"Chiming" in on the Shaq trade

The Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat pulled off a "blockbuster" trade today sending Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns while the Heat received Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. My initial thoughts were that the Heat got the better of the deal by unloading a once great player at the tail end of his career. But looking closer it may not be as lopsided as some would have you believe. Let's look at some stats.

Shaq gp-32, pts-14.2, reb-7.8, ast-1.4, fgpct-.581

Marion gp-47, pts-15l8, reb-9.9, ast-2.1, fgpct-.526

Although Shaq is clearly having the worst season of his career, he is still putting up solid numbers. Also keep in mind he has been playing injured and unmotivated. I believe a move to the desert will miraculously heal alot of the those nagging injuries and motivation will no longer be an issue when playing with the likes of Steve Nash. Furthermore, Nash will probably elevate those numbers to a much higher efficiency.

So we've established that Suns still got a quality player in return but what do they gain and what do they lose. Hard to argue that little needed to be changed to arguably the best team in the West. So what do they lose with Marion's parting? Marion is probably their second best perimeter defender and their best transition finisher. But the Suns can fill that void fairly well with Grant Hill providing he stays healthy. I doubt anyone would ever mistake the Suns as a very good defensive team but they might be better than most people think. They are holding opponents to .450 fgpct this year good for tenth best in the league. They are also second in the league in 3pt fgpct against at a very solid .333. The Suns defensive deficiencies come from inside the arc where they allow opponents to shoot .477. They are also worst in the league in rebounding differential. Alot of that has to do with size. As good a defender as he was on the perimeter, Marion often got pwned inside. The presence of the Shaq will immediately shore up defensive rebounding and interior defense. Remember the Laker Championship teams? They were among the league leaders in rebounding. Furthermore I believe that Marion's stats without Nash will drop tremendously. Maybe his scoring goes up but watch his fgpct drop similar to what Kev shoots.

If O'Neal stays healthy his scoring, rebounding and effienciency should all go up. The Suns half court offense becomes ultra deadly with all 40% 3pt shooters surrounding O'Neal. With Shaq still shooting close to 60% from the field, he should still command lots of double teams. That was another weakness of Marion's. As good as we was in transition and close to the basket, he was a poor 3pt shooter @ .327. Most of the those were open looks. Aside from age and health, there is also a concern with how Shaq will coexist with Amare. Many teams have failed to get alot better after acquiring several superstars because their games were redundant. Boston has done a great job of not falling into that trap by getting 3 all stars whose games compliment each other or basically don't interfere with each other. So is there a danger that Shaq's game interefering with Amare's? I don't necessarily believe this to be true. Although Amare is known for his inside presence, he is still mostly a face up offensive player whereas Shaq is a purely back to the basket player. Amare will still occupy almost all the pick and roll plays with Nash. He is also moves well without the ball as do most Sun players because they're used to playing with Nash. O'Neal has always been a solid passer in the post and I believe Amare can easily slip into that small power forward role where is does alot of slashing to the basket off Shaq double teams.

I do believe Suns can be a better team with this trade. But I also believe a 36 year old Shaq is unstable physically. If he can't play, then the Suns just traded away one of their best players for nothing. The West just got a little more intriguing.

The Blog is back...........Fuck you Al

-Back when TJ Ford went down I was so angry I almost posted.....almost. The Raptors as a team really disappointed me. Since then they have not been any more impressive. They are a skilled team of wusses. Fucking Sam Mitchell got up to yell at the Refs. Are you fucking kidding me. What did they do? It's not their fault. Go after Horford. The only player on the court who I forgave was Anthony Parker who was right by TJ at the time and immediately went to TJ's side. As for the rest of the Raptors on the floor, they should have gone after Al Horford and if not have attempted to fight him, at the very least yell obscenities, point fingers and push him in confrontational fashion. Well TJ is back. I'm happy for him. The toughest Raptor. We need him. I would cry.....if I was a girl.

-Raptors vs Lakers Feb 01/08 - Standing Room? What is this? Yo I don't claim to be rich but I make more than minimum wage. Fucking ridiculous.

-Thoughts on growing old and having a better relationship with the folks. I must say things have never been better between me and my parents. I'm somewhat surprised and happy at this development. My friend Shaun(name dropping) brought up several interesting points himself. Things I attribute to this golden era of peace:

1. Obedience - To parents obedience=love. If you obey they love you more. If they tell you to do something don't think too much. Just do it. It keeps the peace. Peace is good. The bible also says the same thing. Who knew?
2. Self-Sufficiency - They nag and yell at you because they love and as a child you had no choice but to take their crap no matter how unfair. Well now that you are on your own or can live on your own you don't have to take their crap anymore. If they piss you off, you leave and don't talk to them for 3 months(not that one should do this but the point is you can). That gives you a power they have to respect.
3. ABC - A Always B be C closing. Now that you have been working for a few years you should realize how the business world operates else you're probably a moron. You may not like it but people who kiss ass get ahead. That's right, in a way your parents are kinda like your boss. Compliement them, do things for them that they don't ask for and see the results. They love that shit. They eat it up by the spoonful. Just cuz you're a good person doesn't mean they can see that. You have to be good to THEM. Advertise and Finish!

-Basketball Notes. Chin explains that his Cardio shit on Sunday makes him feel so good physically, mentally, emotionally etc. It's all good. I got no beef with him and his cardio on sundays. Everything he said about his cardio also applies to Sunday morning ball(for me) except Sunday morning ball is shared btween friends. There is also one more thing his Cardio work out doesn't have. Team ID punkage and smack. Smack means nothing if you weren't there(this my friend is priceless). But y'know there is apparently some hot chick he's eyeing on Sunday mornings. He has to see about a girl(no problem). Good luck with that my friend. I am not Shaun and I refuse to CB. Just don't put the pussy on a pedestal.....who keeps saying that?