| The Real Superman By Robert Littal Shaquille O’Neal would like you to believe he is Superman on the basketball court. The only qualities that Shaq has in common with Superman is that he was blessed with physical gifts that no other basketball player has and his reputation is greater than his actual production. When you are talking about the Miami Heat the real Superman you should be talking about Dwayne Wade. So while everyone is arguing about Shaq and Steve Nash and did race come into play in the MVP voting, what they should be talking about is how Shaq isn’t even the MVP of his own squad. Shaq is a great player, one of the best centers if not the best center of all time. The one thing Shaq is not is clutch. When was the last time you remember with the game on the line Shaq actually getting the ball? It was always Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel, Kobe Bryant, Robert Horry, and now Dwayne Wade. The Pistons told you all you need to know about Shaq in last year finals when they identified that the person the needed to stop was not Shaq who they let do whatever, but Bryant because Bryant is the closer, the one who pulls out close games, i.e. he is the money player. Shaq is a unique player in the fact that there is no way to guard him, so you would think he would have better numbers than 23 and 10 this year. The fact of the matter is that Shaq is old, slow and starting to show his age. No one wants to admit it, but at this point in his career it is time for him to focus on defense and rebounding, two things that he seems a little indifferent to doing. Shaq would like you to believe that he is the reason Penny was good, Bryant was great, and Wade has flourished. There is some truth to that it is easier to play with the big man in the middle, but what Shaq won’t tell you is that he would not be consider as great as he is if he did not have players like Penny, Bryant, and Wade closing the deal for him. In the years that Penny and Bryant were either not on the squad or in Bryant’s case playing a limited role Shaq was swept out of the playoffs each of those years. Shaq never gives the credit to the other stars on his teams on the contraire he has belittled most of them, especially Bryant. Shaq is as responsible for the breakup of the Lakers as Kathy Faber. Kobe Bryant is an extremely gifted player who didn’t want to play a subservient role to Shaq. While Bryant has his own issues, I truly believe that Shaq was envious of Kobe’s popularity in LA. Shaq wants to be beloved and wants everyone to follow his lead, but if you don’t, you become the enemy and he will make your life miserable. Shaq is a 30 something year old man going on 16. Similar to the class clown in high school he craves attention and he needs to be told how great he is. Kobe is an unusual fellow as we found out, but one thing you know about Kobe is that he is extremely competitive and believes he comes second to no one. Most great players believe this and would never take a secondary role. Do you think Michael Jordan would have like being called Batman to Shaq’s Superman? Shaq gets a pass because he is good with the media and is a funny and outgoing guy. You keep hearing that Shaq could be the MVP every year, but has only won it once. They said the same thing about Jordan, Magic, and Bird and they won MVPs 6, 3, and 3 times respectively. Meaning that Shaq couldn’t be the MVP every year, cause MVPs are clutch players that their teams depend on to win games in the fourth quarter. The argument sometimes is that because Shaq is a center it is hard for him to be a clutch player. That to me is an excuse because if Shaq is the most dominate player and you need a basket to win a game why wouldn’t you go to him? The answer is cause he can’t shoot free throws and has very rarely made a big shot in his life. Tim Duncan makes clutch shots all the time and he is a seven footer. The difference is that Duncan is a skilled player while Shaq is all force. Shaq is bigger than life and could make an average team a playoff team, but not a champion, because to be a championship team you have to have the closer. This brings us back to Dwayne Wade. Without question right now D Wade is the best player still playing in the playoffs. He also has to be in the discussion when talking about the best players in the league. The Washington Wizards have 3 All-Star players on their squad and Wade has Damon Jones. He singled-handedly put his team on his back and carry them to 2 victories on the Wizards home court no less. Check out these numbers. Game 4: 42 Pts, 7 Reb, 4 Ast Game 3: 31 Pts, 9 Reb, 6 Ast All this while Shaq is sitting out with a bruised thigh (allegedly). I had a deeply bruised thigh back in high school, but I was still able to go out and play which makes me think there is something more wrong with Shaq, but that is to be expected because he has been hurt at some point for the last 3 years. D Wade is a closer, he has the killer instinct, he has that “it” factor. Lebron James is already one of the best players in the game, but we don’t know if he has the “it” factor, because you only know when you are in pressure situations. Wade gave us a glimpse of it last year and now this year he has exploded. Shaq when he plays is only giving the Heat 17 and 7 (which he could roll out of bed and get) and they are still 8-0 in the playoffs, so tell me who is the real MVP? Shaq gave Wade the nickname “Flash”, but that is too one dimensional for a player of his caliber. Wade is a combination of the Justice League rolled into one. Kobe Bryant should watch Wade and realized this is how he should play, this is how you can be dominate and still play a team game. Which is an amazing considering that this is only Wade’s 2nd year in the league. Wade is a combination of slashing, darting, jump stopping, explosiveness that is hard to believe considering his size. He is what I like to call a “Deion Player” meaning he loves the prime-time spotlight and performs his best under those circumstances. There is no secret that Shaq was jealous of Kobe and Penny. Things have been different with Wade up to this point, but one has to wonder if all the attention Wade is getting is starting to get to him a little bit. The Heat got Shaq to help them win a championship and while he is an important piece, he is not the main cog. Dwayne Wade is the Superman on this team and but unlike Shaq there is no kryptonite in his game. |
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