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Hi Haters!!!!!
Shaq bringing out vintage moves
by Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
If you feel you're seeing more vintage Shaquille O'Neal than just old Shaquille O'Neal with the Suns this season, you're probably right.
O'Neal said he is physically able to dip into his repertoire and pull out some low-post moves that were gathering dust when he arrived in a trade for Shawn Marion last season.
The result is a revitalized O'Neal, who enters tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks at US Airways Center making a pretty convincing case for a reserve spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
"I'm using a lot more," O'Neal said of his low-post options. "My game is different. It's a mixture of everybody's game. When I was coming up I was like, 'OK, spin lob - David Robinson. Get the knees up - Rony Seikaly. 'Bow people in the face and look mean - Patrick Ewing. Then I just added a little of my own."
Like his signature drop-step spin move. It's back.
"You always take what the defense gives you, but I couldn't always do that last year," he said. "I've got a lot of young, energetic, new-millennium trainers here, and they're really into their craft."
O'Neal said his problem was major.
"A muscle in my (rear) wasn't firing," he explained. "So they left me for dead. 'He's old. He don't have it anymore.' Now I'm doing things I couldn't do last year because my (rear) wasn't firing."
Makes sense. O'Neal without his gluteus muscles is like Allen Iverson without his crossover, Tim Duncan without his bank shot, Rasheed Wallace without his rants.
O'Neal is averaging 17.4 points and nine rebounds a game.
But since telling management, "If you want me to be Shaq, let me be Shaq," he has averaged 22.8 points and 10 rebounds over the past 10 games.
Still, teams have continued to guard him one-on-one in the vast majority of his low-post possessions, according to a breakdown on Synergy Technology's Web-based scouting service.
"That's because of the age factor," O'Neal said. "And once something is out there, it's out there. Last year, I didn't have all these moves, and they thought, 'Shaq's old. He ain't got no moves. We're not going to double him.'
"You can't do that. And if they do double, I play smart, do what I do and get everybody involved.
"Now that I'm hitting free throws, I have confidence to go to an array of moves.
"People that like to do mathematics can tell you if a guy shoots (58) percent, he isn't being doubled, he's shooting well from the line and he's a great passer; it's a no-brainer. Give it to him."
Now, O'Neal believes the Suns finally are beginning to hit their stride as a team, finding a balance between pushing the ball and pounding it inside.
"The last 10 years I've been there (won a championship) four times," he said. "Mr. (Tim) Duncan has been there four times, and we play a similar style. I've always learned that if you live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot - a la Dallas when I was in Miami and we were in the Finals. They were smoking in the first two games, but we won the series."
And O'Neal joked that Suns fans still haven't seen everything in his bag of tricks.
"I'm working on my Steve Smith," he said of the former NBA star's signature move. "He would hesitate, move his head like he's going that way and then spin this way.
"Yeah, I'm bringing that out."
Hi Haters!!!!!
Hahah, I love Shaq. Glad he is playing great
The Heat's medical staff could not have been that incompetent with thier treatments. Don't get me wrong I am glad Shaq is playing like the Shaq of old. But lets be honest he quit on Miami when Wade struggled with injury last year.
And if the Suns falter at all... the whining and ing will begin there too. And it will end up with him departing while bashing the players and organization just as he did for his previous 3.
Looking forward to Shaq vs Yao again. It hasn't been good for the last few years but let the rivalry begin anew.
Shogun vs Shogun
ing Shaq haters.
Shaq plays great when he gets his rest.
And you can't even say that with the majority of soon to be 37 year olds. You give me a draft from the top players over the past 20 draft, I would take O'neal #1.
I would take Tim Duncan over Shaq.
Just imagine Duncan in place of Shaq on that Lakers team. Now don't tell me they wouldn't have won like 5-7 championships in a row.
Duncan single handedly beat the Lakers in 1999 & 2003.
Anyhow it's good to see that Shaq respects Duncan the most out of all current players. That should say something after all.
Nobody was stopping Shaq in 01 or 00. Shaq was as money as it could get in the Finals all three years.
Shaq's stretch of dominance at the beginning of this decade was unbelievable. I do however think when LeBron hits his apex, his prime could be just as good.
I'd sure as love to have Shaq on the Mavs. I'd give up Howard for him right now.
Can we trade the entire Rockets training staff for the Suns?
No.
good for shaq and the suns.
i hope duncan can put up similar numbers at shaq's age.
Yes, if you take Kerr off our hands.
I think he can do well. What I like about duncan's game is it does not depend on athleticism. It's more about positioning and skill so you may not see a huge drop in his performance until he gets really old in nba years. Players like Amare, I worry about when they get closer to 30.
lol yea i would agree
shoulda hired a stat man. Kerr is quickly nearing epic fail proportions and nearing Isaih Thomas status.
The problem with TD if he still decides to play til he gets to shaq's age is he doesnt have the bulk ala shaq so he cant just bulldoze his way around the paint like what the big cactus does. There's still the bank shot though.
Something tells me Duncan will play just as well as Shaq when he's 37 without the 3-4 years of lull and whining and ing inbetween.
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