Shaqs prime years

[The Iron Fist]

when were they?

[32Dayz]

Prime = 95-02
Peak = 00-02

04 and 05 Regular Season would also be close to Prime Shaq (imo)

Prime Shaq was gone for good after that severe thigh injury at the end of the 05 RS.
Although he still had some Dominant series in the 05 and 06 Playoffs and a very good regular season in 06.

[The Iron Fist]

Prime = 95-02
Peak = 00-02

04 and 05 Regular Season would also be close to Prime Shaq (imo)

Prime Shaq was gone for good after that severe thigh injury at the end of the 05 RS.
Although he still had some Dominant series in the 05 and 06 Playoffs and a very good regular season in 06.

So, if anyone "could win with a prime Shaq",


where are the 95 to 99 titles?

[32Dayz]

So, if anyone "could win with a prime Shaq",


where are the 95 to 99 titles?

Teams win Championships not individuals.

3rd Year Shaq had a good team in 95 and they made the Finalz.
3rd Year Shaq almost played Prime Hakeem to a Wash but his roleplayers got outplayed so they lost.

Shaq had nothing but trash in the Late 90's.

He didn't have a single player on his team to help support him 0ffensively when he got swarmed.

He was still the best player in most of the series they lost in.

[The Iron Fist]

Teams win Championships not individuals.

3rd Year Shaq had a good team in 95 and they made the Finalz.
3rd Year Shaq almost played Prime Hakeem to a Wash but his roleplayers got outplayed so they lost.

Shaq had nothing but trash in the Late 90's.

He didn't have a single player on his team to help support him 0ffensively when he got swarmed.

He was still the best player in most of the series they lost in.

So why come people always say, "Kobe had a prime Shaq, replace him with so and so, and the Lakers still win 3 in a row".


You just said Shaqs prime years started in 95.

Where are the other titles?

[32Dayz]

So why come people always say, "Kobe had a prime Shaq, replace him with so and so, and the Lakers still win 3 in a row".


You just said Shaqs prime years started in 95.

Where are the other titles?

Are you retarded?

No player can win alone, Shaq had garbage Casts in the late 90's so his teams didnt contend. He still was incredibly dominant and played very well in the playoffs outside of maybe 97 and 99.

When Shaq got swept in the playoffs it was usually because his supporting Casts sucked bawls and played terribly.

Pretty much every ATGreat has lost 6+ times in the playoffs.

Shaq only once failed to lead his team past the first round while most ATGreats have lost multiple times in the 1st round.

Its better to get swept in the 2nd Round, CNFinalz or Finalz then it is to lose in 5-7 games in the first round.

If Jordan was so great how come he lost 7 times in the playoffs.
How come he got swept 3 times in the first round?
How come he got swept by the Shaq led Magic in 95?

Trying to judge individuals by team failures or even successes is very stupid imo.

Shaq was usually the best player in those series in which they lost

[Micku]

Teams win Championships not individuals.

3rd Year Shaq had a good team in 95 and they made the Finalz.
3rd Year Shaq almost played Prime Hakeem to a Wash but his roleplayers got outplayed so they lost.

Shaq had nothing but trash in the Late 90's.

He didn't have a single player on his team to help support him 0ffensively when he got swarmed.

He was still the best player in most of the series they lost in.

I wouldn't say that he had nothing but trash. He had a good team with the Magic and the Lakers in the mid to late 90s. Especially in 1996 with Penny, Grant and himself.

The Lakers were talented too in the 90s. Eddie Jones, a young Kobe, Nick Van Excel and few others. They were just too arrogant and didn't know how to play team ball at times.

Shaq played every well in the Finals in 95. The team couldn't pull it out. The next year he faced one of the best teams in NBA history, and the Bulls went on another 3 peat.

[32Dayz]

Kobe's Production and Impact outside of Maybe 01 was not that specactular and could have been replaced with a large number of guards.

Shaq's production from 98-02 can only be matched by MJ.

There are maybe 2-3 Centers in the history of the game who come even remotely close to his Production those years.

Shaq >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Kobe from 00-02.
Playoff PER

A's (Main Star) :
Shaq (00-02) : 29
Jordan (91-93 + 96-98) : 28.53

B's (Side-Kicks) :
Kobe (00-02) : 21
Pippen (91-93 + 96-98) : 19.5

The difference is clear and obvious.

If you give Shaq
TMac, Wade, Lebron, Pierce, Allen, Carter, Iverson or really just one or two players that can provide some 0ffensive support for him in the playoffs when he gets double and triple teamed you will have a contender.

[32Dayz]

I wouldn't say that he had nothing but trash. He had a good team with the Magic and the Lakers in the mid to late 90s. Especially in 1996 with Penny, Grant and himself.

The Lakers were talented too in the 90s. Eddie Jones, a young Kobe, Nick Van Excel and few others. They were just too arrogant and didn't know how to play team ball at times.

Shaq played every well in the Finals in 95. The team couldn't pull it out. The next year he faced one of the best teams in NBA history, and the Bulls went on another 3 peat.

Maybe on paper they looked decent but Young Kobe, Van Exel and Rice consistently played like hot trash in the playoffs especially in the series where they got eliminated in.

Shaq would be getting swarmed and they could do nothing but brick shot after shot.
If one of them could of stepped up and provided a consistent 2nd option for Shaq 0ffensively those teams would have contended for the title yearly.

They also had poor coaching and chemistry at times.

@Micku : I do agree he had a decent team in 96 but outside of Penny none of the roleplayers really played well and losing to the 96 Bullz is understandable.

[Sarcastic]

So, if anyone "could win with a prime Shaq",


where are the 95 to 99 titles?

Who said "anyone could win with prime Shaq"?

[32Dayz]

Who said "anyone could win with prime Shaq"?

No one did but give Shaq from 95-02 a decent second option or one or two players that can consistently provide 0ffense when teams swarm him in the Playoffs and your basically guaranteed a Finalz appearance.

Its really sad how many of his best years were wasted surrounded by Trash or Regular Season All-Stars.

[Micku]

Maybe on paper they looked decent but Young Kobe, Van Exel and Rice consistently played like hot trash in the playoffs especially in the series where they got eliminated in.

Shaq would be getting swarmed and they could do nothing but brick shot after shot.
If one of them could of stepped up and provided a consistent 2nd option for Shaq 0ffensively those teams would have contended for the title yearly.

They also had poor coaching and chemistry at times.

@Micku : I do agree he had a decent team in 96 but outside of Penny none of the roleplayers really played well and losing to the 96 Bullz is understandable.

They did suck in the playoffs, but they did have more talent than a lot of other teams. Nick Van Exel was always more style than substance and efficiency. Eddie Jones was a solid player all around, and Kobe was young. Campbell was solid and they got Horry too. I wouldn't call them trash, and they definitely had talent. But they didn't play as a team and they played selfish sometimes.

But I felt that they had a lot of talent, but they couldn't execute it in the playoffs against the higher tier teams. And never lost to crappy teams. They just got schooled by championship contender teams. The Jazz and the Spurs schooled them. Like the Lakers had more talent than the Spurs in 1999, but the Spurs were a better team IMO.

[32Dayz]

I hated Van Exel.

I always knew secretly he wanted to be "The Man" on those teams and he failed so badly in trying for it.

If they had been coached better and utilized correctly those teams might have done better but you cant really blame that on Oneal.

Part of having a good Cast is having a Coach who can use it correctly.

Either way each player has to take the blame on himself.

Kobe, Van E and Eddie J all did play terribly and thats on them mostly.

Cant blame Shaq that they couldn't knock down their shots.

outside of 97 and 99 Shaq was always incredibly Dominant and usually the best player in the series even when they lost.

[Micku]

I hated Van Exel.

I always knew secretly he wanted to be "The Man" on those teams and he failed so badly in trying for it.

If they had been coached better and utilized correctly those teams might have done better but you cant really blame that on Oneal.

Part of having a good Cast is having a Coach who can use it correctly.

Either way each player has to take the blame on himself.

Kobe, Van E and Eddie J all did play terribly and thats on them mostly.

Cant blame Shaq that they couldn't knock down their shots.

outside of 97 and 99 Shaq was always incredibly Dominant and usually the best player in the series even when they lost.

Eddie Jones was solid in the playoffs. Kobe and Nick Van Exel didn't play too well.

I don't really blame Shaq as much as I blame the team and coaching. They just got outplayed by better teams, that's all. Shaq was still a great player and he had talent on his teams in the 90s, it just that they couldn't play together to beat the elite teams.

[32Dayz]

Eddie Jones was solid in the playoffs. Kobe and Nick Van Exel didn't play too well.

I don't really blame Shaq as much as I blame the team and coaching. They just got outplayed by better teams, that's all. Shaq was still a great player and he had talent on his teams in the 90s, it just that they couldn't play together to beat the elite teams.

Not really.

I can remember Eddie playing "decently" in one elimination series in the Late 90's
The other ones I am pretty sure he was mediocre to just plain bad like the rest of the crew.