I've been watching basketball for some time now. Everyone knows I'm a fan of the Lakers, and a large reason I became such fervent fan was The Diesel. Shaq. The Big Catcus. Superman (you can't just steal that name from Shaq Daddy, Dwight!). Man of Steel. On and on the nicknames go. He was an act of God in the paint. Even the "hack-a-Shaq" defense didn't phase him. He was just so damn powerful and big that centers across the league simply became a prison yard bitch for-- at the time-- number 34. In addition, when he started his career, Shaq dominated and humilated even future legends like Hakeem, Robinson, and Ewing.
But the past couple of years... well, Shaq has become semi-geriatric on the court. Slow to get up. Slow to rebounds. No spring in his step. No dynamite in his legs. It's depressing to watch Shaq decline. I never really realized how much I like Shaq until after watching a game last year where he struggled to take care of business. I saddened. I almost couldn't watch an idol and defining player like Shaq just not play like he should be. I missed him just barrelling through the lane to dunk on some tool... or not because everyone got the fuck out of the way. But that seems to be changing some.
After watching him light up the Lake Show, calling Chris Bosh the RuPaul of basketball, and playing better than Dwight Howard, an emerging force in his own right; my faith is being restored. It feels good to know the rightful order of the universe is slowing returning for Shaq. I love seeing the fear in centers return because they know they are going home bruised after the game. I like that analysists are back to talking about how teams will handle O'Neal. Now, I want to see him perform. The All-Star game showed he still has some in the tank, but the last week or so has proven it.
I only hope the amazing Phoenix staff (see links below) can keep Shaqtus moving at this pace. It's funny that Shaq said he never wanted to stay passed his welcome in the NBA. It's hard for me to imagine basketball without the Diesel. Even if his movies never were that good (same for the albums-- which I have by the way hehe), he's always been an amazing entertainer. I just don't see anyone picking up the torch of being the whole package like he is. Maybe, some new rookie will appear and shock the NBA back to life after Shaq retires. Maybe. But in the mean time...
I missed you big guy-- even if you aren't on my team anymore.
Here's some articles for more detail on this:
http://slamonline.com/online/nba/2009/01/shaqs-revival/
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/03/03/thomas.shaq.20090303/index.html
I agree that it nice to see Shaq have a resurgence, but I still think it's a little sad for two reasons:
ReplyDeleteWe all know this can't last and that he's pretty much having his last hurrah here.
It's a shame to see him pretty much waste it on a Phoenix team that may or may not make it into the playoffs, on a team that's been in a weird flux of sorts ever since Shaq was brought to the team and D'Antoni was let go.
I am really happy that he recognized that he's in the tail end of his career and that he's making the most of it. I mean, look at him at the All-Star game...he was just appreciative, grateful, and conscious that it's probably going to be his last one.
I'm happy Shaq is playing well again. Matt is right, it does suck that he has to waste it on Phoenix, especially when Amare was around. That guy is a black hole.
ReplyDeleteAlso, with all the Shaq top tens and his highlight reels going on ESPN lately, it gets me pissed off that I didn't watch sports when I was a kid. I missed out on young Shaq when he used to be fast. That would just blow my mind after only catching on to him when he was on the Lakers. Not only that, but I missed Jordan and Gretzky. I guess I just have to live with TheBron and Dirk.
Jar...You forgot to mention Shaq's classic Sega fighting game "ShaqFu" quite possibly the best game ever made. Who could not love a game who's storyline is based on Shaq going into some parallel dimension and fighting freaks or something?
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