Shaq would’ve been stuck on the bench in :lol today’s NBA

[ambchang]

:lol lucky boban

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-the-most-efficient-scorer-in-nba-history-is-stuck-on-the-bench/?addata=espn:nba:index

[lefty]

That's true.

But that's because he had no skill, just superhuman strength.
Which was enough to carry Kobe

[LkrFan]

No he wouldn't :lmao He would still demand triple teams (which provides spacing for shooters). His and-1s would be his "3ptr" if he could only make his freebies :lol

Hack-a-Shaq is the only remedy in today's NBA. But to do so would slow down the pace of the game. Then they can't even do it when there's 2 minutes left in the game no more.

He'd average 35/18/3 in today's NBA

:lol at OP using Boban as justification for the most dominant player in the history of the NBA not being able to play in this era

-250 points for this thread!! :lmao

[Killakobe81]

shaq would punish small ball lineups only problen he was horrible at hedging in pnr ...but a good lane protector/deterrent
and he would draw fouls, putting his teammates that can hit Fts in the early bonus ...

[Chucho]

The man toted around the biggest piece of luggage in NBA history. If DeAndre Jordan can stay on the floor in today's game, Shaq would be a multi time MVP and the Lakers would be relevant.

[RsxPiimp]

The man toted around the biggest piece of luggage in NBA history. If DeAndre Jordan can stay on the floor in today's game, Shaq would be a multi time MVP and the Lakers would be relevant.

lakers are relevant chuchoo. kuzma has more all star votes than lamarcus aldridge for cryin out loud. they have more national televised games than the spurs too despite putting a shitty product.

[Chucho]

lakers are relevant chuchoo. kuzma has more all star votes than lamarcus aldridge for cryin out loud. they have more national televised games than the spurs too despite putting a shitty product.

I'm talking competitive-relevant. By your logic, the Knicks and Bulls are relevant too. Being in the discussion about being a legit squad, not being the beneficiary of big market bias, not being halfway through the downward spiral the Luggage sent yall down.

[RsxPiimp]

I'm talking competitive-relevant. By your logic, the Knicks and Bulls are relevant too. Being in the discussion about being a legit squad, not being the beneficiary of big market bias, not being halfway through the downward spiral the Luggage sent yall down.



oh my bad. i got you dawg :hat

[daslicer]

Shaq would still be dominant in today's NBA. I remember last week watching Dwight Howard destroy the Warriors. Majority of his points were off of post ups and he was getting a lot of assists out of passing out of the double teams. Outside of Demarcus Cousins, Dwight, there is no big man in the NBA that is great at playing back to the basket. Dwight was able to wreck the Warriors and there is no doubt in my mind that Shaq would demolish them.

[Chris Fall]

Shaq was too dominant for him not to still be a great player in today's game. I do think where things change is in the playoffs against certain teams who play small ball and play outside-in. The issue is not only Shaq defending the picknroll, but him guarding big men who are not only decent jumpshooters but are superior jumpshooters all the way out to the three point line.

When the Spurs go small and LMA is at the 5, how is Shaq supposed to defend him? How is Shaq supposed to defend Draymond Green and his perimeter skills when he's the only non perimeter player on the court for the Warriors? For as unstoppable as Shaq would be at one end, his inability to defend at the other will end up leading to three pointers versus his two point bunnies. That's not even considering how much more fat-paced a lot of the better teams are now, forcing up and down tempo and very little halfcourt play. Prime Shaq was still too good not to play, but in a playoff series against certain teams, I could very easily see him getting more limited minutes because of the style of play. It also means imo that multiple championships would not be guaranteed for a Shaq centered team, even in his prime.

[Canyonero]

Shaq could buy more fish tanks if he earned today's NBA salaries.

[ambchang]

shaq would punish small ball lineups only problen he was horrible at hedging in pnr ...but a good lane protector/deterrent
and he would draw fouls, putting his teammates that can hit Fts in the early bonus ...

All things boban can do.

[UZER]

Young Shaq would be great.

Fat Shaq would struggle.

[ambchang]

No he wouldn't :lmao He would still demand triple teams (which provides spacing for shooters). His and-1s would be his "3ptr" if he could only make his freebies :lol

Hack-a-Shaq is the only remedy in today's NBA. But to do so would slow down the pace of the game. Then they can't even do it when there's 2 minutes left in the game no more.

He'd average 35/18/3 in today's NBA

:lol at OP using Boban as justification for the most dominant player in the history of the NBA not being able to play in this era

-250 points for this thread!! :lmao

Shaqs total inability to defend even the pnr is well known. He can’t even d out to the ft line, let alone the 3. Players like Steve smith and Penny Hardaway made people think they still had game because they faced off shaq. Bibby was an all star because of shaq.

Teams would just crowd shaq in :lol today’s nba because the rules allow it. His aggressive offence would be charges in :lol today’s game every time. He would be useless on a winning team. Sure he may still get 25/12, but his teams would be borderline playoff teams.

[Killakobe81]

All things boban can do.

Shaq is overrated by some ...but putting him and Boban in the same sentence ...let alone paragraph is highly insulting not just to Shaq but to anyone who watched both play and saw prime Shaq.

[Chucho]

Kobe is overrated by most ..

:tu

[Chris]

Yeah - when you don't get called for offensive fouls or traveling, it's easy to dominate the post. Shaq was a manufactured superstar thanks to Stern and his zebra squad. Today's NBA :lol isn't much better.

[spurraider21]

this thread is retarded. shaq would have been incredibly dominant

[ambchang]

Shaq is overrated by some ...but putting him and Boban in the same sentence ...let alone paragraph is highly insulting not just to Shaq but to anyone who watched both play and saw prime Shaq.

Will boban be as good as shaq if he played in that era? No. But shaq is a beneficiary of the times. Put him in today’s game and he may still get the numbers but his team wouldn’t be winning chips.

[Arcadian]

Shaq had skill. Drop step, jump hook. Shot fake, up and under, slam dunk. Fake, counterfake, fading one-hand shot. Spin move, dunk.

That's all he needed with his physical prowess.

[weebo]

Prime Shaq would single handedly end the warriors run :lol

[weebo]

Shaq was too dominant for him not to still be a great player in today's game. I do think where things change is in the playoffs against certain teams who play small ball and play outside-in. The issue is not only Shaq defending the picknroll, but him guarding big men who are not only decent jumpshooters but are superior jumpshooters all the way out to the three point line.

When the Spurs go small and LMA is at the 5, how is Shaq supposed to defend him? How is Shaq supposed to defend Draymond Green and his perimeter skills when he's the only non perimeter player on the court for the Warriors? For as unstoppable as Shaq would be at one end, his inability to defend at the other will end up leading to three pointers versus his two point bunnies. That's not even considering how much more fat-paced a lot of the better teams are now, forcing up and down tempo and very little halfcourt play. Prime Shaq was still too good not to play, but in a playoff series against certain teams, I could very easily see him getting more limited minutes because of the style of play. It also means imo that multiple championships would not be guaranteed for a Shaq centered team, even in his prime.

RAymond Green would have fouled out in the first quarter guarding Shaq.

[AaronY]

Young Orlando Shaq was fairly athletic and nimble. No less athletic than Jordan from the Clippers

[AaronY]

Yeah - when you don't get called for offensive fouls or traveling, it's easy to dominate the post. Shaq was a manufactured superstar thanks to Stern and his zebra squad. Today's NBA :lol isn't much better.
You're retarded on every topic there is huh?

[Spurtacular]

Shaq would lose to the Warriors and then join them.

[RsxPiimp]

Prime Shaq would single handedly end the warriors run :lol

depends on the construction of the team. shaq will get his numbers, possibly average 50 and 15 in a series without exaggeration but they’re trading 3 for 2 everytime.

im not sure the 3 peat lakers could beat this warriors team.

[Clipper Nation]

Shaq would still be a beast, but I'm not sure a team built around him would have as much team success in this era with all the three-point chuckers.

[dfens]

young shaq would absolutely crush this league. there are no real bigs today, both in size and in skill, as there is no personnel for twin tower lineups (where skill is needed). without 2 real bigs on the floor shaq is unstoppable so you can kiss that small ball shit goodbye when your frontcourt is 3rd/4th foul at the end of the 1st quarter. this snowballs into total defensive collapse and a bad beatdown. also young shaq was a dpoy level player, more athletic than dwight, with his size advantage good luck pnr-ing him efficiently.

shaq would probably be 36/20/7 60% with 3 blocks, but his greatest impact would be fouling out the entire team.

also lol at boban, irrelevant scrub.

[Isitjustme?]

Shaq would still be a beast, but I'm not sure a team built around him would have as much team success in this era with all the three-point chuckers.

Just Shaq and four three point shooters then. Imagine trying not to double Shaq because the rest of the roster is beyond the three point line and can all hit threes :wow

[Chris Fall]

Analytics freaks would tell teams to let Shaq get his, don't double, don't foul. Stay home on his three point shooting teammates. And then punish Shaq at the other end in picknroll action and jumpshooting big men. Shaq would put up big numbers. From an individual statistical standpoint, yes, he'd crush the league. The better playoff caliber teams who play more uptempo, shoot threes at a high clip, and have 7 footers who shoot well and have perimeter skills would put a Shaq team in a tough spot, especially in a playoff series.

Shaq puts up big numbers. His teams not necessarily championship level in this era.

[dfens]

Analytics freaks would tell teams to let Shaq get his, don't double, don't foul. Stay home on his three point shooting teammates. And then punish Shaq at the other end in picknroll action and jumpshooting big men. Shaq would put up big numbers. From an individual statistical standpoint, yes, he'd crush the league. The better playoff caliber teams who play more uptempo, shoot threes at a high clip, and have 7 footers who shoot well and have perimeter skills would put a Shaq team in a tough spot, especially in a playoff series.

Shaq puts up big numbers. His teams not necessarily championship level in this era.

defending shaq 1v1 with no help means 40 ppg @ 65-70% with your team in the bonus after 2-3 minutes a quarter ... good luck defending a whole series with 80% of the game in the bonus.
that's why all superstars are defended by a the best defender + help.

shaq would break today's nba tbh.

[Chris Fall]

Let him score 40 points on 70% shooting. Hell, let him score 50 points on 80% shooting. If you do a good enough job defensively on everyone else, those points don't necessarily beat you. If you're a good playoff team who can score in bunches, all the better. As I previously said, don't foul. Let Shaq get his. So you font play in the bonus. Stop everyone else. Run uptempo, make Shaq defend a perimeter big, put him in a bunch of PNRs, and you exploit him at the other end.

shaq would put up gaudy numbers. Probably wouldn't win titles.

[UZER]

Let him score 40 points on 70% shooting. Hell, let him score 50 points on 80% shooting. If you do a good enough job defensively on everyone else, those points don't necessarily beat you. If you're a good playoff team who can score in bunches, all the better. As I previously said, don't foul. Let Shaq get his. So you font play in the bonus. Stop everyone else. Run uptempo, make Shaq defend a perimeter big, put him in a bunch of PNRs, and you exploit him at the other end.

shaq would put up gaudy numbers. Probably wouldn't win titles.

This the same strategy I used to say to use on Curry. But then Durant went and fucked it a up because he's the biggest pussy free agent of all time.

[koriwhat]

shaq would put up better stats in todays nba. why you ask, because he dominated even when it was more defensive in nature and more of an inside game. oh no 3's, but try to enter the lane with a shaq waiting for you. good luck! try stopping a shaq from getting to the rim when defense is a thing of the past. good luck!

[spurraider21]

:lol imagine the warriors trying to guard him with draymond in their "death" lineup

[daslicer]

I don't look at as 3's beat 2's with Shaq. Realistically Shaq has a higher chance of going 10 straight possession with 10 straight dunks versus the Warriors going 10 straight possessions with 10 straight 3's. Warriors could hit a few threes but Shaq scoring 7-10 times in a row would be mentally demoralizing for their psyche as it was for other team's psyches from '00-'02. A lot of teams had the game plan of letting Shaq get his and shutting down everyone else but from what I remember few were mentally tough enough to stick to the game plan when Shaq started going off.

[ambchang]

No sure since when was shaq known as some monster inside presence on defense.

[DMC]

Since this is about Boban with hyperbole about Shaq, Boban's obscene scoring efficiency is due, in large part, to the fact he only plays trash minutes but has the body for starting minutes, meaning he doesn't see people his size while he's on the court.

Besides, players aren't chosen for the scoring efficiency - most NBA players can score if given the rock - but because they are a + on the +/- of the team's results. I am not sure Boban is that. Shaq was that and then some, and then some more.

It's really stupid to compare Shaq to Boban.

[DMC]

Let him score 40 points on 70% shooting. Hell, let him score 50 points on 80% shooting. If you do a good enough job defensively on everyone else, those points don't necessarily beat you. If you're a good playoff team who can score in bunches, all the better. As I previously said, don't foul. Let Shaq get his. So you font play in the bonus. Stop everyone else. Run uptempo, make Shaq defend a perimeter big, put him in a bunch of PNRs, and you exploit him at the other end.

shaq would put up gaudy numbers. Probably wouldn't win titles.

If you had a team that could stop everyone else, you'd be a shoo in anyhow. You cannot stop everyone else. You have more than one scorer on a team, it's not because no one guards them. Hell, Patty Mills could lead the NBA in scoring if he was given the minutes and no one guarded him. Guys who score in bunches are often shooting through a double team, or taking the ball to the hole through a crowd. That's where Shaq would be unstoppable, just as Durant makes Curry unstoppable and vice versa. You have to pick someone to guard. You cannot guard Shaq in the pant because once he gets the ball close to the rim - it's over. Add to it that Shaq had underrated ball handing skills for a guy his size and that makes it even more dangerous.

If you just didn't guard Shaq, Shaq would not get tired. He would score every trip down the floor (because he could cover the floor pretty well) and you'd be down 30 before you knew what happened.

You didn't have to "let" Shaq score 40. He'd do it against your will.

[TDMVPDPOY]

he get his stats, but at the costs of the team winning games...

he wont be on the floor if teams hack a shaq all game, the opportunity costs of his ft pts for more pts for the other team on the other end is worth the game for the opponent... remember when pop hack a shaq when he was with phoenix in that playoffs series...

[dfens]

No sure since when was shaq known as some monster inside presence on defense.

before the lakers he had like 2.5 bpg, good man defense and absolutely frightening presence for any rim attacker in the league.

also his playoffs defense >>>>> regular season defense, similar to what lebron is doing these days, so when it mattered most he was close to dpoy level. he just didn't get any silverware because he shared his best years defensive years with peak hakeem/mutombo/wallace/rodman.

[dfens]

smh reading this thread I realize most of you people have no understanding of how playing in the penalty absolutely kills defenses ... today's nba fans tbh :lol

[ambchang]

before the lakers he had like 2.5 bpg, good man defense and absolutely frightening presence for any rim attacker in the league.

also his playoffs defense >>>>> regular season defense, similar to what lebron is doing these days, so when it mattered most he was close to dpoy level. he just didn't get any silverware because he shared his best years defensive years with peak hakeem/mutombo/wallace/rodman.

And yet during that time he couldn’t get on any all d teams. His d rating is average at best and is similar in the playoffs vs the regular season.

It’s well known the way to attack the lakers was pick and roll them to death because shaq won’t switch and always says, giving the ball handler wide open jumpers all game.

In an age where those pick and rolls are now wide open three pointers, shaqs defensive weakness just immediately got magnified by 50%.

On offence, the league has now basically allowed doubling without the ball with zone, rendering the low post game less effective. Shaq was a great passer off of double team so it really depends if he is surrounded by great three point shooters

[dfens]

And yet during that time he couldn’t get on any all d teams. His d rating is average at best and is similar in the playoffs vs the regular season.

It’s well known the way to attack the lakers was pick and roll them to death because shaq won’t switch and always says, giving the ball handler wide open jumpers all game.

In an age where those pick and rolls are now wide open three pointers, shaqs defensive weakness just immediately got magnified by 50%.

On offence, the league has now basically allowed doubling without the ball with zone, rendering the low post game less effective. Shaq was a great passer off of double team so it really depends if he is surrounded by great three point shooters

he has 3 2nd team all-nba defense, only one center position.
son I was talking about young shaq, not fat lakers shaq.
also, the lakers did not switch because shaq's defensive rebounding impacted their defense more then him running around on pnrs.

in a league where kevin FUCKING love won a ring against the warriors I get to read this shit .... y'all niggas are getting the league you deserve smh.

[LkrFan]

defending shaq 1v1 with no help means 40 ppg @ 65-70% with your team in the bonus after 2-3 minutes a quarter ... good luck defending a whole series with 80% of the game in the bonus.
that's why all superstars are defended by a the best defender + help.

shaq would break today's nba tbh.

Truth.

[LkrFan]

smh reading this thread I realize most of you people have no understanding of how playing in the penalty absolutely kills defenses ... today's nba fans tbh :lol

:lol

[daslicer]

he has 3 2nd team all-nba defense, only one center position.
son I was talking about young shaq, not fat lakers shaq.
also, the lakers did not switch because shaq's defensive rebounding impacted their defense more then him running around on pnrs.

in a league where kevin FUCKING love won a ring against the warriors I get to read this shit .... y'all niggas are getting the league you deserve smh.

People also forget that Shaq didn't become fat until after he won his first championship in '00. I remember MVP Shaq was in great shape.

[ambchang]

he has 3 2nd team all-nba defense, only one center position.
son I was talking about young shaq, not fat lakers shaq.
also, the lakers did not switch because shaq's defensive rebounding impacted their defense more then him running around on pnrs.

in a league where kevin FUCKING love won a ring against the warriors I get to read this shit .... y'all niggas are getting the league you deserve smh.

Young shaq couldn’t pass effectively either.

No, shaq just couldn’t defend the pnr with the lakers evacuee he wa so damn out of shape.

Love gets more hate than he deserves.

[dfens]

Young shaq couldn’t pass effectively either.

No, shaq just couldn’t defend the pnr with the lakers evacuee he wa so damn out of shape.

Love gets more hate than he deserves.

son young shaq would play volleyball inside with the entire warriors team, he wouldn't even need to think about passing the fucking ball. it'd be layup/foul/and1 and 1 orpg per possession.

also lol of glass like curry constantly pnr-ing shaq .. any bump and this nigga is hospitalized.

also any shaq would absolutely tire the other team the fuck out, because defending and being defended by somebody physical and twice your weight is hard as fuck (physical contact, bumps, collisions, boxing out, fighting for position, screens, etc) , so good luck running and shooting jumpers while getting battered by shaq. that would be a horrible shooting series for whoever is playing those offensive pnrs.

love is an undersized no vertical slow footed defensive liability .. the fuck does he deserve, a medal for trying? shaq got defensive teams in an era of ELITE defensive Cs and you're talking about kevin fucking love who can't post up stickman durant and who can't even defend nigball players in today's nba.

just fucking lol at all your post :lmao don't you think there were good coaches back then? good shooting teams? that the best they could come up with was hack-a-shaq? that they didn't try other things? why do you think every roster was stacked with bigs? maybe to not get your better front court players foul out in 10 minutes? do you even think before posting this shit tbh?

also lol not even understanding the rule changes which would let a young shaq roam the paint freely. I didn't even talk about that.

bonus: everybody would love a corny idiot like shaq so he'd be even more popular then back then, so good luck with getting calls on him. he'd be like defensive lebron, only whistled for technicals.

the corpse of dwight fucking howard dropped 30 points and a double digit win on these faggots with the bottom of the barrel whorenet team and you're telling me about how pnr would make shaq human :lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao... honestly you should just stop watching and stick to beisball tbh.

[dfens]

People also forget that Shaq didn't become fat until after he won his first championship in '00. I remember MVP Shaq was in great shape.

shaq is probably the rarest human specimen in our recorded history, to be that big and that fluid, with that weight :wow

[daslicer]

shaq is probably the rarest human specimen in our recorded history, to be that big and that fluid, with that weight :wow

Him and Barkley are the only two players I have ever seen that could still play at a high level even when they were overweight.

[ambchang]

son young shaq would play volleyball inside with the entire warriors team, he wouldn't even need to think about passing the fucking ball. it'd be layup/foul/and1 and 1 orpg per possession.

also lol of glass like curry constantly pnr-ing shaq .. any bump and this nigga is hospitalized.

also any shaq would absolutely tire the other team the fuck out, because defending and being defended by somebody physical and twice your weight is hard as fuck (physical contact, bumps, collisions, boxing out, fighting for position, screens, etc) , so good luck running and shooting jumpers while getting battered by shaq. that would be a horrible shooting series for whoever is playing those offensive pnrs.

love is an undersized no vertical slow footed defensive liability .. the fuck does he deserve, a medal for trying? shaq got defensive teams in an era of ELITE defensive Cs and you're talking about kevin fucking love who can't post up stickman durant and who can't even defend nigball players in today's nba.

just fucking lol at all your post :lmao don't you think there were good coaches back then? good shooting teams? that the best they could come up with was hack-a-shaq? that they didn't try other things? why do you think every roster was stacked with bigs? maybe to not get your better front court players foul out in 10 minutes? do you even think before posting this shit tbh?

also lol not even understanding the rule changes which would let a young shaq roam the paint freely. I didn't even talk about that.

bonus: everybody would love a corny idiot like shaq so he'd be even more popular then back then, so good luck with getting calls on him. he'd be like defensive lebron, only whistled for technicals.

the corpse of dwight fucking howard dropped 30 points and a double digit win on these faggots with the bottom of the barrel whorenet team and you're telling me about how pnr would make shaq human :lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao... honestly you should just stop watching and stick to beisball tbh.

Nobody said shaq can’t score. Shaq just can’t be on the floor because the other team would exploit him on defense and shoot wide open threes all game long. So what he roams the paint? People will shoot threes. The ironic thing is that shaq made all d during his laker days. He couldn’t cut it earlier because there were greats. His competition was mourning and no one else.

Stackhouse once scored 57 points in a game back in the day, mighty mouse once scored 54, does that mean any random guard in today’s game will average 90 back in the day? Does that mean curry will eric the league back then? What’s the point of bringing up one single 30 point game from Dwight.

And lol about those fouls. The entire point is :lol today’s nba fairy rules. Shaq would’ve been offensive fouled out by the 3 minute mark of the second quarter because he’s too mean.

[koriwhat]

people are underestimating shaq and who he was in his prime. warriors would be crying game 2 because they know they'd lose the series vs big diesel.