https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOjYSFznYoU
No doubt about it that were the 2004 NBA finals and it is not like he had an easy job – he had to guard one of the most dominant and physically imposing men that have ever played in the league – his majesty Shaquille O’Neal. Everyone knows that stopping Shaq is impossible, but you can decrease his output and make him work for his points, foul more, decrease his minutes and that is exactly what Detroit did and they did it mostly because they had Ben. During the 3-peat from 2000-02 Shaq averaged 35.9 ppg (on .595 shooting), 15.2 rpg, 2.93 bpg, 3.53 apg, 0.66 spg, 3.13 PF, 3.13 TO and he accomplished this by averaging 44.26 mpg. His averages in 2004: 26.6 ppg (on .631 shooting), 10.8 rpg, 0.6 bpg, 1.6 apg, 0.4 spg, 4.4 PF, 2.80 TO and it is not like he was out of his prime or injured – he still averaged 42.6 mpg and only Kobe played more minutes than him. All of his stats are down with the exception of the turnover rate and field goal percentage and the improvements in both categories are insignificant! Yes it is true that Ben received a lot of help from Rasheed, Elden, and Okur, but still he was the one that spend most of the time guarding him (he averaged 40 minutes per game) and he did it without fouling out in any of the 5 games played as he averaged only 3 PF. In game 2 he came quite close as he had 5, but he still managed 43 minutes and recorded a double-double in a game that Detroit narrowly lost in OT. In the 2001 finals Shaq met the other 4 time DPoY in NBA history in Dikembe Mutombo and here is what he averaged then: 33 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 3.4 bpg, 4.8 apg, 0.4 spg, 4 PF, 4 TO in 45 mpg. As you can see the stats are overwhelmingly in Ben’s favor and both were coached by Larry Brown in their respective showings against Shaq. And who can forget his monster game 5 in which he had 18 points, 22 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 assist with 0 turnovers. Most importantly – Big Ben’s presence in the lineup allowed the Pistons not to double team Shaq and to guard effectively all of their other scorers. This is mostly visible by looking at their 3 point percentages: in 2002 it was .475%, in 2001 it was .480%, in 2000 it was .380% while in 2004 it was abysmal .247% and the only player other than Shaq to average double figures in points was Kobe! Chauncey Billups won the Finals MVP in that series and he thoroughly deserved it, but Big Ben was a very close second.
Ben Wallace is the best defender on Shaq of all time.
This I believe. B Wallace is a damn stud. I'm not a fan of Marc Gasol or Ginobli as a starter in this thing. I didn't have anything bad to say about Addy's team except that I don't love Mashburn starting. I really like the Shaq/AD pairing in the frontcourt and Harden/Westbrookin the backcourt. Voting against Karl Malone's teamwas hard because I thinkCy did a great job filling out his roster. Just slightly prefer Addy's team.
It's the only reason. Jazzfans popularity contest.
I probably should have said to start Wallace, but I guess it's too late now. I still like Marc Gasol on Shaq too. Think it's a good defensive matchup for me and Gasol can stretch out Shaq on the other end. If he wants to put Shaq on Malone, I can just run PNR with Malone. Either way Shaq is a bigger liability than any of my defenders.
Shaq on the other hand can literraly bitchslap Gasol the entire series.
I cannot believe you are not starting Ben Wallace against Shaq.
i voted for add just because i don't like Cy![]()
Bully
And yet again recency bias trumps intelligent thought and evidence. Oh thou heartless and thoughtless bitch recency bias!
People really underrate Marc Gasol.
That surprises me.
lol miss sarcasm much.
Sarcasm is just a way to deflect your truly hateful words.
I've always thought of sarcasm as the body's natural defense against stupid people.