Shaquille O'Neal Is Proving His Doubters Wrong

Shaquille O’Neal isn’t quite done yet. Most critics had written him off after watching his poor performance in last year’s first-round playoff matchup against the Spurs.  

He was a complete disappointment in that series, as he couldn’t find any rhythm in his offensive game. However, Shaq, this season, has been proving his doubters wrong.

Surprisingly, Shaq looks significantly quicker and stronger than he did last year. Last year, his age appeared to have caught up with him, as his lift and quickness seemed to suddenly deteriorate.

But If you watched his 29 point, 11-rebound performance against Milwaukee last Saturday, his 18 point, 13 rebound, and four-block performance against Yao Ming on Wednesday, and his 29 point, 13 rebound, and six-assist performance in 43-plus minutes against the Kings on Friday night, you can’t deny that that Shaq still has something left in his tank.  

But what is even more shocking is that Shaq is shooting a career high with a .651 FG percentage and is shooting the second best free throw percentage of his career high with a .617 FT percentage.  I don’t know if Shaq was right last year when he spoke highly of the Suns training staff while slighting the Heat’s staff, but coincidentally, Shaq looks as if he’s close to his 2005 form.

His agility, quickness, lift, and endurance all seem to be much improved from last year. While Phoenix may have a great training staff, I believe the reason for Shaq’s apparent comeback can be mainly attributed to Shaq finally being fully healthy and being one the main focal points on offense. 

I believe most people forgot that Shaq was injured for half the season last year and never got completely healthy. They just assumed he had just lost a step.

Mike D’Antoni’s offensive scheme was not a good fit for Shaq either last year as he was never fully incorporated into the offense. Shaq said last year after he was traded that he didn’t want the Suns to change anything for him. The Suns coaching staff foolishly did exactly what Shaq said.  

The Suns weren’t willing to change their offense to fit Shaq and that mistake cost the Phoenix Suns an early first round exit from the playoffs last year.

When Shaq was in the game and wasn’t given the ball regularly in the post last year, he was a nuisance out there as he simply clogged the lane up as Steve Nash tried to run their regular half-court offense.  

Shaq was never utilized properly, especially when he was setting pick in rolls on the three-point line!

The spacing on the floor was awful last year and caused the Suns to constantly turn the ball over.  If a team is going to make such a monumental trade for a player like Shaq, they should have to change their offensive system to fit that player.

This year, new head coach Terry Porter’s offensive system is centered around Shaq’s post abilities and there are consistent plays run for Shaq unlike last year. The Suns are winning games while scoring in the 80s, which many people never would have believed could happen.

Suns General Manager Steve Kerr traded for Shaq because he believed the Suns weren’t going to win a championship with their fast break offense they had been using in previous years. The suns are 7-3 (7-2 with Shaq), and suddenly Steve Kerr doesn’t look like such an idiot anymore.