Dwyane Wade vs Shaq O'Neal 2006 NBA Playoffs / Finals

[bruceblitz]

Dwyane Wade vs Shaq O'Neal 2006 playoffs:

VS Da Bulls:
Wade 24.67ppg 4.50reb 7.17ast 44%fg
Shaq 19.83ppg 10.83reb 2.00ast 61%fg

VS New Jersey Nets:
Wade 27.60ppg 6.00reb 6.60ast 49%fg
Shaq 18.60ppg 7.20reb 2.00ast 57%fg

VS Detrot Pistons
Wade 26.67ppg 5.17reb 5.50ast 62%fg
Shaq 21.67ppg 10.50reb 0.33ast 65%fg (Shaq only had 2 assists in the 6 games)

VS Dallas Mavericks
Wade 34.67ppg 7.83reb 3.83ast 47%fg
Shaq 13.67ppg 10.17reb 2.83ast 61%fg

Wade's 42pt game 3, 36pt game 4, 43pt game 5, and 36pt game 6 turned the series around, he basically singlehandedly took the series over after the Heat went down 2-0 against the Mavs. In games 3-6 Wade averaged 39.25ppg on 51%fg.

Wade played fantastic basketball the entire playoff run, Shaq was in "past his prime" beast mode vs Chicago/Detroit.

Wade in the 06 Conference Finals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDdlEFMIA5Y

Dwyane Wade scores 17 unanswered points vs the Pistons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMQFbPbsOb4

A recap of the 2006 NBA Finals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ha5uj9T7w

Bonus:

VS Dallas Mavericks
Wade 34.67ppg 7.83reb 3.83ast 47%fg
Shaq 13.67ppg 10.17reb 2.83ast 61%fg

Compare Wade's & Shaq's performance in the finals to Kobe & Shaq's performances in the Finals:
NBA Finals production:
2000 vs Indiana Pacers
Kobe 15ppg 4rpg 4apg 36.6%FG
Shaq 38ppg 16rpg 2apg 61%FG

2001 vs Philadelphia
Kobe 24ppg 7rpg 5apg 41.5%FG
Shaq 33ppg 15rpg 4apg 57%FG

2002 vs New Jersey Nets
Kobe 26ppg 5rpg 5apg 51%FG
Shaq 36ppg 12rpg 3apg 59%FG

2004 vs Detroit
Kobe 22.6ppg 2.8rpg 4.4apg 38%FG
Shaq 26ppg 10rpg 1apg 63%FG
2004 Finals Kobe froze Shaq out of the offense, it probably would have been a better move from a team standpoint to feed the guy who's making 63% of his shots the ball more rather than have a guy shooting 38% shot-jack.

Kobe didn't out-perform Shaq once in the NBA Finals, not even close. While Wade out-performed Shaq in his championship run....

Apparently Kobe fans want me to post Kobe's regular season performances against the Mavs from that year:
[COLOR="Navy"]February 7,2006 Kobe shot 5-22 against the Mavs[/COLOR]

Also, in Kobe's 62 point game he had 25 free throws in 3 quarters
[COLOR="Navy"]THAT'S RIGHT 25 FREE THROWS IN 3 QUARTERS![/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkRed"]What did Kobe shoot against Dallas that year?
44% from the field![/COLOR]


So I guess they do admit that this comparison means something now:
Kobe vs LeBron? No comparison...Just look at how the two performed against the exact same team and exact same defenders:
LeBron vs Orlando 2009 playoffs...38.5ppg 48.7%fg 8.3reb 8ast 1.16blk 1.16stl
Kobe vs Orlando 2009 playoffs..... 32.4ppg 42.9%fg 5.6reb 7.4ast 1.4blk 1.4stl

[Bigsmoke]

Wade was better... and whats your point?

[juju151111]

Wade was Amazing in the finals. When is the top 10 defense coming.

[bruceblitz]

Wade was better... and whats your point?

That's the point. It's simple and fast. Easy to see.....

Anyways this is a response to the Kobe fan who created a thread asking if Wade and a handful of other players could lead their teams to a championship, playing the way they do. Apparently he just started watching the NBA in 2007.

[bruceblitz]

Wade was Amazing in the finals. When is the top 10 defense coming.

Sometime today. I'm working on Kobe's list right now.

[Eldrunko247]

Wade had miracle help from the refs in the NBA's "next MJ" agenda.

[tastystaci]

Wade's stats were heavily inflated because of the leagues treatment of him in that playoff run. Stern was looking for the next "Jordan", and he was gonna do everything in his power to make sure Wade reached that level. You couldn't pass wind in Wade's direction without getting a foul called, much like Lebron in this years playoffs, the difference is, the Heat were almost as good as those Pistons and Mavs form '06, so Stern's influence was successful. This was a disgrace of a playoffs, I give Wade NO credit for his seemingly impressive numbers.

The guy shattered ALL records, shooting an unheard of 16+ free throws per game in the NBA Finals. An epic joke. If I wasn't such a die hard basketball fan, those playoffs would've kept me away for good.

f*ck you David Stern

[juju151111]

Wade's stats were heavily inflated because of the leagues treatment of him in that playoff run. Stern was looking for the next "Jordan", and he was gonna do everything in his power to make sure Wade reached that level. You couldn't pass wind in Wade's direction without getting a foul called, much like Lebron in this years playoffs, the difference is, the Heat were almost as good as those Pistons and Mavs form '06, so Stern's influence was successful. This was a disgrace of a playoffs, I give Wade NO credit for his seemingly impressive numbers.

The guy shattered ALL records, shooting an unheard of 16+ free throws per game in the NBA Finals. An epic joke. If I wasn't such a die hard basketball fan, those playoffs would've kept me away for good.

f*ck you David Stern

So David drugged Dirk and his team to choke on FTs in gm 3 when do could easily won the gm.

[Slam13]

He ain't called D-Whistle for nothing.

[unbreakable]

FGA of both players?

[bruceblitz]

Wade's stats were heavily inflated because of the leagues treatment of him in that playoff run. Stern was looking for the next "Jordan", and he was gonna do everything in his power to make sure Wade reached that level. You couldn't pass wind in Wade's direction without getting a foul called, much like Lebron in this years playoffs, the difference is, the Heat were almost as good as those Pistons and Mavs form '06, so Stern's influence was successful. This was a disgrace of a playoffs, I give Wade NO credit for his seemingly impressive numbers.

The guy shattered ALL records, shooting an unheard of 16+ free throws per game in the NBA Finals. An epic joke. If I wasn't such a die hard basketball fan, those playoffs would've kept me away for good.

f*ck you David Stern

Here's the thing you forget to factor in, Wade earned his foul calls. He was attacking the basket and there was more than enough contact to warrant every single foul call under today's rules:
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2717202

95% of the fouls Wade drew were 100% legit. Go back and watch the game film.

Whenever I read someone pulling the referee card, without giving credit to all of the clutch jumpers and great plays a player made, I want to just call you the ultimate idiot. Wade earned those free throws by relentlessly attacking the basket. If your contention is that Wade wouldn't have drawn that many fouls in the Jordan era, ok, fine...

[Peter Griffin]

Shaq was Fresh and Dominant in his Prime during the Laker years Title runs!

And he was out of his Prime and not as dominant during the Miami Heat/Ref playoff Run!

If Wade played with Shaq during his time in LA, and they somehow were to win a Title, im sure Shaq would have totally out played Wade and won the Finals MVP's!

I thought all smart people would know this?!

[bruceblitz]

Great footage and interview with Wade about the 2006 Finals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Ul3NP6tKQ

[bruceblitz]

Shaq was Fresh and Dominant in his Prime during the Laker years Title runs!

And he was out of his Prime and not as dominant during the Miami Heat/Ref playoff Run!

If Wade played with Shaq during his time in LA, and they somehow were to win a Title, im sure Shaq would have totally out played Wade and won the Finals MVP's!

I thought all smart people would know this?!

Wade would have never shot 36%, 41%, and 38% in the NBA Finals first of all. Second of all I made reference to Shaq being past his prime in the first post. You aren't needed on this forum you cartoon character. Leave.

[catch24]

Good post Bruce. While I know Wade had great stats, Shaq was no where close to the same dominant force like so with LA (and if he was you better believe Riley was going to feed him the ball due to Dallas's frontline) nor near his prime, so #3 got to his thing. That's not taking ANYTHING away from him, he was Jordanesque and going to him that many possessions for instant scoring was smart due to his efficiency.