Shaq says he would’ve dropped 45 & 16 on Rudy Gobert in 3 quarters

[art_tatum]

Shaq is an ...olle but in his prime (00-03) he would defintevly destroyed Gobert, like he did Duncan,Robinson,Mutombo,Sabonis in that stretch. Utah needs to overpay free agents, nobody of marquee fa would go to Utah on vacation (Noah quote) yet alone sign there.

He never really did destroy Duncan/Robinson. In the playoffs Shaq's numbers were always below his season averages when playing Duncan/Robinson. Shaq would occasional would have one game where he would get 30 plus against the Spurs in a playoff series but for the most part he was contained. The difference maker in those series was Kobe since Shaq could not dominate the Spurs like he did to other teams. Duncan was also very impressive when guarding Shaq one on one.

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Watching those videos just makes me think there's more talent as a whole ( especially role players) in the nba today. Which is true every generation gets better on avg

[Mr Puddles]

Shaq averaged 33 and 16 against Mutumbo who was DPOTY at a time when an average team scored 95 points a game. Now teams are averaging 112 points per game.

Shaq is probably still butthurt about the Newspaper in Orlando that asked residents if Shaq was worth $115 million for 7 seasons and 90% of fans said he wasn’t worth it. Then Shaq signed a huge contract with the Lakers and the media criticized him, saying he cared more about money, movies, and rapping than basketball. When the Lakers get swept in the playoffs the media says he’s not worth the money.

This is after Shaq led his team to the Finals, when he’s leading his team in points and rebounds. Then Shaq sees that Gobert, who has won 2 playoff series in his entire life, gets $205 million, and Shaq is angry.

I’m not saying it’s right, but I understand how Shaq feels that way.

That doesn't really have anything to do with Gobert though - the NBA has more money now that it did in 1996 (in part due to internationalization, which Gobert is obviously a part of).

The gap in years between Gobert signing for 205mil and Shaq signing with the Lakers is about the same as Shaq signing with the Lakers and Bill Russell making his highest annual salary ($100k USD). It would have been petty as hell if Russell had gone after Shaq the way O'neil is targeting Gobert now because he's salty that he wasn't earning the same kind of money.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Well...I do believe him if it was in his era. There was nobody in the league that could stop him by themselves. With that said, I don't know why he's picking on Gobert. I also don't think he realizes just how different the game is played these days. I mean, take Jahlil Okafor for example. In the 90s Jah would be a nightly 20/10 guy although his defense would still be horrendous. Point is, he'd be totally playable in that era. He isn't now with the pace and space of the game. So...It's a different era. I do think a player like Gobert would have been fine in the 90s. In fact, he'd be an all star. It's just that nobody and I mean nobody could man up with prime Shaq in the post. Certain players had success during the early parts of his career, but that was about it. Barkley and Hakeem could give him trouble. Ben Wallace took him on during the finals in 03, but that's really it.

[Retro_Junkball]

Shaq is talking nonsense. He could potentially drop 45 points on a big DPOY in 1999 or 2000 (zone isn't a factor), but he couldn't do it easily or often, which seems to be the suggestion. Shaq needs to reconsider his matchups with Yao and regain some humility. Not that he wasn't an all-time great, but 45 points on a DPOY C?

[ubernathan]

Hell yea, put that Rudy in his place. He's a good player but can't hang with the all-time greats.

[OdomFan]

Shaq is just talking trash like he always did as a player and still does now. I'm glad he doesn't listen to people on the internet who cry about what he says.

[Dr Aki]

Shaq

[Gert42]

shaq talks a lot of **** but is normally right about this kind of stuff. every center hes trashed hasn’t really lived up to their potential

So a guy drafted 27th overall and has won 2 DPOY's, and 3 All-NBA's hasn't lived up to his potential?

I will acknowledge that the way the voting structure for All-NBA (G-G-F-F-C) benefits Rudy, but if you are implying he hasn't lived up to his potential you are wrong.

[Kilroy]

It's a petty thing to say, and it's weird to have it in for freaking Rudy Gobert of all people... But it's also 100% accurate.
Prime, motivated, in shape Shaq would easily have humiliated Gobert... It's just kind of too bad we only got Prime, motivated, in shape Shaq for a handful of seasons.

[Optms]

Are they calling the game like they do now, or when Shaq was playing?

Because he wouldn't be allowed to drop his shoulder and knock guys over now.

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Would they also call the blatant hacks on Shaq every game because defenders couldn't hold their ground? I'm thinking yes. Shaq will get more leeway with today's rules, especially as a superstar, then defenders would. It would be a wrap for Gobert or anyone.

[Nate505]

It's a petty thing to say, and it's weird to have it in for freaking Rudy Gobert of all people... But it's also 100% accurate.
Prime, motivated, in shape Shaq would easily have humiliated Gobert... It's just kind of too bad we only got Prime, motivated, in shape Shaq for a handful of seasons.

Great. Every first ballot Top 10 player could say that. Most don't because they aren't **** insecure jagoffs.

[Ill News]

Shaq deserves the nickname of "Big Baby" more than Glen Davis.

[jbk1234]

Are they calling the game like they do now, or when Shaq was playing?

Because he wouldn't be allowed to drop his shoulder and knock guys over now.

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Would they also call the blatant hacks on Shaq every game because defenders couldn't hold their ground? I'm thinking yes. Shaq will get more leeway with today's rules, especially as a superstar, then defenders would. It would be a wrap for Gobert or anyone.

I don't know, I've seen smaller players foul Love and other big men on almost every possession in the post for almost a decade now and you're lucky if you get one out of every three calls.

[bbms]

Shaq vs high octane 2010's offenses would also be interesting to see.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Shaq is annoying for always seeking attention to stay relevant in the chatters.

But I won't say his statement is wrong though. Shaq is the most dominant force I have ever witnessed.

of course it's wrong, especially in today's game.

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[Ryoga Hibiki]

How many points would a mobile center that can shoot from outside drop on Shaq? He would've been ran off the court with today's tempo of the game.

Not if he gets them in foul trouble 1st

rhe best way to defend Shaq was to flop as soon as he lower rhe shoulder to dislodge you, something that eveey defender would do today but only Divac used to.
He'd get several dunks but for sure a few offensive fouls, enough to force him to change his game. And he's not going to hit enough of his jump hooks over Rudy's extended arms, as he couldn't against Yao.


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[NoZoLakers]

How many points would a mobile center that can shoot from outside drop on Shaq? He would've been ran off the court with today's tempo of the game.

Not if he gets them in foul trouble 1st

rhe best way to defend Shaq was to flop as soon as he lower rhe shoulder to dislodge you, something that eveey defender would do today but only Divac used to.
He'd get several dunks but for sure a few offensive fouls, enough to force him to change his game. And he's not going to hit enough of his jump hooks over Rudy's extended arms, as he couldn't against Yao.


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he doesn't need to shoot over rudy, hed just go thru him

[lonzo_pelota]

shaq should focus all this energy on helping his son develop, because he's on his way to being a lost cause , he's switched from arizona to ucla to lsu . whats that about?

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Shaq is annoying for always seeking attention to stay relevant in the chatters.

But I won't say his statement is wrong though. Shaq is the most dominant force I have ever witnessed.

It kind of is wrong. First off, everyone knows Shaq can score so him saying he can drop 40 on someone doesn't really mean anything. Shaq is passing this idea that Rudy Gobert is essentially a scrub because he's not a scorer, which is a ridiculous assertion - but I'll digress.

But to use Dikembe Mutumbo as an example - as he is a comparable player to Rudy Gobert but worse offensively by a lot (could certainly argue he was a better defender though).

How in the hell was Deke worse offensively by a lot? From 97-00 Deke averaged 12.4 ppg while being 3rd in the league in TS% over that timespan (for players over 10 ppg). Rudy averages slightly more PPG and is leading the league in TS% over the last 4 years but that's only slightly better than Deke.

And defensively they're not comparable, Deke is probably the best defender ever next to Bill Russell. In terms of the +/- numbers he's by far the most dominant defensive player since 1997. Like it's not even remotely close.

Shaq averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds in the games he played with Mutumbo which is his career average - keep in mind that Shaq obviously scored some of his buckets in those games when Mutumbo was not guarding him.

Shaq's career high in a game with Mutumbo was 44 points and 20 rebounds, so while that is very close to what he predicted against Gobert - what is interesting is that Mutumbo also dropped 23 points and 18 rebounds against Shaq himself (keep in mind, Gobert is a better scorer and better passer than Mutumbo).


So while the idea that Shaq might have a crazy explosive game against Gobert is not crazy at all, the idea that Gobert will only have 11 points and foul out in 3 quarters is a little ridiculous. It's not to say that it would never happen if they played a bunch of games, but he's basically creating a caricature of himself where he instant fouls out everyone which isn't true - that is what people remember as most people usually simplify players, but it's not literally how all his games when he went against other big time stars.

Shaq is obviously exaggerating but he averaged 33/16/5 in his only series against Deke with Deke picking up 5 fouls twice and fouling out once in 5 games in a year where Deke won DPOY. Deke is way better equipped to handle Shaq than Gobert is. Gobert isn't staying in the game with Shaq, and he'll get his numbers too, but Shaq isn't crazy to say he'd foul him out. Again his post is just a slight exaggeration.

The funniest part about this is Shaq is beefing with internet randos and taking it out on Rudy for some reason.

Deke was stopping the ball a lot tontry his mediocre hook and he was a very bad passer. Rudy scores.much more in the flow of the game, wirh no plays called for him.

And no player in history was such a great defender that Rudy was not comparable to him. Maybe in era, as big men were more imoactful in the past, for sure not.in absolute terms.

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[Ryoga Hibiki]

Shaq was bigger and stronger than anyone else and there was no such thing a established defensive position when he had the ball. He used that big posterior and shoulders to take the space the defender formerly occupied.

that's called offensive foul

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