NBA: In his prime, was Shaq stoppable by one player?

[ambchang]

It really has been a while since we have seen a player as dominant as Shaq in his heydays. Someone who can put up 40/15 in the finals like it's another day in the office. In the playoffs, the Spurs, with the Admiral, Duncan and Rose double and tripling him, not to mention having the entire defense focusing on him and ignoring everybody else, were the only team that really limited Shaq in a series. However, the Spurs lost the war as they allowed role players to step up and were swept in that series.

The only way to really stop Shaq for an entire series is to deny him the ball, but unfortunately to the opposition, Shaq had great hands and agility, and can catch anything that was thrown to him.

My question is, was there one single player who could stop Shaq in his prime? I couldn't think of any.

[Michael Jordan.]

It really has been a while since we have seen a player as dominant as Shaq in his heydays. Someone who can put up 40/15 in the finals like it's another day in the office. In the playoffs, the Spurs, with the Admiral, Duncan and Rose double and tripling him, not to mention having the entire defense focusing on him and ignoring everybody else, were the only team that really limited Shaq in a series. However, the Spurs lost the war as they allowed role players to step up and were swept in that series.

The only way to really stop Shaq for an entire series is to deny him the ball, but unfortunately to the opposition, Shaq had great hands and agility, and can catch anything that was thrown to him.

My question is, was there one single player who could stop Shaq in his prime? I couldn't think of any.

Kobe.

[spurraider21]

Kobe.

[Leetonidas]

Kobe.

[Spur-Addict]

Kobe.

[Katherine Robinson]

Stopped, no. He was limited by defensive schemes, usually a team's main producer isn't stopped. He is either limited or the offensive threat of the team is contained to one or two players.

[Kidd K]

Kobe.

Funniest about this post is this guy's user name tbh.

Michael Jordan has spoken.

[lefty]

Kobe.

[DMC]

He sets them up, he knocks them down.

[ezau]

Michael Jordan is one badass m'fer

[Kool Bob Love]

Kobe.

[Kool Bob Love]

Michael Jordan is one badass m'fer

[HI-FI]

ambchang definitely deserves an assist with dat one, though MJ had the dunk from the FT line.

it's the truth though, no one could stop him straight up, but getting stabbed in the back from a rapist was too much tbh.

[Capt Bringdown]

Man called Hakeem. Shaq still got his numbers in that Orlando series, but Hakeem was the more dominant player.

[Leetonidas]

Lakerfan avoiding this thread as well

[AchillesHeel]

Kobe.

Simple. Yet effective.

[ambchang]

What the GOAT said has a lot of truth, so I looked up whether this was true, and found this article:

http://www.82games.com/kobeshaq.htm

Predictably, Shaq's field goal attempts, free throw attempts and points per 40 minutes increase when he's playing without Kobe, and his overall offensive scoring efficiency increases by a hefty 7.1 points per 100 possessions. His FG% also improves without Bryant alongside. The only stat with significant dropoff is his blocks per 40 minutes, where for some reason he gets about half as many without Kobe.

Interesting indeed.


The article also showed how Lakers playing with Shaq but no Kobe has a +/- of +57, while having a +/- of -67 when they played Kobe but no Shaq.

Split up, Shaq proves to be the player that makes the most difference to winning and losing (at least with the 03-04 Lakers), by a considerable margin -- a raw +57 plus/minus without Kobe looks pretty good next to Kobe's -67 plus/minus without Shaquille, and on a per 48 minute basis it's +3.8 for Shaq alone to -4.6 for Kobe alone.

[Captivus]

Kobe.

[Clipper Nation]

Lakerfan can't even respond to this ....

[Bynumite]

Kobe.

Agreed. That's why Shaq is on the end of the 2>1 stick... tee, hee

On topic, Hakeem outplayed, didn't dominate Shaq. Shaq still put up monster numbers against Hakeem.

During the 3peat years, Kobe stepped up against the west, then came the no name eastern big men.

[AchillesHeel]

Agreed. That's why Shaq is on the end of the 2>1 stick... tee, hee

On topic, Hakeem outplayed, didn't dominate Shaq. Shaq still put up monster numbers against Hakeem.

During the 3peat years, Kobe stepped up against the west, then came the no name eastern big men.

And who exactly guarded Kirby that was so special from 00-02? Why didn't he "dominate" the Finals? Even when Kirby was at his best in the Western Conference, Shaq still managed to do better.

[ambchang]

And who exactly guarded Kirby that was so special from 00-02? Why didn't he "dominate" the Finals? Even when Kirby was at his best in the Western Conference, Shaq still managed to do better.

A 49 year old Steve Smith.

[Holden_Caulfield]

[Michael Jordan.]

Agreed. That's why Shaq is on the end of the 2>1 stick... tee, hee

On topic, Hakeem outplayed, didn't dominate Shaq. Shaq still put up monster numbers against Hakeem.

During the 3peat years, Kobe stepped up against the west, then came the no name eastern big men.

In those years, Kobe shot 44%, 43%, and 46% in the playoffs. Taking more shots than Shaq 2 out of 3 years, but converting at a lower rate. When it came to the finals, Daddy took more shots all three years while being super efficient. Bryant, the overrated chucker, couldn't hit the side of the barn being left wide open and even if a naked white girl wasstanding right in front of him. Shaq's shooting percentage those years in the playoffs? 45%, 52%, 64%., averaging about 15 rebounds a game and that's leaving out the 40/20 Shaq was good for in the finals. . Kobe? 7, 5, 5. Now that's clutch.

[elmanutres]

Kobe.