Shaq: Is he in top 5 greatest centers of all time? *POLL*

[First]

Christ, it's so sad to see that virtually no one here actually consistently watches basketball, mostly just their favorite team.

If you think Russell is more dominant than Shaq then you simply do not follow basketball closely enough. Bill Russell himself has admitted several times (most recently during the end of last year's regular season) that in his prime he would not have been able to stop Shaq. Same applies to Hakeem. I remember at least one in-court interview where Hakeem also admitted that he would have no chance stopping Shaq in his current form.

Essentially it's ridiculous to argue that Hakeem or Russell were more dominant than Shaq is when both those players have admitted in the past that Shaq would dominate them.

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: josphII


your knowledge of basketball is astonishing. you say shaq cant bully tim duncan??? what are you smoking?? rewatch the lakers vs spurs wcf series of 3 years ago (or any other lakers vs spurs game that didnt take place last year). shaq dunks over duncan like duncan is a little school girl. shaq was out of shape last season, that was obvious. do you even know that shaq had surgury like 1 week before training camp last year and missed 20 games while he recovered?

fyi - vernon maxwell was one of the greatest 3pt shooters of his generation. and what about when hakeem had scottie pipen AND charles barkely on his team? thats right didnt win shlt. but anyways so now your making excuses for hakeem? lol.

if you knew anything about basketball you'd know that if you have a shaq, or a tim duncan type player you cant match them up against a great low post player. there is just too much contact down low and too much of a risk of foul trouble. for example when the spurs play the lakers does tim duncan gaurd shaq? no. does shaq gaurd tim duncan? no. what about when the lakers play the kings? does webber gaurd shaq or visa versa? no. and most teams, regardless of who shaq gaurds, will place their big man out about 18-20ft from the basket simply to draw shaq out of the middle because he is such a force. no other player in the league demands that much attention on defense! id also like to point out that one of the flaws of the lakers prior to phil jackson arriving was their lack of defense. and since phil jackson has arrived its obvious to anybody that follows basketball that the lakers, with the exception of last year, are the best defensive team in the league - lead by shaq oneal! and it was their lock down defense that pushed the lakers over the top and lead to three titles. just look at their championchip seasons they are ranked #1 in opp field goal percentage each year (or very close to that). and just to further push this point of how good shaq is on defense the only difference between the lakers of last year and the lakers of the three previous years was shaq being out of shape. for the most part all other things were held constant. the lakers were dead last in opp field goal percentage and 3pt percentage last year. in other words a healthy and in shape shaq transforms a team from worst to best! has the presence, or lack thereof, hakeem ever had such an impact on a team? umm no.

well at least you admit to shaq averaging more points, rebounds and assists but then again its pretty hard to argue with numbers.

so people are laughing at me? i got owned?? kid, its time for you to grow up.

You're asking me to watch TD get dunked on by Shaq THREE YEARS AGO. That would be the 99-00 Season right? For your info, TD WAS ONLY IN THE LEAGUE 3 YEARS THEN!! How did Kobe do in the league 3 years in? Was he in his prime? Didn't think so. Funny how you don't talk about this year: WHEN BOTH MEN WERE IN THEIR PRIMES TD OWNED SHAQ.

You clearly did not watch the WCSF this year. TD in no way owned Shaq. He certainly did own the rest of the Lakers, who played terrible defense and just plain sucked (though that was due in part to Kobe, Fox, and George's injuries). Shaq I believe was blocked by TD a total of once, and Shaq got his own rebound and dunked on TD on that same play. Virtually the only time I can remember Shaq getting blocked/owned for any amount of time was against Yao Ming in the first two minutes of the 1st quarter of their 1st meeting this past regular season. Of course Shaq owned him the rest of the game, but Yao was certainly very impressive against a very experienced Shaq, especially considering he's a 1st year NBA player. Yao is my hero!

 

[borgmang]

Wilt the Stilt Baby....., Although Shaq is very close to Wilt, if he dedicates himself to being the best.

 

[SilverThief]

You've got to be kidding me.
Shaq is a big dumb @ss lummox with a bad temper, and no brains.
The only reason he's even in the NBA is because of his size.

Thank god he's a rapper, and movie star....

 

[cHeeZeFacTory]

I know how can anyone pick robinson over shaq. robinson throughout his whole career was known to be a *soft* player. Who would really make trade shaq to get robinson? (assuming they were both in their prime) I like Hakeem, he schooled both of those fools. As for most dominating, it has to be either shaq or wilt. wilt is pretty crazy, i mean scoring 100 points in a game? dam lets clone the dude and have a HBO SPECIAL: Shaq vs Wilt!

 

[Tanner]

doh! I voted for Shaqueah and then I looked down and saw Robinson...

Mr. RObinson should definately have the #5 spot. NO doubt about it...heck...the just faced off!

 

[codeyf]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Aboroth
I would replace him with David Robinson. He has done a lot more stuff in his career, such as being one of the few people to get a quadruple double.

Duncan will be better. He has an insane work ethic

Now if only Shaq had Duncan's work ethic.....or Duncan had Shaq's brute strength and size....imagine the terror they'd wreak on opposing teams. That's the reason I don't like Shaq tho. He's so pudgy. He's soft. If he had Duncans work ethic, and he shaved, oh, 20 or so pounds of the fat he's carrying. He would then arguably be THE BEST center of all time. He wouldn't have to do it all by brute force. He could actually get some footwork going. He may actually get AROUND someone as opposed to just pushing them out of the way. But, alas, he knows he doesn't HAVE to work that hard. He doesn't HAVE to bust his ass that much. Because as he is, no one can stop him. Just is ghey cuz he really has what it takes to be the greatest of all time, but I don't think he'll ever reach that point. Cuz in his eyes, he already is.

 

[GeneValgene]

Originally posted by: iamme
The only way Shaq will become the best ever, is if he ends his career matching or surpassing:

the longevity/effectiveness of Kareem,

the number of championships as Russell,

or the statistical dominance of Wilt.

Until then he'll only be 3rd, IMO.

you can't really compare shaq with the statistical dominance of wilt. that was before the 3 second violation right? can you imagine shaq wiht no 3 second rule? he'd be averaging 100 points a game

my opinion: hakeem owns