Shaq never brought hardware to Orlando. He brought us a sweep in the NBA finals as I recall. His greatness got us nowhere in that series. Although he dominated Hakeem Olajuwon, all they had to do was employ the now famous "Hack a Shaq" and we were doomed. Since you're not a Magic fan let me remind you of what tools Shaq had. Penny Hardaway, Dennis Scott (one of the all time leading 3 point shooters, and Nick Anderson who averaged almost 20 points a game and another 3 point threat. Anderson became a huge 3 point threat his last few years in Orlando. So yes, it is easy for me to compare this team and the 95 team.
Actually, I am one of the worlds biggest Shaq fans, so at the time, I was. And you cannot honestly tell me you're comparing, Nick Anderson,Penny, and Dennis Scott to Nelson, and Lewis, and Turk. All three of the support cast that Shaq had went absolutley nowhere without him after he left. They had solid careers as role players, thats it. In Lewis you have an all star forward who can play 2-3 positions on the court, has a great outside shot, solid rebounder. Turk is a great 3 point shooter, and just knows how to score. Nelson is IMO one of the better PG's in the east, and then you have Arroyo coming off the bench. I'll even give you one better, Horace Grant was on that 95 squad also. Still not as good as this squad.
And I know he didnt bring Orlando any rings, I meant you cant compare Howard to Shaq until he has one atleast one championship, ATLEAST, IMO. Shaq has been in the finals with 3 different teams, thats not because he's lucky, IMO. And as far as I'm concerned if he doesn't get to the finals with the Suns its not on him, he's played excellent since he's been in Pheonix.
So you think that this team would go somewhere if Dwight left? I don't. THey might make the playoffs, but do nothing...kinda like Penny did after Shaq. (except for beating the Heat ) This team isn't much different than last year's team...except for the addition of Lewis. You shouldn't even mention Arroyo...LOL, he has no value at all in this debate. I think I've brought up plenty of arguments to be able to compare Dwight to Shaq. Shaq hasn't won a championship without Kobe or D-Wade. Guess what, those 2 guys are easily in the top 5-7 players in the league.
Meh, I tend to think of it as they haven't won a championship without him. To each his own brotha. I like Arroyo..lol.
Every GM in the league would take a 22 year old Shaq over Howard, I would bet my life savings on that. I've watched Howard, I love Howard's game but Shaq in his prime was a force of nature that dominated the game like only a very small handful of people ever have. Howard has two great playoff games and he's better than Shaq? Total, complete and utter nonsense.
Yea I don't know what the Kidd trade was all about, terrible trade that will probably cost Johnson his job.
Look at that. The Sixers are up 2-0. Umm, in the game, not the series. Two hours later: Make that 1-1, not in the game but the series.
Ok, to play catch up. Shaq, in his prime, would have eaten Howard for lunch and shat him out before dinner. Not even close in my opinion. Now? Howard by a mile. Second, Paul has looked awesome, but Kobe was FANTASTIC tonight. 49 points on 66% shooting and 10 assists. He could have easily had 75 if he decided to shoot in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Great game by Kobe and the Nuggets are imploding. Two or three more technicals tonight, including ANOTHER one on A.I. The Nuggets defense is even worse than I remember in the regular season. Simply awful, and they get one call against them and they pout. They act like a team fool of rookies even though they have A.I. Camby, K-Mart and others for veteran leadership. Anyhow, back to Kobe. The best part was when J.R. Smith was talking trash to Kobe while losing by 15. Next time down the court, Kobe drives on Smith, gets fouled hard but still makes the basket. When he turns around, you can see him mouth to Smith, "stop, just stop," over and over again. The scary part is, I have a feeling that Kobe is going to feed on the hatred of the Denver fans and deliver another outstanding performance in Denver.
I was wishing Coby Karl would hit one on his old man. That'd get the stadium up on its feet. Great game even with Odom on the bench due to dumb foul trouble.
The lakers forum I visit brought up a good point. If the Nuggets start trying to pull some cheap shots out in game three, Phil can just put Coby in and see if dear old dad calls off the dogs. Coby did get an assist, so he at least shows up on the stat sheet.
How can you have A.I. and Melo on the same team and be that bad? And look that Bad? The stat that stuck out the most to me was the 1 assist to every 17 points. Pass the ball people! Geez. How can you have Camby and Kmart on your squad and be so defensively bad?? The Nuggets not only look terrible, but they look like a team that doesnt belong in the playoffs. I think GS would have made this a better series atleast. I mean either way, Lakers in 4, or 5. Hate to burst your bubble Sixers fans, your moment to shine has passed. Dont expect to win anymore games. Same thing with ATL, welcome back to postseason, now pack your bags and go home. The Hawks IMO, will be a great squad in 3-4 yrs if they keep the core players they have now. They just need a solid big and they got it.Most of the first round games have been so predictable its not fun to watch them. Look for Pheonix to bounce back at home. They are getting out coached BIG TIME. And if I see Diaw take one more game winner I will flip my lid!
George Karl vs. Phil Jackson. The Nuggets are a very poorly put together team. Its like some idiotic fantasy basketball team, someone sat down and acted like basketball is played on paper. Sure if you take guys like AI, Melo, Martin and Camby on paper you should be putting up 120 a night on everyone but in the playoffs the games are called different and the defenses are much better. The team can't defend or play the type of game that you need in the playoffs.
The Wizards were something last night, and Cleveland was totally flat. Just an awful performance by the Cavs. The Wiz didn't even need much out of Arenas last night for their drilling of LeBron and Co. Magic/Raptors is a series now. The one point win by O-town a couple nights ago was huge to go up 2-0, because if they wouldn't have won that one, they'd be sitting at 1-2 now. This one's a series, like the Cavs/Wiz, where the home team might win all the games. Unlike the Rockets/Jazz, where the visitors have won every game. Rafer Alston early set the tone in this one. I still like Utah to come out of this series, but at least the Rockets have entered into the series. I remember a Rockets/Spurs series a long time back when it was Akeem Vs. Mr. Robinson when the visiting team won each of the first six games. That was something. Maybe Houston can keep something like that going in Game 4, but I don't see it. I see Utah getting the next one and maybe the next two to end it. Tonight: Can the Sixers win one in Philly? Will Phoenix rise from the ashes (BWOH-HA-HA... er, not punny, not punny at all)? And does Dallas have anything... ANYTHING left?
This is turning out to be a real shocker for the Pistons if they don't get their act together. And if they go, so goes the only perceivable threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
I don't think it will lead to those scenarios. Joe Dumars is a smart GM and he knows what this team lacks is a quality C to put Rasheed Wallace back at PF. They've got a great bench and good team-first players on that starting squad. It'd be stupid to blow that up because of one season.
Wow the Celts punked by the Hawks in game 3. Probably only extends the series to 5 games but still a nice win by a young team.
Wow. I've completely forgot about the other sections on here, lol. When LeBron James came into the league, he was instantly a favorite of mine. Now, I am beginning to hate LeBron James. Every year he's fallen lower and lower on my favorite players list, but now he's almost completely off. He's the biggest punk in the NBA, IMO. All of this crap with Deshawn Stevenson was completely provoked by the drama queen himself. He knows damn well David Stern and his crew of officials has his back. LeBron, shut your mouth and win a title.
Big win by Utah last night. Deron Williams dunk at the end of the game was awesome to watch. I think Tracy McGrady only made one field goal in the 4th quarter last night. Utah still isn't impressing anyone though. Once again, the announcers down play Utah performance because half of Houston's team was apparently playing "on one leg".
Yeah. McGrady had a bad knee, Alston a bad hammy and Battier a bad knee. No excuses should be made though, this is the playoffs.
how was it lebrons fault? stevenson was the one calling him overrated. you want him to just not respond? or are you hating him because he isn't a choker anymore?
Dang my Wizards just can't seem to get past the Cavs. Will be interesting to see if they lose Arenas and/or Jamison.
Here is to hoping the Lakers finish off the Nuggets tomorrow night and havesome time to rest up for what will likely be a slugfest with Utah. The Spurs not fnishing today I think will have some ramifications for them. They are an EXTREMELY old team and the more they have to deal with Phoenix and the up and down style, the worse off they will be going up against a young, healthy New Orleans Hornets team in the second round. It would behoove them to wrap things up against Phoenix in game 5. Also, a Spurs-Hornets matchup will be a fun one with some interesting matchups.
The Pistons finally looked like the Pistons in the 2nd half last night against Philly. The technical late in th first half on Sheed seemed to spark him for the third period. The 18 point swing in the third was too much, and all the loose balls and rebounds the Sixers were getting earlier in the game dried up. If it's just going to be two half court offenses going at one another, the Pistons will win in a landslide. The Sixers have to get out in the open court and cause some havoc. In other news, Dallas is toast.
I'm expecting a big game from Orlando tonight to close out this tough Toronto team. I really don't want to go back to Toronoto and face them again in this series. I'm ready for this series to be over, and let ORlando get some rest while the Pistons and Sixers duke it out.
