Ric Bucher Reporting Shaq Headed to Phoenix for a Physical

Post #81 » by **BBallFreak** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 1:26 pm

Hey guys. Let me start by saying, I'm a Heat fan.

I'd like to clarify my position here. I'm excited about this trade from our perspective. We get a very good player and we get to rebuild. This isn't me being a Shaq homer. I'm not. I'm well aware of his flaws.

Shaq does still command a double team. Like it or not, if you single cover the guy, he hurts you badly. He gets your bigs in foul trouble, and he puts the ball through the hoop. If you double him he hurts you badly. He knows how to pass the ball to open shooters. The key with Shaq is obviously his health.

I'm genuinely mixed on this move for you guys, but let's not forget who Shaq is. Even in his current state, he must be accounted for...

enigmatics · Post #82 » by **enigmatics** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 2:47 pm

Kobay wrote:Dennis rodman wasn't 7ft tall and the dude was rebounding monster. I just don't believe this to be tru yet. If Kerr is willing to pay 20 mil for shaq another two years why not for Marion?

Because Marion can't guard all the Western Conferences big men.....do you get it now?

will · Post #83 » by **will** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 2:48 pm

Can Shaq run?

enigmatics · Post #84 » by **enigmatics** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 2:49 pm

Vincent 666 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I just dont see the point of taking such a huge gamble.

They are throwing off their chemistry by making this deal.

Part of what made the Suns so good and so hard to defend was because they had 3 shooters for Nash to spread the floor. Now that is down to 2. It completely changes the way and style they want to play.

Again, seems like a very sill risk to take when the player you are recieving isnt better from a productivity standpoint than the player you gave up.

How much Phoenix Suns basketball do you actually watch? Marion is one of our "shooters"???? Not quite man. Our shooters are Bell, Barbosa, and Nash. Marion occasionally hit a 3 here and there, although this year has been his worst year shooting them by far.

The Shaq aquisition forces team to focus heavily down in the inside with Amare ........that leaves Suns shooters open on the wings.

Cash · Post #85 » by **Cash** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 4:55 pm

I've calmed down a bit, and I think I can think about this trade rationally now. Here's the thing: It's not 100% guaranteed to fail. The Suns appear to be banking on a few things:

1.) Shaq was embellishing his hip problem because he wanted to get traded.

2.) Shaq will be super-invigorated, super-rejuvenated, and super-motivated by this trade, and will thus produce at a higher level for the Suns than he has for the Heat this year.

3.) Shaq will be so happy to be on the Suns, that for the first time in his career, he will gladly volunteer to be a defensive/rebounding specialist (ignoring the fact that he's too slow to be an above-average defender any more) and take a backseat to the team's established stars. (Essentially, the Suns are counting on Shaq doing what Wilt Chamberlain did for the Lakers, discounting the fact that Wilt was always in excellent shape and never was injured, in foul trouble, or limited in how many minutes he could play)

4.) The Suns' training staff, combined with Shaq's new-found motivation, will help get Shaq back in something resembling shape, so next year and the year after might not be complete wastes of $20 mil. I can't believe the Suns are fooling themselves that any training staff can magically get a guy into shape during the season, but with a full offseason, significant progress could be made.

I think that the Suns are dead wrong on pretty much all counts, but I've been wrong before. I think Shaq's career will pretty much stay on the course it's been on. I'll admit, though, that if he makes a complete reversal, this trade could actually work.

Cash · Post #86 » by **Cash** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 4:58 pm

Oh, one more thing: I'm going to stop calling Sarver cheap for now. If he sells off Diaw and/or Atlanta's pick this summer (which I expect), I might go back to calling him cheap, but for now, I'll just call him variations on 'stupid.'

DEEP3CL · Post #87 » by **DEEP3CL** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 5:24 pm

Cash your right on in your thinking in the post before the Sarver stuff.I do believe Shaq was acting on the hip stuff and he'll be as you said motivated.

Eventhough I'm a Laker fan I KNOW the Suns have much better conponets then the Heat. As you said at this stage in Shaq's career he'll be more then willing to let his teammates carry the load.

Tenbomber · Post #88 » by **Tenbomber** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 5:36 pm

Cash wrote:I think that the Suns are dead wrong on pretty much all counts, but I've been wrong before. I think Shaq's career will pretty much stay on the course it's been on. I'll admit, though, that if he makes a complete reversal, this trade could actually work.

If pigs could fly?.... can whales?

Atowngetdown · Post #89 » by **Atowngetdown** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 5:54 pm

I think its a great move for the Suns to get Shaq. Now the suns can spread the floor much easier to shoot 3s. You got rid of Banks contract & I doubt Marion was going to resign next year. This team wasnt good enough to compete for a championship. Having Shaq in the middle helps out Amare also.

hiphop1 · Post #90 » by **hiphop1** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 6:47 pm

Atowngetdown wrote:I think its a great move for the Suns to get Shaq. Now the suns can spread the floor much easier to shoot 3s. You got rid of Banks contract & I doubt Marion was going to resign next year. This team wasnt good enough to compete for a championship. Having Shaq in the middle helps out Amare also.

I dont think it is that bad for Miami either. Wade gets his Pippen.

mkot · Post #91 » by **mkot** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 6:57 pm

Cash wrote:Oh, one more thing: I'm going to stop calling Sarver cheap for now. If he sells off Diaw and/or Atlanta's pick this summer (which I expect), I might go back to calling him cheap, but for now, I'll just call him variations on 'stupid.'

LOL. F**k man, I'm still mad as hell and it is really hard to find the words for it.

Yea I f**king hate Kerr and Sarver now. I hate reactionary moves. Lakers improved by not giving up anything for Gasol, we, on the other hand, mortgaged our future, yet again. Before we did it with picks, now we completely dug ourselves in the whole financially.

This is stupid. Sarver will come out saying that he is willing to spend, but were not you better off with keeping KT and the picks instead? And your risk investment would have been only for a year and all the picks would be ours. STUPID! Sell picks to commit $40 millions to an aging 35 year old over the Hill center who plays half of the games. I know you can't compare KT and Shaq but just look at his numbers and then look at KT's numbers in Seattle. I am not even sure who is a better center right now, forget the money.

Thunder Dan for Hot Rod Williams, again. Great.

BringinDaRuckus · Post #92 » by **BringinDaRuckus** » Wed Feb 6, 2008 7:17 pm

I don't think we mortgaged our future because of this. We are currently in the hole now, but look at it this way. Next years' trade line, Shaq's contract will look very nice to those teams wanting to pickup an expiring contract and want to unload some contracts.

And it will look like gold come the 09/10 season. That's when he will come completely off the books and let me tell you, a team that needs to cut salary will look at his $20 million coming off the books as a god send.