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i would enjoy watching Shaq deal with Vic's ballhandling.
that Shammy he pulled on Gobert would have sent him into the 8th row.
Jokic, Wemby, Embiid, and Chet are all dropping 50 and scoring at will on Shaq lol GTFO
Oh man, Jokic would cook him so hard. Like hard hard.
i would enjoy watching Shaq deal with Vic's ballhandling.
that Shammy he pulled on Gobert would have sent him into the 8th row.
I love Wemby but Shaq was 10x more bully than Sengun or Zubac. Come on guys.
Wemby would need to make his outside shots
He would absolutely break Shaq’s ankles on any crossover. You’re only looking at it from Shaq’s strengths.
Shaq isn't wrong if they are playing a one-on-one game, I think Shaq would shove Wemby to the rafters in those type of street-brawl games, and to be fair, he did it to everyone back in the day too because the rules were different. Unbeknownst to Shaq, the game has changed, it has changed a LOT.
In a team game, Shaq had trouble guarding pick and rolls even back in those days and let the likes of Damon Stoudemire, and Mike Bibby rain jumpers on him all game. Now imagine in a league where teams are launching 3s like they are free throws, where every possession is a pick and roll/pop and now centers are mobile and skillful enough to not just roll to the rim, but step back for threes, consistently hit mid-rangers, but God-forbid initiate pick and rolls themselves! Shaq may have forgotten, in a vote for changing the illegal defence rules, the Lakers were expected to have voted against the changes, where the logic was that allowing a zone will hamper Shaq's ability to score with constant collapses into the lane. However the Lakers actually were in favour because Shaq's poor pick and roll defence was becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
In a team game, Wemby will be able to shoot 3s at a reasonable rate to just cover for Shaq's post touches, if he was able to get the ball at all. Defensive schemes are so much more advanced now as illegal defence rules have allowed this constant flow of rotations that would fluster the best of post players. To Shaq's credit, he does have excellent vision out of the post but that is also precisely why teams are playing away from the post in today's game, because no player can hold the ball for 3 seconds, scan the floor, dribble for another 5 seconds while backing his man down in the heart of a 5-man defence that can collapse onto you and strip the ball away.
Shaq's pick and roll and total lack of a mid-range game would render him rather unplayable in today's game IMHO. He would have to work heavily on his conditioning and agility to allow him to stay on the floor and play like an Embiid or a Giannis. Still great players, MVP level even, but most definitely all-time greats.
Again, Shaq couldn't play in this 3>2 era. He was a defender to begin with, and always out of shape. He'd probably get as many minutes as Eddy.
Spurs would just hack-a-Shaq and have him miss 13 FTs in a row
i mean lets be clear, shaq would fold wemby like a lawn chair on one end. but shaq would look pretty foolish defensively in this era. but shaq would cause problems against teams like the clippers with Zubac who would be pretty neuralized against shaq.
what scrub are the spurs going to put on the floor who can foul shaq, and how is
a) having him on the floor; and
b) slowing the game down by making everything halfcourt
going to affect our ability to score efficiently?
Shaq during his le runs with the Lakers may have been the most dominant player in NBA history. He just couldn't stay in shape over the long haul. But young Shaq was fast, especially for his size. I have no doubt that if he got Victor down low, he would have scored on him consistently. But Wemby would get some blocks for sure.
Old Shaq guarding Wemby on the perimeter would have been a disaster for Shaq. But in his earlier days, he could probably stay in front of Wemby.
Wemby does some great stuff, but right now he has shown himself to be better than David Robinson or Tim Duncan. Of course, give him a couple years and see. If he gets some muscle and improves his post moves, he can be as good as anyone. Remember that Tim Duncan was a skinny guy in 2003 and he played great against Shaq.
If Shaq had modern shooters he could make you pay for double and triple teaming for sure. But with the faster pace and more 3 pt centric nature of today's game he would have to adjust quite a bit and he would need to be in prime shape. Defensively he would need to get out to the 3pt line and be able to move his feet a little bit to not get hunted. Obviously if you just let him camp inside he's gonna make it real difficult to go inside.
If he got switched onto a guy like Curry or Harden it would probably result in them getting by him off the dribble, or hitting the step back 3.
Last edited by Bill_Brasky; 04-07-2025 at 01:04 PM.
how many modern centers can defend curry or harden when switched onto them without getting blown by or giving up a step back 3? Gobert has been the best defensive center of the last decade and he laughably struggles in those situations. Al Horford is a guy who has held up on switches, but man its not like Shaq is some outlier center that cant guard curry in isolation
Last edited by spurraider21; 04-07-2025 at 02:21 PM.
We don’t know how strong 25 years old wemby will be
Better question would be Jokic vs Shaq as we already know what prime Jokic is
And I think Jokic would be better
shaq is an oversensitive, insecure baby who hates hearing any other bigs get praise. but man people here are underestimating him like he isnt a top 10 player of all time, and is only as low as he is on that list because of his durability/longevity
That's kinda the point though. What players from his era were pulling him out of the paint and forcing him to guard on the perimeter?how many modern centers can defend curry or harden when switched onto them without getting blown by or giving up a step back 3? Gobert has been the best defensive center of the last decade and he laughably struggles in those situations. Al Horford is a guy who has held up on switches, but man its not like Shaq is some outlier center that cant guard curry in isolation
yeah obviously shaq would struggle defending on the perimeter. so do most centers in today's game. zubac is having a good year by all accounts. shaq is him dialed up to a million
what if its one of those games where wemby is going 1-8 from 3. suddenly shaq's weakness isnt as big a deal and on the other end its not like shaq was prone to poor shooting games.
yes you could foul him, but do you really want wemby in foul trouble? if not wemby, who is going to be matched on shaq. sochan? harrison barnes? you're going to play bismack biyombo and charles bassey just to commit fouls to the detriment of your offensive production? having guys like that on the floor also mitigate shaq's defensive weakness
Wemby has struggled to slow down the physical bigs in the league today... so yeah. Shaq would have done whatever he wanted down low if defended by Wemby.
This is one of the reasons I want us to look into a physical defensive big, either in the draft of free agency.
Wemby is a defensive Center against most teams, but in certain matchups he should be a forward.
When did Sengun or Zubac ever bullied Wemby?
Weird examples...
What happens when Shaq has to follow Vic on the perimeter?
Wemby struggled only by being the only defensive presence in the team, especially when facing 2 Bigs
He also struggled due to insane energy expenditure that should never have been put on a 2nd year player
Embiid bullied him a bit during their 1st meeting and then he learned and adapted, provoking his ejection in their 2nd meeting.
The kid learns fast but needs some help
Some interesting stats from shaq’s prime playoff runs: https://forums.realgm.com/boards/vie....php?t=1291923
That’s a whole lot of post ups. Not sure if it’d be winning basketball these days
i imagine duncan's numbers in that same window of tiem would be very similar. spurs became more pick and roll heavy later on after parker emerged
I think they'd both take turns getting the best of each other, tbh. Shaq would definitely posterize Wemby, but Wemby would definitely block his dunk attempt a few times too.
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