Who defended prime Shaq the best ?

[97 bulls]

It was Dennis Rodman. And there's video proof. The problem is that Rodman could only do it in spurts.

[Euroleague]

Yao Ming, and it's not even close.

[Odinn]

When Shaq faced Big Ben, he was at the end of his great years. And they faced 4 times in the playoffs (from 2004 to 2007, every year) and Shaq still averaged 22 ppg on 61% fg. I don't think this can qualify as good when we think of Big Ben's reputation.

DRob did a good job against Shaq. Still, it can sound biased but I'd say it was Duncan. Go and watch back games from early 2000s, especially in the playoffs. When they were matched-up Duncan did anything can be done such a powerhouse. Also, Yao Ming should be mentioned as well.

[Euroleague]

And that was pretty much what he was except not as tall as yao, but better passer.

Sabonis is more overrated than even Chamberlain. I saw Sabonis' prime in the 80s, and he was never considered then to be the player in Europe that guys like Petrovic and Galis were, and not the same as guys like Dalipagic and Schmidt either.

In the 90s, players like Myers, Danilovic, and Kukoc were considered better than him in Europe, and at times, he was considered by some to be the second best player on Real Madrid, after Arlauckas.

Actually, I remember that Tarpley was pretty much almost unanimously thought of as the best big man in Europe in the 90s when he was playing there, and not Sabonis.

All of these Sabonis myths started with the ridiculous hype marketing machine that is called the National Basketball Association.

Sabonis is probably the second best Europen center ever, after Kresimir Cosic, but the Sabonis NBA hype nonsense marketing claims he was the greatest basketball player that ever existed, and that "injuries" and the "Soviet Union" simply "prevented him from being a combination of peak Shaq and peak Hakeem for 15 years in the NBA."

I actually think Sabonis' myths, legends, and tall tales are even more absurd than Chamberlain's myths, legends, and tall tales.

[jstern]

This is a curiosity question, not based on the topic. But Euroleague, I thought he was a pretty hated guy on ISH, with lots of red bars? Am I right? And if so, what happened to suddenly get so many greens?

I mean, if I'm correct, he tries to promote the Euroleague, and puts down the NBA, which antagonizes lots of the posters, and at the same time I don't see any support from other posters standing with him.

[feyki]

Ben Wallace.

2003 was last year of Shaq's prime . Admiral had some big D on Shaq at 99-03 Playoffs .

[Kobe_6/8]

Probably Dennis Rodman. 2003 Shaq was past prime, but I think he had the most trouble with Yao at that point.



So dominant.

[AngelEyes]

Nobody could really defend this big mofo in his prime. Some guys could do an ok job with help from teammates but mostly he was virtually unstoppable.

[aj1987]

https://youtu.be/1ZhIJjJOUJ8 Duncan

Did you even watch the video? Watch the entire series, actually. Shaq was doubled and tripled on almost every play. Dude was quadrupled 5 times a game minimum. Yet, he still WRECKED them. ~25/15/4 on 55% (going off of memory) against that kind of coverage?

Ben Wallace.

Stick to melting down, warriorfan.

[zeerghit]

Sabonis more overrated than even Chamberlain. I saw Sabonis prime in the 80s, and he was never considered then to be the player that guys like Petrovic and Galis were, and not the same as guys like Dalipagic and Schmidt either.

In the 90s players like Myers, Danilovic, and Kukoc were considered better than him in Europe, and at times, he was considered by some to be the second best player on Real Madrid, after Arlauckas.

Actually, I remember that Tarpley was pretty much almost unanimously thought of as the best big man in Europe in the 80s when he was playing there, and not Sabonis.

All of these Sabonis myths started with the ridiculous hype marketing machine that is called the National Basketball Association.

Sabonis is probably the second best Europen center ever, after Kresimir Cosic, but they Sabonis NBA hype nonse marketing claims he was the greatest basketball player thast ever existed, and that "injuries" and the "Soviet Union" simply "prevented him from being a combination of peak Shaq and peak Hakeem for 15 years in the NBA."

I actually think Sabonis' myths, legends, and tall tales are even more absurd than Chamberlain's myths, legends, and tall tales.

"After the 1994

[Vragrant]

It was Dennis Rodman. And there's video proof. The problem is that Rodman could only do it in spurts.

Yup, Rodman used to drive Shaq nuts.

[90sgoat]

Shaq himself said Rik Smits.

[Euroleague]

heard these rumors before but never saw them substantiated. given olympic testing, it's also a bit suspect. even if he did, i think it's lame to just point one guy out since there's the possibility of dozens of high profile players who used them at one point or another. is the achilles tied to roid use? he also developed a good shot and i really don't see how roids will assist that. if anything, roids can hinder it unless we are talking about range among long range shooters and saving your legs.

but hey, i agree with you on grant. he did all he could and he could fluster shaq at times.

It's common knowledge that USA, Soviet, Yugoslavian, Czech, East German, and Lithuanian players were all roided up big time back then.

It's also common knowledge that in more recent years, Argentine and Spanish players were roided up, along with Russian and American players.

[Euroleague]

"After the 1994–95 European season Portland's then-general manager Bob Whitsitt asked the Blazers team physician to look at Sabonis' X-rays. Illustrating the impact of Sabonis' numerous injuries, He said that Arvydas could qualify for a handicapped parking spot based on the X-ray alone."

And this is 100% proof that all the Sabonis myths and legends are just as ridiculous, or even moreso than the Wilt legends and myths.

Sabonis was never even remotely close to as good in Europe as the NBA has claimed he was all these years. He was like a top 5 player in Europe in the 80s and 90s, but that was it. 2nd best European center of all time also (after Cosic), not the best one like NBA claims.

Even on the recent documentary the NBA made about Sabonis numerous NBA historians, coaches, managers, executives, etc., claimed Sabonis was "the best player in the world by far" in the 1980s, and a "7-3 version of prime Larry Bird".

If ANYONE believes any of this shit is true, then they have an IQ below 65.

It's just a bunch of bullshit. Fact is, players like Galis, Petrovic, Dalipagic, Schmidt, and San Epifanio were doing much more in the 80s in Europe than Sabonis was.

NBA marketing made up fantasies about him, just like they do with so many other players. Remember that the NBA marketing schemes claimed that Ricky Rubio, a guy averaging 5 points and 3 assists a game in Europe, was "the best Euroleague player of all time".

It's amazing that so many NBA fans still fall for such ludicrous marketing bullshit to this day.

Finally, the doctor you cited was clearly using something called hyperbole, and not actually being serious.

[deja vu]

Yao Ming, and it's not even close.

Yeah rookie Yao rejected Shaq like 5x in their very first meeting.

Too bad he had ankles made of glass.