The Official NBA Playoffs thread

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Originally Posted by GAsux

Kev,
I can think of ten guys off the top of my head who cry ten times more than Shaq. Shaq never bitches about calls.

Right, but as soon as the team started losing, rather than being a man and a team leader, rather than confronting the Laker B-team and rallying them, he smeared them in the press.

Also, why did he wait so long to have his toe surgery? Is pre-season and camp unimportant? Maybe the results of this series with the Spurs will make him think otherwise next time. A big reason they couldn't get things going this season is because they started out w/o Shaq, and then never got to mesh with him.

Perhaps "cry baby" was the wrong use of words, but I think "selfish" fits him well.

Regardless, I don't think Shaq is a bad player at all. For a man his size, he has excellent foot work. He is a competent passer and can dominate any single player and most double teams presented to him.

Don't get me wrong, I think Shaq is one of the most dominant players the game has ever seen, but I think size and muscle have a lot to do with this. I'll give you the fact that he's decent on his feet for his size, but that doesn't make him Hakeem or Kareem. I think that right now however, Tim Duncan is without question better than Shaq. He certainly has more raw talent than Shaq.

Remember the days when people used to purposely foul Shaq to put away game? Those days are gone. Honestly, is there a better center in the league?

Right now, as I said, Duncan.

On the fouling-- isn't this also attributable to rule changes in the NBA?? I thought there was a reason hack-a-Shaq became less prevolent, besides the fact that he became a little bit better a free throws.