H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m
<< Previous Next >> -------------------- January 25, 2005 Of Shaq and Kobe.
Maybe we're just too biased towards Kobe Bryant. If that's true it's probably because of the way he just mesmerized us in his first 2 seasons, when almost everyone of his shots attempts had such a high entertainment value. What we would like to know is how come now that Shaq is in Miami he's willing to relegate the bulk of the offensive load to Dwyane Wade while in L.A it was clear Kobe wanted the spotlight, and there was not a single doubt that he had all the tools and prepardness to tackle the job? In contrast to Dwyane Wade, with all due respect to him, he's just not in the same elite class as Kobe no matter how you stretch it. As many of their playoff matchups during their championship runs proved, the Lakers could be just as successful if Kobe took the reins, all that was needed is to have a clear difference between the #1 and 2 guys. As of now Shaquille O'neal is averaging 22.8 points and Dwyane Wade 23.7. Sure it's not that much of a difference, but that's not it. Shaq is also leading the leading the league in field goal percentage at 60.7%. In today's NBA that's a very high rate of accuracy. His career average is just over 57%, and it has been very consistent. For him to get back there, He would need to take more shots than he does now, about 15 per game. Suppose he attempted just over 18 field goals a game (his career average), we feel it would well make him the NBA's scoring leader and of course the Miami team's primary offensive arsenal. Our point in all this is that Shaq is holding himself back. Perhaps to let Dwyane take over, or other reasons. Given Kobe's breadth of talent in L.A he could have done the same there too. Why is no one talking about this little tidbit of information: Shaq is aging. Kobe should've been getting broken into his leadership role. Shaq wasn't going to last another five years as an elite player. The Lakers should have taken a lesson from the Spurs. Gregg Popovich figured out early on that the next generation player was Tim Duncan, an promptly convinced David Robinson of this. The Lakers were at the same crossroads. Perhaps Shaquille O'neal's dimished load in Miami is the result of Pat Riley opening up that fact to him, especially with those (well loaded) practices the Riley clan is notorious for. Mr Buss should've contracted an expert for consulting, or shouldn't that have been Phil Jackson's job? << Previous Next >> Back to 2004-05 archive |
|
|