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Nothing against Dwight but I watched Shaq utterly dominate the 76ers for his first ring. Kobe didn't even play in parts of that finals and at that stage of his career was nowhere near his full potential yet.
You mean the Pacers ... Just messing with ya.
Shaq's had an unhealthy obsession with Howard for years, because of the 'superman' gimmick. The whole thing is ridiculous.
I agree with Calidude above though; some of these oldtimers are too much about 'well back in our day' yadda yadda. Put a sock in it.....your day has come and gone and the players before YOU were saying the same thing. Each generation of players thinks their era was the best, and 'these guys nowadays have it easy'. The game is different today, Howard is no Shaq and never will be in terms of the domination Shaq displayed in his prime, but D12 is great in his own way and about as dominant as a center can be nowadays in a league that has become all about the perimeter players.
Question for you guys. I just read about some controversial comments that Shaq made about Dwight Howard, check out the quote:
"We as players, we always watch people before us," O'Neal said. "When I came in, it was Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon, guys who played like true centers who played inside. What we have now are centers that are going to the European style, which is a lot of pick-and-roll. Dwight Howard, who's a pick-and-roll player, some people say he's the best center in the league, but me being an old-school center, I'm going to go with [Brook] Lopez and Andrew Bynum because they play with their back to the basket."
Dwight's response:
"He hated the fact when he played that the older guys were talking about him and how he played and now he's doing the exact same thing," Howard said. "Just let it go. There's no sense for him to be talking trash to me. He did his thing in the league. He's one of the most dominant players to ever play the game. Just sit back and relax. You did your thing. Your time is up. So, I don't really care. I don't really care. He can say whatever he wants to say."
I think Shaq's comments are a bit hypocritical but for different reasons than what Dwight said. Shaq wasn't very skilled at all. He benefited from being a rare combination of size and athleticism. If he wasn't as big as he was, he would have never made it to the NBA. He really developed very few skills and his defense wasn't even that great. At least with Dwight, he's still young enough to become an even better offensive player.
Thoughts?
Lopez? Really?????? Yeah, that's how you know the NBA's hurtin' at the 5. Lopez is a decent scorer, could stand to be more efficient, but really his defense and especially rebounding I believe leave a lot to be desired. If he ever starts playin' the way he did before that freak elbow injury, Bogut would EASILY be the 3rd best center in the league.
Last edited by Mr. Black; 10-09-2012 at 05:57 PM..
Shaq's had an unhealthy obsession with Howard for years, because of the 'superman' gimmick. The whole thing is ridiculous.
I agree with Calidude above though; some of these oldtimers are too much about 'well back in our day' yadda yadda. Put a sock in it.....your day has come and gone and the players before YOU were saying the same thing. Each generation of players thinks their era was the best, and 'these guys nowadays have it easy'. The game is different today, Howard is no Shaq and never will be in terms of the domination Shaq displayed in his prime, but D12 is great in his own way and about as dominant as a center can be nowadays in a league that has become all about the perimeter players.
Heh, he dominated both...might have the order mixed up though without looking.
In fairness, yeah the old guys do that....but look around at all the ignorant threads about how todays athletes are sooooo much better than the old guys that blah blah blah. Threads from guys that didn't see Jordan play until he was 40 where they talked about him not being quick...lol.
Besides, Shaq has made dumb comments since he entered the league, I still like the guy but he puts his foot in his mouth from time to time.
In fairness, yeah the old guys do that....but look around at all the ignorant threads about how todays athletes are sooooo much better than the old guys that blah blah blah. Threads from guys that didn't see Jordan play until he was 40 where they talked about him not being quick...lol.
That's true. In this scenario though, no-one is implying that D12 is anywhere near Shaq's level of greatness and domination, so I'm not sure why Shaq acts so insecure towards Dwight. I really don't see D12 ever approaching Shaq's legacy, so again I find the whole thing ridiculous.
That's true. In this scenario though, no-one is implying that D12 is anywhere near Shaq's level of greatness and domination, so I'm not sure why Shaq acts so insecure towards Dwight. I really don't see D12 ever approaching Shaq's legacy, so again I find the whole thing ridiculous.
And that's the baffling thing about it. Why does D12 bother him so much? No one even brought him up as being like Shaq. I wonder if he scared that D12 is going to go to LA with Kobe and win championships and overshadow his legacy? Seems like he's extremely insecure for no reason at all.
And that's the baffling thing about it. Why does D12 bother him so much? No one even brought him up as being like Shaq. I wonder if he scared that D12 is going to go to LA with Kobe and win championships and overshadow his legacy? Seems like he's extremely insecure for no reason at all.
Good comments all.
It's probably the constant labeling of D12 as the best center in the league and Shaq struggling with the transition from the limelight.
In fairness though, seems like a number of ex-greats can get a little grumpy at times like Kareem etc.
And that's the baffling thing about it. Why does D12 bother him so much? No one even brought him up as being like Shaq. I wonder if he scared that D12 is going to go to LA with Kobe and win championships and overshadow his legacy? Seems like he's extremely insecure for no reason at all.
I think it goes back to the whole 'Superman' persona that Shaq adopted and D12 'stole'( in Shaq's mind). It has to be that, because Dwight isn't close to touching his legacy so I don't know what else it could be. It's all very juvenile to me.....
It's probably the constant labeling of D12 as the best center in the league and Shaq struggling with the transition from the limelight.
In fairness though, seems like a number of ex-greats can get a little grumpy at times like Kareem etc.
Here's the thing though, at one point Yao was being called the best Center around 2007-2008, and this is while Shaq was still playing and wasn't a complete corpse out on the floor. He harbors no ill-will towards Yao, so what's the beef with Dwight about?
In fairness though, seems like a number of ex-greats can get a little grumpy at times like Kareem etc.
This is one of the reasons I've always loved hearing what Jerry West has to say about players. He freely gives credit where it is due to younger players. Him, Magic, and (when talks to the media) Bird all have no problem giving credit to the current generation of players. It shows just how secure they are in their legacies. No players will ever erase them from history. They know it. There is no need to have the "get off my lawn' mentality.
But Shaq? That's too much to ask.
OT: Who was the better big man over the course of his career, Duncan or Shaq?
OT: Who was the better big man over the course of his career, Duncan or Shaq?
Shaq had the higher peak play, 2000-2002. Duncan IMO has had the better overall career, and is the better guy to build around( speaking in retrospect) given his intangibles like leadership, attitude, and so forth. History will see Shaq as the more prominent player, but I'd take Duncan's sustained excellence over 14 years without the petulant attitude you get with Shaq.
So simply, Shaq the more dynamic, dominant force in terms of peak play, Duncan for sustained excellence, maturity, leadership, and he was pretty damn dominant as well.
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... Just messing with ya.
