Ficton. I dont think Shaq will play 70+ games. He does look in better shape, but if he tries to pull the moves of the old shaq, he'll get hurt again. Fact or Fiction The Heat will be 2nd Seed in the East come playoff time
Fact. Who can beat the Heat in the East besides the Pistons (maybe)? That's right, no one! The Heat are a shoe-in in the East this year unless something tragic happens. F/F: Shaq will outperform Ben Wallace this year.
Fact: On the defensive side Ben Wallace is slightly better. On the offensive side Shaq will destroy him. And that's with Shaq putting in about 50% effort. This year Shaq is in better condition and he's on a mission. I don't expect Shaq to show his full arsenal until the playoffs start (and in the Finals he will put on his greatest performance) but Shaq will still do better than Wallace in the regular season. Fact or Fiction: Dwyane Wade will have an improved jumpshot for the new season.
Fact. There's always room to improve when going into your second season, unless you are a bum your rookie year so as long as he is aware that he needs to work on it, I'm sure he will improve. Fact or Fiction: Matt Freije will see more time than Darko Milicic did last year.
Fact: The Pistons didn't need Darko to win so LB just had him on the bench to watch and learn the game. Darko is also young and LB doesn't trust him with the backup position. Freije, on the other hand, is on a team that lacks depth so his services will be called upon when needed. He is also has exp. in college for 3 years so he can earn backup minutes as a SF and maybe even PF. He is more ready to contribute than Darko was. Fact or Fiction: Shaq, saying he's looking to improve areas of his game, has an improved FT shot and sets a career high of 63% or better this season
Fiction: FT's are just something that Shaq can't do consistently, no matter how hard he tries to do them well. He can improve on other parts of his game however. F/F: Shaq and Wade form a great scoring combo on the court together who benefit from each other's presence?
Fact: Shaq holds the current record in the NBA for the best FG% (58%). With that kinda FG% I'm suprised he never won the scoring title. You betta believe Wade and co. are gonna feed him the ball every chance they get. And when Shaq takes so many shots that he draws double/triple teams, this will be Miami's chance to make em pay by passing it to the player with a wide open shot (the reason we've been stacking shooters all offseason). In Wade's case, Shaq will draw defenders away and leave an open lane for him to penetrate. It will be even better if Wade's jumpshot improves and he can start hitting 3s as this will allow the opp. defense to spread and not clog up the lane. I think those two will be racking up dimes just by themselves. Fact or Fiction: Miami has the NBA's #1 Offense (Starting Lineup): The most dominant player in the game with the best FG% (58%) constantly being fed the ball. When he draws the double/triple teams, the opponent will be punished for leaving players open that are capable of shooting the ball. 2 of which are great from the arc, the other 2 which have dedicated their offseason on improving their 3pt shot. The goal is to try to surround Shaq with 4 3PT shooters, keep our offensive options open, and make the other team's defence think about which play we will be running next.
Fact: It is a great strategy which will work. Like you said shaq will draw the double and triple teams which will leave the perimeter scorers wide open. If the opposing team doesn't use a double or triple team Shaq will score evey time. Fact or fiction: Eddie jones will be the second highest scorer on the team.
Fact: Although Wade will be a candidate for second best scorer, it's Eddie Jones' sniper shot from the 3 that will rack up the points. With all the open shots Shaq will create and Jones going 38% from the 3 last season, he will be a big scoring option and won't require as many possesion as last year to achieve the same stats. Fact or Fiction: Wade, who averaged 1.4spg last season (#2 among rookies #20 overall), will finish the season in the top 5 in steals per game. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">1. Baron Davis (New Orleans Hornets) 2.36spg 2. Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns) 2.11spg 3. Ron Artest (Indiana Pacers) 2.08spg 4. Andrei Kirilenko (Utah Jazz) 1.92spg 5. Doug Christie (Sacramento Kings) 1.84spg</div>
Fact: Wade needs to work on his defense more to accomplish that task but it's not impossible. I say wade will become a great defensive player toward the all star game and begin to shut down passing lanes and create more turnovers. Fact or fiction: Both Dwayne Wade and Shaq will make the all-star team.
Fact: Having Shaq around is gonna make Wade a better player and they will be the center of attention in the Eastern Conference. Fact or Fiction: Shaq, who leads the NBA in FG% (58%) and is in a team that will not hesitate to feed him the ball, will win the Scoring Title next season.
Fact: Having Shaq around is gonna make Wade a better player and they will be the center of attention in the Eastern Conference. Fact or Fiction: Wade, averaging 46%-FG last season (rookie) and now that he has Shaq on his team, will average 50%+ FG this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting heatfan83:</div><div class="quote_post">Fact: Having Shaq around is gonna make Wade a better player and they will be the center of attention in the Eastern Conference. Fact or Fiction: Wade, averaging 46%-FG last season (rookie) and now that he has Shaq on his team, will average 50%+ FG this season.</div> Fiction. He'll shoot just below 48% for the year. Fact or Fiction: Dorell Wright will play more than 15 minutes per game next season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mr.Wade:</div><div class="quote_post">if Shaq wasn't, 24 ppg 3 dimes. </div> Only 3 assists without Shaq? What are you, nuts?
~Fact~ Dorell Wright has great athleticism and has been compared to T-MAC coming out of high school. Right now he doesn't have a great body compared to the rest of the guards/forwards, he'll work on that this season. Fact or Fiction: D. Wright and D. Wade will be one of the top dynamic duos in the league in a few years.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OGmAXiFY:</div><div class="quote_post">~Fact~ Dorell Wright has great athleticism and has been compared to T-MAC coming out of high school. Right now he doesn't have a great body compared to the rest of the guards/forwards, he'll work on that this season. Fact or Fiction: D. Wright and D. Wade will be one of the top dynamic duos in the league in a few years.</div> Fiction: Too early too tell. If Wright lives up to his hype, it could possibly be, but right now Wright is just hype. Fact or Fiction: EJ's found his mojo and will have a season equal to his best season or better.
~Fiction~In his prime EJ was in his last season of Charlotte averaging, 20.1 ppg, 2.67 spg, 4.8 rpg, and 4.2 apg, and that was in the 99-00 season. I doubt at his age he would be able to top that. But he will get those numbers from time to time, just not consistently. Fact or Fiction: EJ will lead the league in 3-ptrs made and attempted.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OGmAXiFY:</div><div class="quote_post">~Fiction~In his prime EJ was in his last season of Charlotte averaging, 20.1 ppg, 2.67 spg, 4.8 rpg, and 4.2 apg, and that was in the 99-00 season. I doubt at his age he would be able to top that. But he will get those numbers from time to time, just not consistently. Fact or Fiction: EJ will lead the league in 3-ptrs made and attempted.</div> Fiction: He will contend but I don't think he will lead the league. He will be a contender cuz last year he was listed in those stat categories. Fact or Fiction: Rasual Butler will be a 45% or better FG shooter this season. Here's his NBA.com bio for reference: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rasual_butler/
Fiction... I think he will shoot the 3 pter about 35-38% and his fg will be about 43%... seems kind of inconsistent to me... I think he'll go 1 game 60% another 30%. F/F - Wade will start to get more limelight finally, because of his amazing play. (he's already gotten East player of the week) Might actually finally be compared to Bron and Melo to other people besides Heat fans.
Fact: Having Shaq around is gonna put him in the spotlight and people will start to notice. Fact or Fiction: Damon Jones will be in the top 10 in 3PTM this season.
