and it comes out during post-game interviews when he's forced to speak extemporaneously.
Shaq offends people when he's trying to be funny. Shaq offends people when he's trying to be serious.
Bah. People just like to rip on Shaq because he isn't afraid to say what he feels. Never mind that he might actually be right, SF is actually a ball-hogging dribblemaniac and turnover machine who hurts his teammates while thinking he's the greatest thing since sliced bread. We all know Shaq is arrogant, true. But he's offering an opinion, saying what's on his mind like he normally does, and GASP ... he is actually right! Sheesh.
