Shaq?...just a musing

[Christine-In-AZ]

No clear yea or nay here... just a thought...a musing

Say Shaq gets back on the court and shows he's got something left...

Riley decides it's time to start over for the Heat...

Consider the Big Aristotle in the desert? He wouldn't even have to score much... just him being that defensive presence in the paint could be so...ah?..er? I don't know...maybe a complete clusterf--k, but maybe it could work.

Marion+ would have to go.

It goes without any argument (but I have to type it) How bad is Shaq's physical condition? That would be the very scary caveat. Very scary, but if he has something left....it might just work.

I don't know.

Talk amongst yourselves

[-SDU-]

doubt dantoni would even play his overweight non running non shooting backside

[impulsenine]

I think it's a good thing we don't actually use benches anymore, or he'd shoot Nash, Barbs, and Grant into the stands every time he sat.

[LukasBMW]

Shaq is finished

[TASTIC]

No thanks, he's better suited in the East. I think a team like the Bulls should get him for BWallace

[JustMoe]

I'm not even sure I'd want Shaq if he'd be bought out and willing to sign with us for the veteran minimum since he'd just be unable to adapt our style of play, but the thought of giving up Marion + something else for him is just disgusting.
If we want a center who plays good defense and are willing to trade Trix for it, then we can definitely do a lot better than the old Diesel. Dalembert and STAT would be a great frontcourt for us, don't you guys think? I mean, he may not have the highest B-Ball IQ, but he's a great defender, grabs tons of rebounds (9,6) and collects 2,6 blocks per game, plus he's pretty fast for a center...oh, and no, I'm not proposing we should trade Shawn for Sammy straight up

[rsavaj]

I'm a big Shaq fan, and I've often wondered what he would be like on the Suns, but let's face it: we're witnessing the death of Superman. Dude just doesn't have it anymore, and he's not worth giving up ANY asset on our team accept maybe Banks, Pike, and Marks.

[JustMoe]

I agree, wish he would have retired after the Heat won the championship (I know this wasn't an option, and of course he never would have stepped away from that fat contract, just saying I wish he did, not he should have) so we would keep him in mind as the dominant center he was for so many years instead of the shadow of his former self he is right now.

[KJ7]

I think the big fella is done for the most part. When you've been 300 pounds all your adult life and you've been running and jumping for most of it those knees and ankles aren't going to last for ever.

How man 300 pounders have lasted til his age playing as many mins over his career that he has? I'm surprised he has lasted this long but I guess that's why he usually takes it easy during the reg season.

[TASTIC]

I think the big fella is done for the most part. When you've been 300 pounds all your adult life and you've been running and jumping for most of it those knees and ankles aren't going to last for ever.

How man 300 pounders have lasted til his age playing as many mins over his career that he has? I'm surprised he has lasted this long but I guess that's why he usually takes it easy during the reg season.

Andre the Giant?

A panda?

Jaws?

Anna Nicole Smith? (too soon?)

[impulsenine]

How man 300 pounders have lasted til his age playing as many mins over his career that he has?

Few posts have called out for a 'your mom' joke like this one.

[JustMoe]

-= original quote snipped =-



Andre the Giant?

A panda?

Jaws?

Anna Nicole Smith? (too soon?)

Remember the "Jared has Aides" episode on South Park? There's a certain amount of time we have to wait due to deference before stuff like that becomes funny. So you, Sir, are a very mean person...I'll put this post to my favorites, though, so I can come back in 30 years and edit it in order to congratulate you on being a pioneer and having such a great sense of humor

[nevetsov]

-= original quote snipped =-

Few posts have called out for a 'your mom' joke like this one.

[rsavaj]

AFter watching the Heat get drubbed, I'm revising my stance to this: bring Shaq on only if MIA buys him out and we sign him for close to the min.

[Christine-In-AZ]

Wow...this really happened.

I love it, so unSuns-like high risk, high reward.

Maybe the 40 year old mold of "almost is good enough" is finally broken

[Jordan-esque]

ESPN True Hoop:

One of Shaq's best NBA seasons was 1999-2000. Compared to that season, this year Shaquille O'Neal is contributing at a much slower rate:

* About two thirds the numbers of points per minute that he got in 1999-2000.

* About four fifths of the rebounds per minute.

* About three quarters of the blocks per minute he used to get.

* About half of the assists per minute that he used to get.

The drop-off in assists is interesting.

That's the exact thing the Suns, as reported above, allegedly think he'll be able to do well -- and he has always been a willing and skilled passer. A lot of the difference between numbers with the 2000 Lakers and the 2008 Heat could be attributable to teammates -- Kobe Bryant, Glen Rice, Ron Harper, and Derek Fisher hit at a better rate than Ricky Davis and a double-teamed and injured Dwyane Wade.

But half? At a time when scoring is tougher for him than ever? That's discouraging. Maybe motivation fixes that. If O'Neal's dedicated to his teammates, desperate to win, and surrounded by shooters, perhaps O'Neal's assist rate could boldly go where no old center's assist rate has gone before ...

Better than looking at numbers is watching video. I just did a ton of this, thanks to Synergy Sports. I watched him against the kinds of Western powers that the Lakers are likely to face. And I watched him against other teams.

Here are some things I can tell you with assurance:

* He's not as slow or fat as rumored. He looks pretty fit, frankly. And on the ground, he moves well. Sometimes he even beats the opposing center down the floor. When pressed, he can still win deep post position against just about anyone. Once he catches it there, his footwork has long been splendid. Without looking rushed, he can probe the defender's attack and mike the right maneuver -- spin, jump hook, power dribble, whatever -- time and again. He is doing an excellent job of getting himself good, clean, short-range looks, and then ...

* Shaq's blowing layups. Layup after layup after layup after layup. It's horrible to watch. He's a first-rate talent. He's getting the shot every coach dreams about: point blank, with no real defensive distractions. And then he just misses it. Five years ago, he dunked all of those. Now, thanks to his physical limitations, he's not going over anybody with anything. So he has to finesse it, and watching him finesse a layup is a lot like watching him finesse a free throw. Hard to watch.

* I had watched about 20 clips of him before it really struck me how true it is that the man can not jump anymore. Rebounding, scoring, blocking shots ... everything he does now is within a few inches of the ground. It doesn't make him any slower, weaker, or smaller, but it does significantly up the chances that the opposition stops him from doing what he wants to do. (For instance, James Jones blocked his shot earlier this year. That didn't happen five years ago.) So stark is this limitation that I won't be at all surprised if we learn later that some essential element of a good jump -- some muscle, some ligament, some something -- is incapacitated or missing entirely from O'Neal this season. And that really hurts his potential as a stopper, basket protector, and rebounder in Phoenix. If the Suns doctors and trainers can re-install whatever's missing, he'll be dunking again, which will change everything.

* There has been the suggestion that he might help the Suns stop big men like Andrew Bynum and Tim Duncan. Maybe that's part of the plan. But I can tell you that he has not yet seen the new Bynum, and when Miami played San Antonio early this season, O'Neal was strictly on Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson duty. Three times, late in the game, he ended up on Duncan in a switch or as a helper, and here's what happened: Duncan put the ball on the floor and made a layup, Duncan kicked out to Manu Ginobili for a made three, and Duncan dribbled the ball out of bounds -- my money's on it going off O'Neal, but it was called Miami ball. So, without a dubious call, you have exactly zero success with O'Neal as a Duncan stopper.

That pretty much spells a... musing

[mapko81]

Wow, somebody actually thought this could happen... just, wow