I am a member to a forum called clublakers. It is a site where fans of the Lakers can go to debate literally anything. One of the things that is debated often is Shaquille O’Neal. Most detest the man because he is a former Laker who wanted out and caused trouble for Kobe Bryant – who is viewed as some sort of messiah by many who are probably Kobe fans rather than true Laker fans. Of course not all are that way, but getting through to them about how Shaquille O’Neal is still an effective NBA player can be a chore. I recently wrote a post that I felt was pretty fair, and I would like to also post it here.
I do not understand the reasoning by many posters on the topic of Shaquille going to the Cavs. He will be effective, and he will improve the Cleveland Cavaliers. Some fans actually think that the Cavs got a horrible deal. Some at Clublakers.com have said:
“Shaq will get older every day. I think it was a bad trade for Cleveland, just because there is a good chance Shaq will get injured. He’s pretty old”
“Anyone who says that the Cavs got better with this trade needs to reconnect with reality. Shaq is good for short bursts at best….but any type of sustained performance (as would be required through the course of 82 games + playoffs) is something that you just will not get with a 37 year old Shaq. This is a guy who couldn’t swing back to back games last season.”
“Shaq destroyed the Suns, now the Cavs will disappear into the Eastern Conference abyss.”
“yeah the paint is gonna be way to clogged for lebron”
Now they are entitled to their opinions, but this move makes the Cavs a GREAT team. First Shaq is 37 years old, that is true. It is also true that he gets older each day. So do you, Ricky Rubio, Kobe Bryant, and your little dog too! It does give an increased health risk because he will not be as mobile as he once was. Many seem to suggest that him getting through 82+ games is going to be near impossible. But do you all realize that Shaq played 75 of the 82 games last year ? He only missed SEVEN games. It seems that history points out that a motivated Shaq means nothing. Come on guys, we all know what a motivated Shaquille O’Neal can do – DOMINATE. Just look at the 2004-2005, Miami Heat. Not only did they win a championship that year, but Shaq was a big part of that. He played in 73 games, and averaged 22.9 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Not too shabby. True that was when Shaq was about 32 years old, not 37.
Shaq is no longer that lean machine like he was back in his days with Orlando, and he is older. Some have criticized the minutes he gets in a game, because you know, he is too old and ineffective. The interesting part about Shaq’s stat line for the 2004-2005 season was that he only averaged 34.1 minutes per game! Not that far off from last year’s average of 30 minutes per game at the age of 37.* If he averages only 25-30 minutes per game Shaq could easily put up 20 points and 8 rebounds in any given game.
To add salt to the wound that will be the rest of the NBA come the 2009-2010 season, let’s take a look at some statistical analysis. The Cavs only gave up two players to get Shaquille O’Neal in Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. Big Ben averaged only 2.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 0.8 apg. Sasha Pavlovic only averaged 4.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg and 1.6 apg. The Cavaliers gave up 7.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.4 apg to get a guy who can average 17.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 1.7 apg. Oh, and just like Ben Wallace, Shaq is good for about 1.5 blocks in a game. By trading away Pavlovic and Wallace the Cavaliers get everything back in one player, and the addition of an extra 10.3 ppg.
As for the paint being clogged by Shaq, in a worst case scenario, it is going to only be clogged for half the game. After all if Shaq averages 30 mpg, that means that there is still much time left for LeBron to finish without Shaq clogging the lane. I still have a good feeling that LeBron will be able to finish with Shaq in the game. We will see what happens come late October.
We have a winner and its the Cavaliers. Y’all may not like Shaq because he left the Lakers, but he is no push over.** If I had money, I would put it on the Cavs to win the East in both the regular season, and the post season. The only question is how much can a hungry Shaq eat in the finals, when there is a player on the opposing team named Kobe Bryant who is going to be just as hungry to take down his greatest rival.
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* = In fact, Shaq’s career average of minutes in a game is only 35. He, playing only 30 minutes a game in Clevland can still be a deadly combination.
** = Actually, I would like to see someone try to push Shaq over … it is not going to happen.
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