DaRizzle

Great post. Good points, I thought the paragraph above was well thought out and I agree with it.

TLo

I'd rather see the Sonics stay in Seattle.

PorterIn2004

Thanks DaRizzle. And yeah, TLo, it'll be a huge bummer if the Sonics actually leave, if for no other reason that it would mean that all of the Blazers road games would involve significant travel, as opposed to, say, the California-based teams.

EHL

Nope, age and ability matter far more than experience and at the same age Shaq was by far the better player without question. Oden won't sniff those numbers, college or NBA.

And you can't use the injury excuse, as Oden has been very injury-prone his entire young career, while Shaq wasn't. That's a huge disadvantage for Oden in comparison to Shaq, who was very healthy during his college career and his first few years in the NBA.

Not if you're a thinking fan.

Oden can't make anything outside of 8 feet on a consistent basis so I'm not sure what your point is there. It's OK to admit you're a kid, you obviously never saw the dude play with the Magic. Hell, his first NBA basket was a fade-way jumper near the FT-line. He absolutely had touch early; you don't need to be a jump shooter to have touch.

Sonny-Canzano

Oden is a different player than Shaq. He's all about defense. He's more of a Nate Thurmond/Bill Russell type of Center.

Oden's freshman year is very comparable to Shaq's, btw. Greg also put up those numbers with a hard cast on his shooting hand for a majority of the season. We saw what Oden can do with both hands in the National Title game, where he made Noah/Horford look like little children.

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When your winning, fight like your losing.

DaRizzle

Talk to the hand. Yes Shaq was dominant on offense...just like he was on D. I have no idea how Shaq never won DPOY...

STOMP

what a load of bleep. Thinking fan? Admit you're a kid? Can't make a shot outside of 8'... not only insulting but ignorant. How far is the free throw line again? You're in for a real eye opening experience next season.

This board is filled with young and old and plenty of both are taking issue with your nonsense. Personally I saw many of Shaq's college games... all dude did was dunk isn't true of every shot he took, but was 90+% of the shots he made.

STOMP

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaQprMCe20A&NR=1

blazerboy30

That's too bad he completely lost his "touch" after his first NBA basket.

EHL

That's nice, I wasn't just talking about Shaq's college career, I was responding to someone else's claims about his abilities in a Magic uniform early in his career. Follow the conversation closely.

BuckW4GM

shaq was a whole 10 months younger than oden as a freshman.

you have to play to produce. the only year oden played at the collegiate level was during his freshman year at osu. as freshmen, shaq's and oden's productions were equal.

since there isn't a whole lot of difference in their age, productions at the same competitive level and experience is a lot more telling to me.

we know what is for certain: oden won't ever sniff those numbers in college. why? it's because oden only played 1 year in college. it took shaq more than a year of college ball to get those numbers.

so why again are we comparing apples to oranges?

another thing we know for certain: shaq won't ever take his college team to the finals of the ncaa tournament.

does that apple taste the same as an orange to you?

it's not an excuse. the fact is: oden produced those numbers while being limited in using his good hand.

we are trying to compare shaq's and oden's skill set at the collegiate level. it's important to note that oden could not use his good hand fully.

i never argued that shaq wasn't more durable than oden in his early years, or that durability is not an advantage. quit using strawman to argue your points.

wow.

at what point, in that quote that you quoted me, did i said anything about oden making shots outside of 8 feet? my point was simply: early in his career, shaq's offense was all very close in the basket area. nothing outside of 8 feet. as of now, oden's offense is the same way. they are/were both athletic freaks that overwhelmed their defenders with size, strength, and superior athletic ability on offense rather than refined offensive skills.

in my 30's, and i watched quite a few of the magic's games when shaq played there.

it's ok to admit that you're full of it and simply quit this debate already, though. in any case, i'm ashamed of myself for wasting the time debating you. i'm done after this.

shaq made a 3 pointer, too. should we say that he had range out to the 3 point line?

PorterIn2004

Come now, Buck, we all know that Shaq was and is as dangerous from the three point line and the foul line as from anywhere else on the floor. The only question is dangerous for which team.

Sonny-Canzano

Back to the topic at hand. anyone else think Bynum could have lingering knee problems because he has extremely knocked knees? This is the first knee cap dislocation I've seen in the NBA in a long time and first time I can remember happening to a 7-footer. His knees are knocked the same way Manute Bol's were.

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When your winning, fight like your losing.

EHL

At the same age Shaq's numbers dwarfed Oden's. This is fact you'll have to deal with.

Not if you're honest and admit that Oden wasn't going to be putting up 26/15/2/5 like Shaq did.

If team success were relevant we'd be talking about Oden's rookie season in the NBA, where he took his team nowhere by playing zero games. Is it getting through yet or is crayon necessary?