Shaq's competition?

[ShaqFu]

hahaha.. OK, this thread was good for a laugh this afternoon.. The AVERAGE size of an NBA Centre is prob about 270 - 280 pounds or so.. If you're gonna tell me Shaq was anything less than 350 pounds this year, I'd seriously question whether you've ever seen him play at all. The man is a beast! The Nba.com weigh-ins mean nothing.. it could be old, it could be strategic, but flat-out, it's wrong.

As for Yao, obviously at 7'6 he deserves a lot of hype. But how much damage is he really going to be able to do without a shred of a post game? All I hear about him is "smooth jump shots" and "great agility", sounds way too much like another Shawn Bradley. Maybe with another 80 pounds he'd dominate, but that'll take years.

I say he leads the league in blocked shots, but but doesn't learn to score or rebound for at least 5 years.

 

[TriZZle305]

thankyou i agree !!

 

[Craft]

Hmm, I hardly think it will take Yao 5 years to learn to score. In fact I HIGHLY doubt that.

Without a doubt he's going to get abused down low by stronger more aggressive players, but you watch, give him a couple years and he'll do better.

I'd like to stress this though, Yao will NOT be another Shawn Bradley... He's too smart and he'll find ways to adjust to the NBA.

 

[ShaqFu]

Dallas being my second favourite team for the last while (Behind the simply amazing Raptors of course) I've seen quite a bit of Wang Zhi Zhi. And I'll admit I haven't seen Yao in action just yet, but if his intensity is anything like Wang's I'd say 5 years at least before he learns to score 20 and pull down 10 boards a night.

Obviously that's more than anyone can say for Shawn Bradley, I don't think Yao will be that bad.. but the NBA's a tough place for a big man these days. With all the Power Forwards and Centers looking more and more like Shaq, Big Ben or Antonio Davis and looking a lot less like Rik Smits, Hakeem Olajuwon or Patrick Ewing I just think it's going to take some serious adjusting (and 80 pounds of muscle) before he can make an impact.

 

[Craft]

Oh I agree, he'll need to put on more size for sure, and it's going to take some time for him to be "dominant". It will be pretty cool to watch I think.

I'm looking forward to this years season, Dallas is one of my fav's too.

 

[david]

Well, if Shaq doesn't retire, in probably a couple of years, Ming should be a contender to deal with. He's not Shawn Bradley or that joke Manute Bol.

It's good to see someone give Shaq some competition!

 

[bigss75]

Originally posted by davidjasondean
. He's not Shawn Bradley or that joke Manute Bol.

Mantue Bol is a monster. I guess u didnt see celeb boxing.

 

[david]

Give me a break! Was he in Celebrity Boxing Bigss! Stay away from the bottle! LOL!

 

[Craft]

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I was reading over an article about Shaq and his up and coming toe surgery, and came across this:

But I see the Lakers still are listing Shaq at 7-1, 330 pounds. Yet there was a point last season when it was clear the huge man was hovering closer to four bills than three.

 

[ShaqFu]

haha! I was reading the same article this morning, and thought about this thread.. Ask poor Todd MacCulloch or Aaron Williams. I'll bet they've still got the bruises to show for that beating this beast dished out.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/telander/cst-spt-rick28.html