Gobert vs Shaq

[Kings2024Champs]

I usually don't agree with shaq always bashing today's bigs but everything he says about Gobert is spot on. Drop coverage bigs lose value defensively in the playotfs and hes unskilled offensively, giving him big money guarantees you don't make a finals for the next half a decade. Props for stealing money though I guess :applause:

[Akeem34TheDream]

This is my favorite about NBA. Seeing dudes like this clown hate on players for being more successful than them.

What? Are you saying Gobert > Shaq? Even Xiao would disagree lol.

[JohnMax]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=n2-rN-98kFQ

[dankok8]

Shaq would destroy today's NBA so badly that dudes would literally cry on the court.

[Xiao Yao You]

I usually don't agree with shaq always bashing today's bigs but everything he says about Gobert is spot on. Drop coverage bigs lose value defensively in the playotfs and hes unskilled offensively, giving him big money guarantees you don't make a finals for the next half a decade. Props for stealing money though I guess :applause:

He's not a drop coverage big first of all. Not paying guarantees collecting a lot of lottery balls for who knows how long

[Xiao Yao You]

Shaq would destroy today's NBA so badly that dudes would literally cry on the court.

And they'd pull Shaq out to the perimeter at the other end or run

[Horatio33]

Shaq was a drop coverage big, it was rare he would step out on pick and rolls.

[Xiao Yao You]

Shaq was a drop coverage big, it was rare he would step out on pick and rolls.

Exactly and teams would love it

[dankok8]

Yea they'd take advantage of Shaq on P&R defense like they did back then too. But how could anyone defend Shaq today? How do you stop him from getting inside position when you're not allowed to touch him? And Shaq catching the ball within a few feet of the basket equals barbeque chicken.

[Xiao Yao You]

Yea they'd take advantage of Shaq on P&R defense like they did back then too. But how could anyone defend Shaq today? How do you stop him from getting inside position when you're not allowed to touch him? And Shaq catching the ball within a few feet of the basket equals barbeque chicken.

Couldn't defend him then either. Not sure how it changes much

[8Ball]

Drop coverage.... who cares. Put a big like AD or Gobert on Shaq and it would be BBQ chicken in the playoffs, ala 2000-2002 finals. Who cares if the point guard gets a 3 on the perimeter because Shaq didn't step out, Shaq is putting your big in the hospital or within foul trouble 6 mins into the game.

[Sulico]

Yea they'd take advantage of Shaq on P&R defense like they did back then too. But how could anyone defend Shaq today? How do you stop him from getting inside position when you're not allowed to touch him? And Shaq catching the ball within a few feet of the basket equals barbeque chicken.

The problem with this theory is that in the beginning of the century Shaq's 58% FG on high volume was a huge deal.

League average TS% was something like .518 compared to today's .565

And even if you delusional nostalgic NBA fan that thinks that Shaq would just easily increase his FG% to 65% on high volume in today's "soft league", you can't expect Shaq to increase his FT%.

Shaq would definitely be a superstar in 2021 NBA, but his game wouldn't result in as many wins as it did in the 2000's

[dankok8]

The problem with this theory is that in the beginning of the century Shaq's 58% FG on high volume was a huge deal.

League average TS% was something like .518 compared to today's .565

And even if you delusional nostalgic NBA fan that thinks that Shaq would just easily increase his FG% to 65% on high volume in today's "soft league", you can't expect Shaq to increase his FT%.

Shaq would definitely be a superstar in 2021 NBA, but his game wouldn't result in as many wins as it did in the 2000's

Why 65%? He could shoot 62%... Again tell me how teams would stop him from getting inside position without being able to push him or hold him? Players today can practically walk to any spot on the floor. You realize that right? Shaq would be a monster just getting alley-oops and turning offensive boards into jams... just passive offense. Shaq would get more deep post opportunities/dunks in today's game and he converts those on essentially 100% clip.

I think if you replace Embiid with Shaq you have a dynasty simple as that. Simmons can't shoot but he can get Shaq the ball in the right spots and the Sixers have a lot of good shooters for Shaq to pass to when the defense collapses and Shaq was a really really good passer which was the most underrated part of his game. 75% shooting behemoth under the basket (that's his career % within 3 feet...) passing to wide open guys shooting 40% from 3pt range doesn't sound like GOAT Offense to you? Sorry but to me it does.

[Sulico]

Why 65%? He could shoot 62%... Again tell me how teams would stop him from getting inside position without being able to push him or hold him? Players today can practically walk to any spot on the floor. You realize that right? Shaq would be a monster just getting alley-oops and turning offensive boards into jams... just passive offense. Shaq would get more deep post opportunities/dunks in today's game and he converts those on essentially 100% clip.

I think if you replace Embiid with Shaq you have a dynasty simple as that. Simmons can't shoot but he can get Shaq the ball in the right spots and the Sixers have a lot of good shooters for Shaq to pass to when the defense collapses and Shaq was a really really good passer which was the most underrated part of his game. 75% shooting behemoth under the basket (that's his career % within 3 feet...) passing to wide open guys shooting 40% from 3pt range doesn't sound like GOAT Offense to you? Sorry but to me it does.

In 2021 if you not handling the ball and you can't shoot you not creating dynasties by yourself. Player like that just can't impact today's game enough.

Player as talented as Shaq could be playing a role on a dynasty, but he would need a looot of talent around him.

[Baller789]

In 2021 if you not handling the ball and you can't shoot you not creating dynasties by yourself. Player like that just can't impact today's game enough.

Player as talented as Shaq could be playing a role on a dynasty, but he would need a looot of talent around him.

He would need shooters. And in this era, they are a dime a dozen.

I understand Shaq would most likely be a liability on PnR defence. He would give up a lot of 3's.

But that's nowhere near the havoc he'd inflict on offense when half your team has fouled out by halftime.

He would also cause the other team to fatigue at the end of games when he's guarded by smaller players becauase of foul trouble on the bigs. Doesn't really matter if he shoots FT poorly unless the game is close.

BBQ chicken all day long.

[warriorfan]

Young Shaq in today’s game with a small ball up tempo lineup would be amazing.

[Sulico]

Young Shaq in today’s game with a small ball up tempo lineup would be amazing.

Really?

Who's the closest player to Shaq in playing style today? It must be someone who dominates the league.

[LeCola]

No one can guard prime Shaq without double or triple team, even another clone Shaq...

[jlip]

The center that prime Shaq faced who most closely resembles Gobert IMO would possibly be Mutombo. I could see Shaq having a few games against Gobert similar to those that he had against Mutombo in the 2001 Finals which makes his 45/16 prediction possible.

The questions are how effective Shaq would be defensively in this post 2016, open spaced, 3-point shooting era where he would possibly be forced to defend outside the paint. Would he be a liability? While that is something to consider, to me, that's not the primary issue. I think that people tend to forget that Shaq is one of the few game-changing generational players who, by himself, was so dominant that his dominance changed the game and the rules, much as you could say that Curry and GSW changed the game with their three-point shooting. It would be just as big of an issue for this league to adjust to prime Shaq as it would be for him to adjust to this league.

[Gudo]

Without illegal defense, I am thinking it would be harder for shaq to get the ball and score on the inside in today’s game. That would benefit the outside shooters moreso than shaq. On the defense, he would be a liability. Orlando shaq maybe a sifferent story though.

[dankok8]

Shaq in today's era would probably play like Orlando Shaq at ~300 lbs as opposed to 350 lbs. At that time he was a lot more mobile but still strong as hell and unstoppable deep in the paint.