*This thread may have been previously posted, if so, please forgive the oversight.* My question to all you is basically this: Is Shaquille O'Neal underachieving with his play this season? We all expect so much out of the big man, that sometimes I think we forget just how consistently dominant he has been throughout the past 12 seasons. (when healthy). Shaq is posting pretty good numbers right now: 20.6 pts. 11.6 reb. 3.1 ast. 2.5 blk. .550 FG%. You could even make a case for him as a top MVP candidate. Yet, it seems many still expect more from him. If he only gets 8 or 9 rebounds, or blows a defensive assignment, he's percieved as lazy or unmotivated. In my opinion, this just isn't fair. Shaq has competed at a high level in this league from the minute he stepped onto the floor. He's faced some of the best centers in the NBA's history: Olajuwon, Mourning, Mutombo, Ewing, Robinson. True, he's 7'2'', 340 lbs. and freakishly agile. But how much bigger is he really, than some other guys in the game? Of course he's stronger than most, but what is enough? He's now going on 32 years old, and he's still putting up great numbers. His scoring is down, but that's simply due to Malone and Payton now being part of the Laker offense. If it was still just him and Kobe, Shaq would be having another year of 27 and 13, at least. When does the MDE actually start to get the recognition he deserves as truly the most dominating center of our time, and possibly all-time? <font color="Green">Comments, conjectures??</font>
I think sometimes people do expect too much out of him. They still want to see the 40 and 15 games from him, but he is 32, and has a bunch of more injuries, and also has more to worry about. Shaq's goal is to win championships, he doesn't care how he does it, as long as his team gets the job done. Of course this year, the load has been taken off him, so he doesn't have to do as much, so your not going to see those superstar numbers every single night, but Shaq Daddy is still the most dominant in the game today and will still give you 20-30 points and 10-15 boards every night, but some people still don't appreciate that, they look over it and just say Shaq is just like any other big man in the game. Injuries have killed him, and this is going to happen to a lot of players when they get older, so it's a normal thing, but he has to fight through it and go out there and win games. As they say, 'they don't really miss you until your gone', which may be the case for Shaq. After he's out of the league, people may realize one day that Shaq is just not a 300 pounder who sits in the paint and shoots turn around jumpers, hopefully we will look at him one day as one of the best players to ever play the game. Good thread.
Just putting the thread back up at the top, I thought it was a good one. Nobody else wants to speak their opinion about this?
A major part of his scoring going down is the aquiscitions(sp?) of Gary Payton and Karl Malone. He's in better shape than last year, he is capable of 22-26 ppg 10-12 rpg 2 bpg.
I do think Shaq underachieves a bit. It's not even about the stats. Its the fact he doesn't always give 100%. How has this guy never been All-Defensive 1st team? Lack of hustle, that's why My expectations of Shaq might be high, but it just irratates me when he doesn't run the floor or go after loose balls. A player can have a stretch where he shoots bad, or turns the ball over alot, or fouls a lot. That's sort of understandable. That's part of the game, people make mistakes, nobody is perfect. Mark Madsen plays his heart out and still sucks, but you can respect that. But when Shaq decides not to run, it's just inexcusable. Effort should never go on a slump. Don't get me wrong. Shaq plays hard 90% of the time. It's just that 10% that pisses me off. p.s. I'm a lil wasted right now so I hope this post made sense. If it didn't, I apologize and I'll try to make sense of it all tomorrow o yea, and USC will beat Michagan 45-21...mark it down!
I don't think we expect to much out of him. If we don't give him the ball all the time and rely on him he"ll complain. Remeber what he's said, Its my team, as long as people give me the ball im happy-or sumthin like that. Shaq wants people to rely on him.
