You got to love Shaq. He's the diesel man!
Aw, I don't know about that. The same was said of Dr. J back in the day. Generally speaking, there is always one "There'll Never Be Another..." player per generation. And while I can't quite equate LeBron to Jordan's level, when you compare them at the same points in their careers LeBron is doing a pretty good job...
I dunno about that. I stopped watching for a while, but this season has been great and the playoffs have been even better. Lots of rising stars in the game now, and lots of high character guys. Nash, Nowitzki, Wade, O'Neal, LeBron, etc. I am not sure that I am as big of a fan as I was when I was younger when it was Bird, Magic and MJ having their way with the league, but nonetheless, I think the league has hit a high note after a lull in recent years.
Actually, they became a pretty good defensive team starting last year when Avery Johnson’s influence began to be felt. Johnson has modeled his defense after the Spurs – funnel everything to the base line, etc. They’ve improved all year on the defensive front.
You can thank the NBA rule changes on that. The NBA has emphasized calling fouls on offensive players who simply bull their way to the basket. Shaq can no longer just throw a shoulder or butt into an opponent – or even flat-out run them over – on the way to the basket. That’s partly why scoring is up in the NBA – that, along with the emphasis on reducing hand-checking, has forced teams to more movement and finding a truly open man. Take a look at Detroit – they improved their scoring, and went to more of a motion offense.
