70sFan wrote:dhsilv2 wrote:kendogg wrote:your whole argument is shaq is lazy and has a better natural body but wilt just worked harder. shaq came into camp out of shape a few times and you can argue over what playing weight you think he is most effective at, but at any weight he's not as effective as wilt. so I have to say that wilt has the better physique. there is nothing in my mind that shaq's physique does better than wilt, though they are close.
As I clearly went over, he has a better center of gravity. he's also more agile at that higher weight.
And yes, we're talking about their frames and bodies, not how they actually played basketball.
Shaq might have come in "in shape" but he never put in the time like a Wilt a Robinson or even an Hakeem did in their bodies. Shaq was just crazy gifted and he even talks about how badly he used to eat now.
I don't see Shaq as more agile than Wilt. Besides, someone with Shaq frame would always have tough time against P&Rs. Shaq was extremely quick for his size, but not for any size. Someone like Wilt would fare better in that situations. Someone like Robinson or Russell is ideal for that kind of defense.
Agility vs lateral speed are not exactly the same thing. Shaq was much more graceful and balanced than Robinson (an easier comparison here due to more video). Robinson had better foot work and was as a result infinitely better guarding a pick and role, but we're also talking about a fitness warrior in Robinson. A guy who got everything he could get out of his body for that era.
And again the complex part here is you have to figure out how far from optimal shaq was. I'd guess we saw about 70% of what shaq could have been, yes it's a ball park idea and might be off. That said just seeing the change we saw this year from Dipo when he finally decided that being conditioned was important was night and day.
