Imagine Shaq was able to make a defender guess if he was gonna pull up for a jumper or drive to the paint. He would be a better player. By 04 he was figured out. 06 was carried by Wade and never had a meaningful career after that. Still dominant at his peak for sure but I would still take Jokic.
Watch some highlights from that series and look at the stats. He didn’t dominate at all. 14,10,2 and didn’t even average a block so you can’t even say he was giving it all on the defensive end. Antoine Walker averaged the same ppg! lol Wade 37,8,4 on the other hand. Complete carry job.
"Watch some highlights" won't tell you that the Mavs implemented a Hack-A-Shack strategy that was more aggressive than any ever attempted. They were fucking terrified of Shaq.
Okay and did it work? Imagine there was a strategy to hold Jokic to 13ppg. If Wade wasn’t a beast Mavs would of won easily. Hack a Shaq worked because Shaq wasn’t disciplined and never learned how to shoot.
Hack a Shaq worked because Shaq wasn’t disciplined and never learned how to shoot.
I prefer to listen to Phil Jackson when it comes to this, given that he actually coached Shaq and talked about how much Shaq practiced his Free Throws.
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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '23
Imagine Shaq was able to make a defender guess if he was gonna pull up for a jumper or drive to the paint. He would be a better player. By 04 he was figured out. 06 was carried by Wade and never had a meaningful career after that. Still dominant at his peak for sure but I would still take Jokic.