Shaq from 355 to 331

[Venom_2K]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

If Shaq can stay healthy this season, you very well could pencil in Pitons vs Heat in the East Championship.

[23]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

This is disrespectful to every Laker fan and Laker management. He never got his fat *** into shape the last few years and that's why we didn't win more titles.

But I believe, and hope, that he won't be able to reverse all the negative effects of his years being out of shape. I don't expect him to have more than 2 more good years at the most.

See what I mean. This kind of thinking is terrible. What you don't realize is Shaq is the greatest center of this time, and once he's gone, you wont see another guy like this. You should enjoy it while you can whether you like him or not because superstars from the 90's have been leaving and the game has become worse at that.

I'd see your point about him getting into shape now, but low morale in a company should be handled accordingly, and Shaq complained for a long time, and noone tried to do anything about the issues that were happening, and thus you have this.

He'll probably give the Lakers the blues on Christmas, but I can still see him getting backdoored all season just like he always has, no matter what weight he is.

[23]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

This is disrespectful to every Laker fan and Laker management. He never got his fat *** into shape the last few years and that's why we didn't win more titles.

But I believe, and hope, that he won't be able to reverse all the negative effects of his years being out of shape. I don't expect him to have more than 2 more good years at the most.

See what I mean. This kind of thinking is terrible. What you don't realize is Shaq is the greatest center of this time, and once he's gone, you wont see another guy like this. You should enjoy it while you can whether you like him or not because superstars from the 90's have been leaving and the game has become worse at that.

I'd see your point about him getting into shape now, but low morale in a company should be handled accordingly, and Shaq complained for a long time, and noone tried to do anything about the issues that were happening, and thus you have this.

He'll probably give the Lakers the blues on Christmas, but I can still see him getting backdoored all season just like he always has, no matter what weight he is.

[Brankles]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

Shaq is back, fellas.

Hand him the MVP right now. The East is Game Over. Shaq will be getting the ball in the post, and Dwyane Wade is going to do nothing but get better.

And no one. NO ONE. Can stop Shaq. And if Shaq's in for 38 mpg... and is quicker... and is getting up and down the court, and swatting shots... he's an entire team by himself... it's like 9 on 5 every game... Shaq is the most dominant post player of all time, and the dominance will be continued due to the credit of his hard work over this off-season...



Holla

[Brankles]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

Shaq is back, fellas.

Hand him the MVP right now. The East is Game Over. Shaq will be getting the ball in the post, and Dwyane Wade is going to do nothing but get better.

And no one. NO ONE. Can stop Shaq. And if Shaq's in for 38 mpg... and is quicker... and is getting up and down the court, and swatting shots... he's an entire team by himself... it's like 9 on 5 every game... Shaq is the most dominant post player of all time, and the dominance will be continued due to the credit of his hard work over this off-season...



Holla

[poster]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

Shaq is back, fellas.

Hand him the MVP right now. The East is Game Over. Shaq will be getting the ball in the post, and Dwyane Wade is going to do nothing but get better.

And no one. NO ONE. Can stop Shaq. And if Shaq's in for 38 mpg... and is quicker... and is getting up and down the court, and swatting shots... he's an entire team by himself... it's like 9 on 5 every game... Shaq is the most dominant post player of all time, and the dominance will be continued due to the credit of his hard work over this off-season...



Holla

I respect your opinion but I dont think its game over in the East. Shaq will be good but age and injuries have caught up with him in the last couple of years. If hes healthy he will be good but Miami doeant have any supporting players. And you make it sound like D Wade is Kobe, he is a good young player but this team will be a middle of the road team in the East. Even if he was as good as Kobe two players dont win you anything, a team wins. Just my 2c. And Shaq is not the most domiant post player of all time. Wilt is and no one will ever dominate against an all star center most every night like he did.

[poster]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

Shaq is back, fellas.

Hand him the MVP right now. The East is Game Over. Shaq will be getting the ball in the post, and Dwyane Wade is going to do nothing but get better.

And no one. NO ONE. Can stop Shaq. And if Shaq's in for 38 mpg... and is quicker... and is getting up and down the court, and swatting shots... he's an entire team by himself... it's like 9 on 5 every game... Shaq is the most dominant post player of all time, and the dominance will be continued due to the credit of his hard work over this off-season...



Holla

I respect your opinion but I dont think its game over in the East. Shaq will be good but age and injuries have caught up with him in the last couple of years. If hes healthy he will be good but Miami doeant have any supporting players. And you make it sound like D Wade is Kobe, he is a good young player but this team will be a middle of the road team in the East. Even if he was as good as Kobe two players dont win you anything, a team wins. Just my 2c. And Shaq is not the most domiant post player of all time. Wilt is and no one will ever dominate against an all star center most every night like he did.

[mgoblue]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

This is disrespectful to every Laker fan and Laker management. He never got his fat *** into shape the last few years and that's why we didn't win more titles.

But I believe, and hope, that he won't be able to reverse all the negative effects of his years being out of shape. I don't expect him to have more than 2 more good years at the most.

So it wasn't ever Kobe's fault they didn't win championships the last few years?

[mgoblue]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

This is disrespectful to every Laker fan and Laker management. He never got his fat *** into shape the last few years and that's why we didn't win more titles.

But I believe, and hope, that he won't be able to reverse all the negative effects of his years being out of shape. I don't expect him to have more than 2 more good years at the most.

So it wasn't ever Kobe's fault they didn't win championships the last few years?

[MartinDihigo]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331 (long read)

I am not as hard on shaq as a lot of fans. Maybe my perspective is slightly different but i place some blame on him and a little on just natural cause and effect.

Shaq wasn't so huge in highschool , and he was big in college and as a rookie - but not huge.

As a pro, at first Shaq kept adding muscle and bulk. It seemed the bigger he got - the stronger , more dominant, more unstoppable he got. He entered the prime of his career, got with a good team and won some big games.

By the time the aging process started to kick in (what is he 34 now ? , im thinking about 4 years ago - not sure exact year/date..)
A big problem came up - injuries and durability. Shaq couldn't try to go full out and dominate a whole season from begining to end, and expect to last 82 games. It just wasn't going to happen.

That is the time that the lakers ownership/ coaching staff / trainers / and Shaq Daddy himself needed to say - I need to get lighter on my feet , i need to loose some weight - big isn't better anymore.
It didn't happen

The new Shaq strategy centered around keeping him healthy and having shaq at 100% for the playoffs. The Lakers had enough talent that this was possible to pull off w/out fear of missing the playoffs. Shaq was basically coasting for the first 62 games and started to turn it on the last 20.

Unfortunately that strategy hurt team chemistry , It placed Kobe in a role of leadership that he was supposed to yeild come playoff time - causing rifts within the 2 stars relationship , and in the less active periods Shaq acumulated more weight gain and it became harder and harder each year to turn on his game like a light switch late in the season.

In his contract(trade) year last season shaq did a good job of getting in better shape FOR THE PLAYOFFS then the previous season. He was productive, efficient and at times dominating averaging 22 and 13 while handling his business with a playoff leading .593 field goal percentage. He could have even got the ball more (as Kobe led the team in shot attempts and scoring , but shot a lot of ill-advised jumpers - shooting just .247 from 97 threepoint atempts and just .413 overall). An improvement for Shaq , but a contract shouldn't motivate more then a ring.

Overall i would have to say some of Shaqs weight and durability issues are the natural result of a big man carrying a big load , with a lot of pounding , as he begins to age. However, - Much of The blame rests on Shaqs broad shoulders for not being smarter about his career and controlling his weight earlier on. The Laker organization also has a small amount of fault - they seemed to buy into the fact that they were perenial favorites to win the title and took more of a nice approach with Shaq , rather then a stricter disciplinarian role of forcing him to comply with a fitness and diet regimine.

[MartinDihigo]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331 (long read)

I am not as hard on shaq as a lot of fans. Maybe my perspective is slightly different but i place some blame on him and a little on just natural cause and effect.

Shaq wasn't so huge in highschool , and he was big in college and as a rookie - but not huge.

As a pro, at first Shaq kept adding muscle and bulk. It seemed the bigger he got - the stronger , more dominant, more unstoppable he got. He entered the prime of his career, got with a good team and won some big games.

By the time the aging process started to kick in (what is he 34 now ? , im thinking about 4 years ago - not sure exact year/date..)
A big problem came up - injuries and durability. Shaq couldn't try to go full out and dominate a whole season from begining to end, and expect to last 82 games. It just wasn't going to happen.

That is the time that the lakers ownership/ coaching staff / trainers / and Shaq Daddy himself needed to say - I need to get lighter on my feet , i need to loose some weight - big isn't better anymore.
It didn't happen

The new Shaq strategy centered around keeping him healthy and having shaq at 100% for the playoffs. The Lakers had enough talent that this was possible to pull off w/out fear of missing the playoffs. Shaq was basically coasting for the first 62 games and started to turn it on the last 20.

Unfortunately that strategy hurt team chemistry , It placed Kobe in a role of leadership that he was supposed to yeild come playoff time - causing rifts within the 2 stars relationship , and in the less active periods Shaq acumulated more weight gain and it became harder and harder each year to turn on his game like a light switch late in the season.

In his contract(trade) year last season shaq did a good job of getting in better shape FOR THE PLAYOFFS then the previous season. He was productive, efficient and at times dominating averaging 22 and 13 while handling his business with a playoff leading .593 field goal percentage. He could have even got the ball more (as Kobe led the team in shot attempts and scoring , but shot a lot of ill-advised jumpers - shooting just .247 from 97 threepoint atempts and just .413 overall). An improvement for Shaq , but a contract shouldn't motivate more then a ring.

Overall i would have to say some of Shaqs weight and durability issues are the natural result of a big man carrying a big load , with a lot of pounding , as he begins to age. However, - Much of The blame rests on Shaqs broad shoulders for not being smarter about his career and controlling his weight earlier on. The Laker organization also has a small amount of fault - they seemed to buy into the fact that they were perenial favorites to win the title and took more of a nice approach with Shaq , rather then a stricter disciplinarian role of forcing him to comply with a fitness and diet regimine.

[driddy]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

So it wasn't ever Kobe's fault they didn't win championships the last few years?

Kobe shoulders some of the blame, as it is a team sport, but Kobe wasn't crying about reupping for more than 45 million for two more years while getting fat. Let's focus on the key point here, a guy got traded, then he got into shape. mgoblue you're a Pistons fan, how would you feel if Rip Hamilton, or Ben Wallace got fat and started whining about more money, then got traded to say Dallas and voila, he's back in shape again.

And Shaq doesn't get a pass for any team morale issues, he got everything he wanted, the coach, certain players etc.

[driddy]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

So it wasn't ever Kobe's fault they didn't win championships the last few years?

Kobe shoulders some of the blame, as it is a team sport, but Kobe wasn't crying about reupping for more than 45 million for two more years while getting fat. Let's focus on the key point here, a guy got traded, then he got into shape. mgoblue you're a Pistons fan, how would you feel if Rip Hamilton, or Ben Wallace got fat and started whining about more money, then got traded to say Dallas and voila, he's back in shape again.

And Shaq doesn't get a pass for any team morale issues, he got everything he wanted, the coach, certain players etc.

[Lynsanity]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

There is a third option on that team, ya know. Sure, he may be Charmin soft, a bit long in the tooth, and not exactly a superstar, but Eddie Jones is still pretty good on both ends.

[Lynsanity]

Re: Shaq from 355 to 331

There is a third option on that team, ya know. Sure, he may be Charmin soft, a bit long in the tooth, and not exactly a superstar, but Eddie Jones is still pretty good on both ends.