Peak Shaq vs 2016 Curry

[Chadwin]

to build a championship team around

I give a slight edge to Shaq because let's be honest, he doesn't have to work as hard to get his points as Curry does, and has a greater defensive impact.

[riseagainst]

All time players to build around:

MJ/Curry

Shaq


everyone else

[ImKobe]

Obviously Shaq

Curry needs the best spot-up shooter in the game, a DPOY candidate who's also the best playmaker at his position, one of the best rim protectors in the game and a loaded bench and had a player off the bench win a Finals MVP over him

Shaq needed Kobe and a bunch of role-players to 3-peat

[dirkdiggler41]

Switch Shaq with Bogut and Curry with any pointguard the Lakers had during that time. Screw it, give the Lakers Bogut for free.

I will pick Shaq.

Shaq
Green
Barnes
Thompson
Livingston/Fischer

[DingDengDong]

Shaq.

[ImKobe]

Switch Shaq with Bogut and Curry with any pointguard the Lakers had during that time. Screw it, give the Lakers Bogut for free.

I will pick Shaq.

Shaq
Green
Barnes
Thompson
Livingston/Fischer

That team might actually be deadlier than the 2001 Lakers

imagine that team on the fast break

[choppermagic]

Shaq.

He distorted every defence that played against the lakers. He fouled out countless bigs. He beat people up inside over the series and wore them down. he was an offensive powerhouse AND a defensive force.

[Cold soul]

Shaq is most dominate player I have ever seen play outside Jordan in his his elite prime years 91-93.

[Ca$H]

Curry because he is a closer. All playoff games come down to the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter for the most part.

[TheMarkMadsen]

That team might actually be deadlier than the 2001 Lakers

imagine that team on the fast break


Got to disagree

Shaq had some very, very talented teams around him but it wasn't until Kobes emergence as an elite player/ go to scorer until he really began to win anything. And those lakers teams weren't very deep, they just had two guys who could drop 30+ at anytime and played well together.

Shaq was better when he had an elite player next to him + role players than he was with a deep team that didn't really have a clear cut go to guy beside him.

[feyki]

Curry .

[ShawkFactory]

Shaq probably

[DoctorP]

3 points trumps 2 points. Curry. Although Shaq would be easier to build around.

[Papaya Petee]

Peak Shaq dominated the league in 2000 with a young Kobe who was probably on Thompsons level now and some role players.

Not to include Draymong, Iguodala and Barnes who were better than anybody on that Lakers team...

Yeah this is Shaq.

[NBAGOAT]

shaq. Their offense is pretty close but Curry is only a decent defender while Shaq played dpoy level that year.

[Smoke117]

Shaq obviously. Carried kobe and the Lakers to three championships.

[FKAri]

Curry because he is a closer. All playoff games come down to the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter for the most part.
You don't need a closer when your average margin of victory is 50 points

[Ca$H]

You don't need a closer when your average margin of victory is 50 points

Shaq needed Kobe to close games. Even in 2000 when Kobe wasn't that good yet he still closed games. He beat the Pacers in OT of the finals when Shaq fouled out.

[warriorfan]

You don't need a closer when your average margin of victory is 50 points

curry is the reason they have a margin of 40 to 50 points blow outs in 3 of his played quarters and he gets to sit the 4th

have they ever done that shit w/o him?

btw go peep curry's 4th Q stats and his OT scoring record and get back to us

huge post backfire

[Dragonyeuw]

Shaq. As lethal as Curry is from downtown, I would still take Shaq's higher percentage 5-foot post-game during his peak. Curry is scary good, but Shaq is going to strip your team of its entire frontline. Teams actually needed enough big bodies just so they'd have plenty of fouls to keep Shaq on the line and not scoring at will in the post.

[TheMarkMadsen]

Shaq. As lethal as Curry is from downtown, I would still take Shaq's higher percentage 5-foot post-game during his peak. Curry is scary good, but Shaq is going to strip your team of its entire frontline. Teams actually needed enough big bodies just so they'd have plenty of fouls to keep Shaq on the line and not scoring at will in the post.


That's the thing, there is a way to stop/slow down Shaq by putting him on the line.

With Curry, you just have to pray he has an off shooting game which rarely happens

[ArbitraryWater]

That's the thing, there is a way to stop/slow down Shaq by putting him on the line.

With Curry, you just have to pray he has an off shooting game which rarely happens

lmao... im pretty sure there are more off/just 'okay' Steph games, than ones in which Shaq's FT shooting comes to hurt the Lakers :oldlol:

Stop pushing this bullshit.

[feyki]

shaq. Their offense is pretty close but Curry is only a decent defender while Shaq played dpoy level that year.

Their offence not close . Curry is greatest offensive force of all time . Shaq was just a dominant scorer ( and of course solid rebounder ) .

Curry is goat level scorer , shooter and a great passer .

[TheMarkMadsen]

lmao... im pretty sure there are more off/just 'okay' Steph games, than ones in which Shaq's FT shooting comes to hurt the Lakers :oldlol:

Stop pushing this bullshit.


What you just said does nothing to refute that there was a strategy to slow down Shaq, while currently there is no strategy to slow down Curry.

[Dragonyeuw]

That's the thing, there is a way to stop/slow down Shaq by putting him on the line.

With Curry, you just have to pray he has an off shooting game which rarely happens

But in the process, you're depleting your frontline. Shaq is going to get his 30 and 15 and put all your bigs in foul trouble while doing so. Really it comes down to who you're surrounding each guy with. I'm looking at the fact that Curry has quite a number of guys who can make plays for themselves. He has way more weapons around him than Shaq ever played with. Those Lakers weren't especially deep with offensive talent, you had Shaq and Kobe accounting for 60 points and a bunch of role players filling in the blanks. Curry creates lots of spacing, but he's surrounded by several players who keep the defense honest, starting with Klay whose almost as lethal a shooter. Give them two averagely talented teams, Shaq is dominant in the post, on the boards, and discourages penetration.

[TheMarkMadsen]

But in the process, you're depleting your frontline. Shaq is going to get his 30 and 15 and put all your bigs in foul trouble while doing so.


Not disagreeing with that but there was a liability in Shaqs game. Something teams could do to disrupt the flow of the offense/ play the odds at the line.

There is no liability in Currys game.

[Chadwin]

Shaq. As lethal as Curry is from downtown, I would still take Shaq's higher percentage 5-foot post-game during his peak. Curry is scary good, but Shaq is going to strip your team of its entire frontline. Teams actually needed enough big bodies just so they'd have plenty of fouls to keep Shaq on the line and not scoring at will in the post.

and in the process put the other team in the penalty early and make offense that much easier for everybody else

[Dragonyeuw]

There is no liability in Currys game.

As a scorer, no. As a player, while I wouldn't rate him as a bad defender, the Warriors are built to mask the relative average-ness of his defensive ability. Or in other words, put him on a lesser offensive/ defensive squad and guys like Westbrook or Lillard will just as easily light him up for 40, only now he doesn't have the offensive support in place if the opposing number guard big numbers on him.

Curry and the Warriors are perfect for each other, and I don't say that to diminish him. He's great, and would be so on any team. I'm just saying that I think a Shaq-led squad takes you further assuming both are surrounded by equal talent. Let's put it this way, how good do you think the Warriors would be if Shaq was drawing double/triple teams in the paint and he had Thompson and Green waiting on the perimeter? Hell, Livingston, Iguadola, Barnes, and Speights will all keep the defense honest if you give them decent looks.

[TheMarkMadsen]

As a scorer, no. As a player, while I wouldn't rate him as a bad defender, the Warriors are built to mask the relative average-ness of his defensive ability. Or in other words, put him on a lesser offensive/ defensive squad and guys like Westbrook or Lillard will just as easily light him up for 40, only now he doesn't have the offensive support in place if the opposing number guard big numbers on him.

Curry and the Warriors are perfect for each other, and I don't say that to diminish him. He's great, and would be so on any team. I'm just saying that I think a Shaq-led squad takes you further assuming both are surrounded by equal talent. Let's put it this way, how good do you think the Warriors would be if Shaq was drawing double/triple teams in the paint and he had Thompson and Green waiting on the perimeter? Hell, Livingston, Iguadola, Barnes, and Speights will all keep the defense honest if you give them decent looks.


About as good as the team was with Penny, Dennis Scott & Nick Anderson waiting on those double team kick outs or as good as Edddie Jones, Van Exel and a 19-20 year old Kobe. Good enough to to make the finals, but probably don't win the title. Shaq needed that dominant, perimeter player beside him for 3/4 of his rings. (00 Kobe was a great player, not dominant though)

Lakers don't three peat if that 2000 team stays on the same skill level (aka Kobe not turning into a player capable of being the best player on the team for a series here and there)

And we've never seen Curry play next to anybody as good as 01/02/03 Kobe, or first team all nba Penny. so the equal talent thing isn't doing it for me. Shaq had some very deep teams that were loaded with shooter and good perimeter players too.

And I don't think the Warriors team would be as good with Shaq in place of Curry, because like you said, this team is built around Currys strengths. So by taking him away and adding a player who is completely different you're changing the entire dynamic of the team. Warriors are built on ball movement and having two GOAT level shooters.

[Dragonyeuw]

About as good as the team was with Penny, Dennis Scott & Nick Anderson waiting on those double team kick outs or as good as Edddie Jones, Van Exel and a 19-20 year old Kobe. Good enough to to make the finals, but probably don't win the title. Shaq needed that dominant, perimeter player beside him for 3/4 of his rings. (00 Kobe was a great player, not dominant though)

Lakers don't three peat if that 2000 team stays on the same skill level (aka Kobe not turning into a player capable of being the best player on the team for a series here and there)

And we've never seen Curry play next to anybody as good as 01/02/03 Kobe, or first team all nba Penny. so the equal talent thing isn't doing it for me. Shaq had some very deep teams that were loaded with shooter and good perimeter players too.

And I don't think the Warriors team would be as good with Shaq in place of Curry, because like you said, this team is built around Currys strengths. So by taking him away and adding a player who is completely different you're changing the entire dynamic of the team. Warriors are built on ball movement and having two GOAT level shooters.

Orlando Shaq isn't peak Shaq, so using Penny, Nick, and Scott as a barometer would be inaccurate. 1995 Shaq on the 2000 Lakers doesn't win the title in all likelihood. I imagine they lose to Portland if they went through the same teams in that first run. I'd also say that after Penny, Klay and Draymond are your next best players ahead of Scott and Nick. It's not apples to apples, and frankly as deadly as Scott was shooting the 3, he ain't Klay. Penny wasn't a particularly great 3point shooter either. So no, surrounding him with Klay and Draymond doesn't produce the same results as putting him with Penny, Anderson, and Scott. This Warriors squad has more complimentary weapons than the Magic did around Shaq and Penny.

Also, players like Klay and Draymond would play effortlessly off Shaq. The team is suited for Curry in the sense that they hide Curry's main weaknesses in terms of defense. No such dynamic with peak Shaq in the mix. The weakness that teams exploited, foul shooting, would simply be taken care of by Klay and Draymond providing the glue-guy dynamic. Just because they're well-suited to Curry doesn't mean they wouldn't be well-suited to Shaq. That team's collective shooting prowess is ideal to compliment Shaq's interior game.

[G-train]

2 pretty amazing players, I like the defensive and rebounding aspect a 'peak' Shaq brings with his offence.

[TiagoSimoes]

Peak Shaq dominated the league in 2000 with a young Kobe who was probably on Thompsons level now and some role players.



:biggums:

not a kobe fan, but i find that pretty offensive

[raprap]

Shaq is the MDE for a reason. Curry is nice tho. Future top 10 player

[CavaliersFTW]

lel :roll:

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Curry .
:yaohappy: :yaohappy: :yaohappy:

[KiiiiNG]

Not disagreeing with that but there was a liability in Shaqs game. Something teams could do to disrupt the flow of the offense/ play the odds at the line.

There is no liability in Currys game.
Cringe :oldlol: :facepalm

[Prime_Shaq]

Who the fk picked Curry

[IllegalD]

http://45.media.tumblr.com/1a0f598e65571f059b594482e6960dff/tumblr_mp34obUjjA1qeppgno1_400.gif

[Nanners]

how many games would the warriors win if they swapped curry for shaq and swapped bogut for an average PG like george hill, reggie jackson, goran dragic or jeff teague?

teague
klay
barnes
draymond
shaq

+

iggy and friends off the bench

[jstern]

Shaq for the most part hit his free throws in clutch situations. Shot a much better percentage than his career average. But even if he was just hitting 50% of them, teams felt that having the Lakers score 1 point per possession, which is the equivalent of 50% shooting from the field during clutch time, was the lesser of two evil. While getting the other teams players in foul trouble. He was just too dominant.

[Lebron23]

Cringe :oldlol: :facepalm


:oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

[PAOK]

Peak Shaq, one pass-first PG and three 3&D wings

thats all you need

[aj1987]

how many games would the warriors win if they swapped curry for shaq and swapped bogut for an average PG like george hill, reggie jackson, goran dragic or jeff teague?

teague
klay
barnes
draymond
shaq

+

iggy and friends off the bench
Holy ****ing shit. That team has a ton of 3pt shooters and excellent defenders in Dray, Klay, Iggy, Shaq, etc.. They'd win 70+ without question and would sweep through the PO's.

Anyone who picked Curry is a retard. '00-'02 Shaq is arguably the GOAT/2nd GOAT peak.

[dabigbaws]

:oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

[LAZERUSS]

There is a long list of peak players that any reasonable GM would take over Curry. He is the GOAT shooter, and has been a very good scorer the past couple of seasons, but please...hell, I would take a peak McAdoo over this guy for cryingoutloud.

[aj1987]

There is a long list of peak players that any reasonable GM would take over Curry. He is the GOAT shooter, and has been a very good scorer the past couple of seasons, but please...hell, I would take a peak McAdoo over this guy for cryingoutloud.
:roll: :roll: :roll:

This is why you think Wilt is the GOAT scorer and player, when in fact, he's a borderline top 10 player at BEST. Your grasp of the game is below subpar and borderline retarded.

[LAZERUSS]

:roll: :roll: :roll:

This is why you think Wilt is the GOAT scorer and player, when in fact, he's a borderline top 10 player at BEST. Your grasp of the game is below subpar and borderline retarded.

Put a peak McAdoo on this Warrior team in place of Glass, and they would win more than 73 games my friend.

[Rocketswin2013]

toss up when healthy

[aj1987]

Put a peak McAdoo on this Warrior team in place of Glass, and they would win more than 73 games my friend.
:roll: :roll: :roll:

Put Curry on Chokerlain's teams and he's have over 10 rings. Curry wouldn't choke like that mental midget.

[SexSymbol]

Put a peak McAdoo on this Warrior team in place of Glass, and they would win more than 73 games my friend.
I mean, even the biggest McAdoo fan in the world wouldn't think that.

[LAZERUSS]

I mean, even the biggest McAdoo fan in the world wouldn't think that.

You obviously didn't see the man play.

He was Durant long before there was a KD.

Averaged 35 ppg in an NBA that averaged 103 ppg per team.

And, he was a good rebounder, as well.

And arguably one of the most clutch playoff performers, too.

[Chadwin]

bump:lol

[CavaliersFTW]

toss up when healthy
:lol

[Lebron23]

Give me Shaquille O'Neal over Curry 10/10.

[SouBeachTalents]

I honestly wonder if Curry's best Finals game this year was even better than 3peat Shaq's worst? Game 4 is literally the only one that could even be brought up in an argument, the rest would be a laughable comparison

[Cold soul]

I'm not even sure Curry peak is too thirty. Curry is so damn overrated two straight postseasons that were big disappointments.

[TAZORAC]

Shaq and Lebron are the only 2 players in NBA history who can carry sorry teams. Curry can give you 30 a game, but he's not going to carry a bad team, he's not impact enough.

[Sarcastic]

Their offence not close . Curry is greatest offensive force of all time . Shaq was just a dominant scorer ( and of course solid rebounder ) .

Curry is goat level scorer , shooter and a great passer .


Come on. Greatest of all time? Shooters can be shut down. Dominant post games can't.

[tpols]

Come on. Greatest of all time? Shooters can be shut down. Dominant post games can't.

yes, they can. Hack a whoever works very well.. and fouls in general plummet efficiencies of dominant post scorers that cant shoot FTs.

[deja vu]

:roll: :roll: :roll:

Put Curry on Chokerlain's teams and he's have over 10 rings. Curry wouldn't choke like that mental midget.
:coleman:

[deja vu]

yes, they can. Hack a whoever works very well.. and fouls in general plummet efficiencies of dominant post scorers that cant shoot FTs.
Shaq is an exception to that rule.

[ClipperRevival]

Shaq is possibly MDE at his peak. Curry got checked by physicality of the playoffs.

Translation? Physicality is a part of bball in the playoffs. If you can't deal with, you get pushed around like a little girl.

[Lebron23]

Please don't ever compare Shaq to this NBA Finals choker.

[Lebron23]

Shaq is possibly MDE at his peak. Curry got checked by physicality of the playoffs.

Translation? Physicality is a part of bball in the playoffs. If you can't deal with, you get pushed around like a little girl.


I remember a thread saying that Curry would school a prime Gary Payton. LMAO.

[inclinerator]

curry is better

at freethrows

[aj1987]

Holy ****ing shit. That team has a ton of 3pt shooters and excellent defenders in Dray, Klay, Iggy, Shaq, etc.. They'd win 70+ without question and would sweep through the PO's.

Anyone who picked Curry is a retard. '00-'02 Shaq is arguably the GOAT/2nd GOAT peak.
Yep. Stand by what I said. Shaq would've murked all the teams in the PO's. Dude's a top 5 GOAT for a reason.


Come on. Greatest of all time? Shooters can be shut down. Dominant post games can't.
Dude hates Shaq with a passion for some reason.


:coleman:
In my defense, Wilt is a worse choker.

[Orlando Magic]

I'd take peak Shaq ahead of anyone in the history of the ****ing league, let alone a jump shooter that is, at present, the most overrated player ever.

[Prime_Shaq]

I'd take peak Shaq ahead of anyone in the history of the ****ing league, let alone a jump shooter that is, at present, the most overrated player ever.
Thank you.

[nashwade]

LOL..if Curry works, Ray Ray would already have 5 rings