Several ESPN Experts Bash the Shaq Trade on ESPN.com Today

[The Diesel]

Hey guys,

Here come the critics...here is an article that was posted today on ESPN.com in which several of the so-called "experts" absolutely blast the trade.

Here it is:

Midseason trades don't come any bigger than the blockbuster acquisitions the Suns and Mavs made in February -- Shaq to Phoenix and J-Kidd to Dallas.

The Shaquille O'Neal deal likely will go down as one of the most controversial trades in NBA history. And Jason Kidd's return to Big D likewise has been fraught with debate and questions.

Now that the Suns and Mavs are on the brink of elimination in the first round of the playoffs, it's time for some hard questions to be asked

[rsavaj]

Thoughts....I really don't care anymore. I'm beyond the point of being upset about what happened to this team over the past 4 years, and now all I can do is hope for the best; namely, a Game 5 victory.

[The Diesel]

Didn't I warn you guys this was coming?

It was interesting to read an article yesterday in which Coach Mike talked to Shaq before Game 4 and told him not to feel responsible for what's happened in this series so far.

That was nice of Coach Mike to do; it was the right way to keep Shaq's confidence up.

It was the right way to handle him compared to when Riley completely destroyed his confidence (in my opinion) by some of the stuff he did to Shaq this season.

And Shaq really seems to like D'Antoni.

To me, it's not really Shaq's or D'Antoni's fault that this series is almost over.

It was San Antonio's lucky Game 1 victory and the fact that Grant Hill has been injured the whole series.

I still think this was a good trade, despite what the experts say.

[jaypo]

Don't put too much thought into this. In the same article that bashes the Shaq trade, they suggest trading Amare for RaWeed Wallace. The same RaWeed Wallace that the media is blasting for the way he's playing in Detoilet. The media sucks.

[The Diesel]

Rasheed is a good player, but he's nowhere near as good as Amare; Amare is a superstar, I think he's the most unstoppable big-man in the NBA.

I mean, he averaged 25 PPG this season and 30 PPG after the Shaq trade.

Trading Amare for Rasheed would not be a good move.

[scootfu602]

All these writers were all over the Suns Jock when they thought the Suns would win this series hands down. Now that it's bout over they are saying how bad it was.....they are the idiots. Good trade either way it goes.

[NaplesSunsFan]

I think this just goes to prove that BBall experts, namely the ones employed by ESPN don't know what the hell they are talking about.

They are just like weathermen. Just guessing aimlessly.. with some 'trends' to go on, but thats about it.

[The Diesel]

Yeah, it's funny how these "experts" weren't saying anything during the 9 game winning streak towards the end of the season, but now they've gone back to bashing the trade.

So annoying!

[Magz50]

What a bunch of hypocrites! All but one picked the Suns in 6 over the Spurs. Now they're all flopping more than a Raja Bell and Oberto sandwich. So much for credibility.

[eastsidecrossover]

Ric Bucher sleeps with Kobe pajamas on.

Next, they are writers and this is their job. They have to write and come up with new stories. Its lame, but that is how the industry goes. Yes, many of them said the suns will win it, but 4 games in, I think most opinions have changed about this team and the trade. Its nothing big.

[The Diesel]

But it's nobody's fault that the team is down 3-1; The Spurs got very lucky in Game 1 and Grant Hill is hurt.

With the exception of Game 3, Phoenix was very unlucky to lose Game 1, they couldn't sustain their big lead in Game 2 (Amare fell apart in the second half and Barbosa missed all seven of his shots) and blew out the Spurs in Game 4.

If Grant Hill was healthy, there wouldn't be these conversations.

And didn't I say all along the media only cared about making this series about Shaq vs. Duncan?

Despite the fact that Shaq is 36 years old?

It's a TEAM game, not a 1 on 1 match-up.

I get so annoyed with the media, sometimes.

They keep forgetting to mention that Hill is injured and how important he is to this team.

He's the best all round player on the team and he's a future Hall of Famer.

How did they expect Phoenix to beat San Antonio without one of their key players?

I think Phoenix has just been very unlucky in this series.

[Sun Scorched]

What a bunch of hypocrites! All but one picked the Suns in 6 over the Spurs. Now they're all flopping more than a Raja Bell and Oberto sandwich. So much for credibility.

Haha... Thanks for that Magz50.

[The Diesel]

I'm happy that Shaq had some words with Oberto during the last game; I hope Oberto doesn't flop tonight.

I still can't get over that horrific call against Shaq in Game 1 when he barely touched Oberto and Oberto went down like he got shot and Shaq was called for the offensive foul.

I agree with Jeff van Gundy; SOMETHING has to be done about flopping; it's terrible for the game of basketball.

[jaypo]

I've hated the Spurs for years because of that. People used to biatch at me all of the time when I'd complain about all of the calls Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli get. But now, at least JVG put his 2 cents in. The Spurs rely on the refs to bail them out constantly. I was watching the highlights on ESPN from game 4, and every single play with Duncan in it ended up with him whining to the refs. EVERY ONE!!! And Ginobli has got to have a vagina, because he is the softest pansy I've ever seen. For a 6'6 man to go down faster than a crack whore is a disgrace! It's a shame that a team as dirty as the Spurs get all of the calls. Suns fans started seeing this last year. I've been seeing it since Shaq signed with the Lakers. Shaq gets called for an offensive foul on the same move that Duncan does and gets put on the line for. Ridiculous!

[The Diesel]

Duncan does complain a lot, but to his credit, he NEVER flops like Ginobili and Oberto.

As a Shaq fan, I've always respected the fact that when Duncan guards him 1 on 1, he NEVER flops.

That's the way basketball should be played.

I hate the amount of flopping that goes on in the NBA these days.

It's cheating and it drives me crazy.

Quit playing soft and just play good, physical basketball the way it should be played.

[Hydroponic3385]

Umm, I'm pretty sure the Amare/Rasheed trade idea was a joke?

[Arles]

Let the pundits pat themselves on the back and enjoy ripping the Suns this offseason. Someone needs to.

[187_Inc]

Yeah, mighty big of them to write this out after we drop the first 3 games . Spineless pus$ies.

[KJ7]

I bashed the trade when it happened. I was never convinced he would fit in well here with the players we had but I lived in hope. I don't even have that anymore.

He was such an albatross around the neck of this team. SanAn played their get out of jail free card by just fouling him towards the end of qtrs and he didn't really slow or stop TD. TD's way too versatile to think that he will just continue to go into the post. And the first thing I mentioned when we made the trade was how horrible our perimeter defending will be. Sure enuff TP goes to town on us. While Marion didn't do an exceptional job on TP he did slow him. He scored less than 20 in 3 of 6 games last season.

This season he only scored less than 20 once and scored more than 30 3 times ... in 5 games!

I always wanted to be wrong about my feelings towards this trade but at the moment I only see things getting worse and it putting us in a worse position next season.

[SMRattler]

Hey guys,

Here come the critics...here is an article that was posted today on ESPN.com in which several of the so-called "experts" absolutely blast the trade.

Here it is:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs

Out of all of those "experts", all except Legler and Sheridan picked the Suns, most in 6 games. So, before they look back and call the Suns trade a failure, they should also call their pre-series picks failures because they believed in it too.