Shaq---skilled or just BIG ? Could he do it WITHOUT the size ?

[Shmorq]

Rodman does know how to keep post-up players away from their sweet spots, and he is a great one-on-one defender. He also frustrated Kemp and Malone during the 2nd bulls run.

People like Robinson and Mutombo are considered great defenders since they rotate very fast and block or alter most shots. I don't think they're very good at taking away someone postup area.

By the way, I thought that link was real for a second...

 

[Sketchy]

He has some talent. There's no denying that. But the fact that there are no other centers in the league who can come close to his power is another thing to consider. Teams can throw a good defender against a Kobe or AI and slow them down (for a while at least). But you put the Defender of the Year against Shaq and he gets destroyed! The only thing another center can do against him is attempt to get Shaq into foul trouble. But, the refs respect him and don't call many fouls against him. I couldn't believe that elbow to Dikembe's mouth went unnoticed.

Even if another center comes along who can challenge Shaq, it doesn't matter. That means only one team has a chance against the Lakers (right now there's none). But then, you have to worry about Kobe. And maybe they'll have Webber. One more good scorer, and these guys are a legitimate dynasty.

Shaq has a lot of talent. But, many players can match that. His size puts him over the top.

 

[bigd480]

<< The sports writers voted him as a member of the 50 all-time greatest NBA players... >>

The league released a formal apology for placing Pippen on the list, and also announced that Shaquille O'Neal has drawn closer to actually earning his Top 50 status. <from the link>

 

[huypham]

BigD480, as another true fan of Hakeem (and the rockets... man the draft was awesome), I got to say you have a MAJOR point.

Give Hakeem 3 more inches to make him a true 7 footer, and let him keep his build, and we would witness even more beauty and domination than he showed us in '95 when he made a fool of David Robinson.

huy

 

[aidan]

Shaq---skilled or just BIG ? Could he do it WITHOUT the size ?

i thought it said

Shag---skilled or just BIG ? Could he do it WITHOUT the size ? :Q

which would change the topic of this thread a fair amount!!

 

[bigd480]

you are a wise man Huy... must be the Elsik...

 

[breakit23]

Shaq has some skill but he has no shot besides a one handed hook or dunk.

I can't remember the last time I aw him take a shot from more then 10 feet away not counting free throws.

 

[GoldenBear]

<< I can't remember the last time I aw him take a shot from more then 10 feet away not counting free throws. >>

Why should he? All baskets within the 3-point line are 2 points.

And rarely do centers take jump shots.

 

[pen^2]

<< I dont even care about basketball. >>


that explains it. if you are not gonna listen what others have to say, why even bring it up? :| you are just trying to stir some sh!t up you pansy.
i dont see you ripping on mutombo despite his utter crappiness on the offensive end. since when do centers have to shoot jumpshots and handle the ball? if they could, it would help them and make them more valuable then they are, but they are not REQUIRED. shaq worked hard to perfect his game, and brought his game to new heights. i dont see many people handling double/triple teams as effectively as he does either, he is used to going up against shotblockers and double teams. what defines 'skill' anyway? if beeing a competent perimeter shooter is what counts as skill, derek fisher is much more skilled player than iverson is. but thats not what the game is all about, shaq excels at what is expected from a center, and thats why he is hailed as the best player in the league.
bigd480, everyone has off nights. didnt jordan was held scoreless till the 3rd quater in the 97' playoffs? i might be entirely wrong, i am not a basketball historian after all.. but you get my point.
why do you hate on people with great physique? baskeball is a physical sport, if-i-had-that-size argument is beyond retarded. if you had that size, you wouldnt be able to stay in the game for half of the quater. all yall athelete haters should go watch ping pong games instead.

dont give me that getting away no calls ish either, how about the baskeball himself god michael jordan? no one ever got away with more bs calls than him i swear.

 

[crypticlogin]

I think if you follow the link on the Top50 page, everything will become crystal clear...

 

[jkings]

In one word... no!

 

[przero]

The fact that in the NBA they can &quot;travel&quot; has made Shaq a premier weapon. If College rules applied he would be less of a force. At LSU in his junior year, against Duke, Laettner wore him out.

 

[Pacfanweb]

<<Shaq has the highest scoring average in the playoffs of ANY player in the history of the NBA>>

Not. His career scoring average according to NBA.com is 28 ppg. Someone named Jordan has a career playoff scoring average of 33 ppg.

 

[GoldenBear]

<< Not. His career scoring average according to NBA.com is 28 ppg. Someone named Jordan has a career playoff scoring average of 33 ppg. >>

The person said:

Shaq has the highest scoring average in the playoffs of ANY player in the history of the NBA

 

[iamfried]

The thing that finally took me away from ever being able to like shaq was when he was caught on TV during the finals smaking Mutumbo in the mouth with his elbow. After that play where he totally threw down the ball in Mutumbo's face, he was back peddling and had the sh!teating grin and was all proud of himself. Given an extra 19&quot; on my body, I could own somebody at the rim too if I just got done decking them in the mouth with my elbow.:disgust:
But, he does have talent. He wouldn't be there if he didn't. To answer the question though, which btw all of the shaq lovers dodge to a certain extent. I don't think he could be as completely dominant as he is without the 7' height and the 330#. Make him 6'9&quot; and 260#, he is probably just average. maybe...
Great athletes sometimes just find a way? That's why they make millions and I don't.

 

[Linh]

<< Someone named Jordan has a career playoff scoring average of 33 ppg >>




CAREER PLAYOFF SCORING AVERAGE

 

[Midnight Rambler]

Shaq is mediocre. Matched up against a Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain at the same age as Shaq, they would own him like a cheap watch.

Of course, it's not fair to compare past players to present day players. And I don't disagree with this, because basketball has become a huge joke. It's not even close to being the same sport that it once was. For starters, if they actually called &quot;travelling&quot; like they should (and used to), half of the clowns in the league would see their scoring averages drop like a rock.

 

[Rickten]

Take away shaqs size and there is no way that he is a superstar. Unless the jump shot gets better as he gets smaller there is NO way that he can play in the NBA

 

[dvda]

Shaq is extremely talented. He is huge, but like others said there are other guys as big or even bigger who just suck. Priest Lauderdale comes to mind, he was like 7'4, 365 and washed out of the league in two years.

Shaq does use the sholder dip move excessively and no longer gets called for it. However, other than his inability to shoot freethrows he has a very complete game for a center. This year I saw him shoot from about 10 feet and make over half of those shots. He is a great passer. The only other centers who can pass as well are Sabonis, Olijuwon and maybe Divac.

Shaq can also handle the ball pretty well for a bigman, and is very fast and a good jumper for a big man. I think that Shaq could be very good even if he was 50-75lb lighter. I just don't think he would be as dominant, but at 7' and maybe 250ish he would still be a tough opponent. He could still block shots. He would still be able to use his footwork to get to the basket and dunk, or could shoot those little soft hooks. If he did not have the strength to knock people out of the way he would still score over 20 a game and still get over 10 rebounds. The big difference in my opinion would be the inability to power his way out of double teams and to get seperation from good defenders like Mutombo or the elite centers of three to five years ago (Robinson, Ewing, Olijuwon before they got old/injured and their skills deteriorated significantly)

 

[kingz]

<< some people are born smart, some people are born talented, shaq was born big.
but shaq has been able to use his size and master it so that he can dominate.

it's all about learning yourself and your body best so that you can do what you can w/ it. that's what shaq's done. and he's done it well. >>


well said. i bet if any of you were 7 feet and 250lbs you wouldnt be as good as shaq is. there are a lot of people out there the same size as shaq, and you dont see them playing in the nba do you? its probably hard for them to run or have sex

 

[tantos]

Boohoo...I'm 7' 300 lbs...now i need to play like a pussy since everyone else is smaller then me. I have to play nice so everyone will like me and say I have talent.

Well you know what, who cares. You all would love Shaq on your team! As for the &quot;if he wasn't so big&quot; arguments, well, what if Iverson wasn't so quick or Jordan was only 6' instead of 6'7? Sheesh, what if the world was flat?
So he's big, give the guy credit for using it to make a great living. How many centers over 7' are there? Shaq would own Russell by the way. Again, Russell was only 6'9 and 220 lbs.

 

[Warblad13]

its not skill its the size
it was never skill and it will never be skill for shaq
it is just size

 

[Pacfanweb]

<<there are a lot of people out there the same size as shaq, and you dont see them playing in the nba do you? its probably hard for them to run or have sex>>

There is nobody in the NBA that is the same size and BUILD as Shaq. It's not just that he's 7'1&quot; and 300+ lbs. It's how he's BUILT.
I've never seen anyone that size, with his build.

Face it, the man can't shoot at all. He can only run over people and dunk. If that is talent, then he has loads of it.
Don't hand me that crap about his &quot;hook shot&quot; either. Flipping the ball 5 feet from the same height as the basket doesn't require much skill, particularly when no one else is big enough to even try to block it.

I still say the true test would be, shrink Shaq to about 6'7&quot;, keep his exact same skills, and where would he be.....nowhere, that's where. He wouldn't even be the star on a team at the YMCA if he was that size.

 

[GoldenBear]

<< There is nobody in the NBA that is the same size and BUILD as Shaq. >>

They're not in the NBA. They're at home getting fatter and bigger eating chip drinking coke while watching porn.

<< Face it, the man can't shoot at all. >>

He doesn't NEED to. He dominates even without that ability.

There's no telling what would happen if he were 6'6&quot;, and had the desire to become a great basketball player. He'd definitely have to work at his style a lot differently and possibly dominate in that manner as well.

 

[Mark]

People say it's because he's big and strong but if that's the case, then why don't other 7 foot centers in the league start lifting weights and gaining more weight be be like Shaq? It's because most 7 foot centers are already slow as it is(except Shaq), and adding more weight to thier bodies will only make them slower. Shaq's conditioning has more to do with it than anything else. Mutumbo is an extremly strong center, he is built like a tank and is easily the most powerful center in the east, but he is a scrub when it comes to the offensive end. He can muscle his way over centers like Elden Campbell or Ervin Johnson easily, but he can't because he does muscle his way into the paint, he won't know what to do with the ball.