I wouldn't count him. Superstars sell tickets at home and on the road, have major endorsement deals, get good TV ratings and sell jerseys. It's not just stats. In my opinion.
It's not about whether Davis outscored Shaq. It's about whether he impacted Shaq's performance, which he did better than anyone else in the NBA. And Davis wasn't brought in to replace Sabonis, he was brought in to supplement him because he was too old to go toe-to-toe with Shaq who played, what, 38, maybe 39 minutes per game? The formula wasn't DD>Shaq, it was DDvs.Shaq>BGorRWorJOvs.Shaq.
It's not even close. "Even when you're just showin' off!" "Great seats, eh, buddy?" "Hey, you're Boog Powell!" "Don't drink the water!" "I also love the easy-open cans!"
And, I have no idea where this myth of Dale Davis as a Shaq stopper came from. Shaq absolutely dominated that finals against IND. I think it was propaganda put out by our front office at the time of the trade. After that 4th quarter Game 7 melt down they probably thought most of us were too depressed to watch the Finals and didn't notice Shaq dropping 38 a game on Dale Davis. That was Shaq's best season. He won the regular season MVP, the All Star Game MVP and the Finals MVP. He led the league in scoring. Posted his career high scoring average, second best rebounding season and tied for career best PER. He was a near unanimous MVP (Iverson got one vote) and came in second in DPOY. But as dominant as he was, prior to the Dale Davis trade, we were already the best in the league at guarding him. In four regular season games, he only averaged 20.5 ppg against us and in the playoffs, he scored fewer ppg against us than anyone else, especially the Pacers. Here's his scoring averages in the playoffs that year: 1st Round Opponent = SAC, 29.4 ppg 2nd Round Opponent = PHO, 30.2 ppg WCF Opponent = POR, 25.9 ppg NBA Finals Opponent = IND, 38.0 ppg How can anyone possibly look at that and tell us with a straight face that the key to stopping Shaq is trading for Dale Davis? BNM
Absolute bullshit. Shaq lit up Davis for 38 ppg in that finals series. We held him to 25.9 ppg in the WCF and 20.5 PPG in the regular season. In 11 games against us that year Shaq only scored above his seasonal average against us twice, including Game 1 of the WCF when Dunleavy resorted to Hack a Shaq and sent him to the line 27 times. Other than that, he only cracked 28 points against us once in 10 other games. In 8 games against IND that year, he scored above his seasonal average 7 times, including 7 games above 30 points and 3 above 40 (all in the Finals). His low scoring game in the 6-game Finals series against IND was 33 points. He scored 43, 40, 33, 35, 36 and 41 against IND in that series. Shaq stopper my ass. BNM
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=davisda01&p2=onealsh01 Davis vs Shaq h2h
Well, the first step is realizing there's a problem, I guess: http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...h_pledges_to_get_in_the_gym_and_get_righ.html
"...he's been very aggressive taking his outside shot..." That sure sounds like an oxymoron to me. LaNoah Vonlidge, we already have a big guy who actually shoots well. Why don't you try setting yourself apart by working on something this team lacks?
Who knows, maybe it's his only viable path into the rotation? I sometimes get the feeling that Stotts doesn't actually want guys on the block -- his first move was to push LaMarcus to foul-line-extended.
He's always had a jumper. Even since HS. You act like somethings wrong with that. All PFs need a jump shot. PFs all have to be well rounded now.
It sure seems that way. I think he is ok with one player down low on the block, but he certainly likes to spread the floor. And if the center is in the paint, the PF is rarely close until the shot is attempted. Which is why I think he really likes Meyers. Aminu with a reliable 3 pt shot would be ideal for Terry.
I was mostly just poking fun at the wording - I picture "aggressive" being an attack on the basket, whereas jump shots are more passive. Also, the name LaNoah Vonlidge just came popped into my mind as a fully formed nick name and it made me giggle, so I wanted to use it. I don't dislike Noah at all (but neither am I on his bandwagon). I actually hope he gets consistent with his jumper because playing him at PF with Meyers at C could be a lot of fun! In an ideal world where they both develop they are our starting PF/C.
