Shaq Attack Vs. The Dream Shake.

                                                     
One of the great things about sports in general, is the comparison of players of from different eras and how people try to establish who is the greatest of all time (aka G.O.A.T). I was speaking to a great friend of mine named Brian a couple of weeks ago. He's been in my life ever since freshmen year of high school, so he means a great deal to me. Aside from our friendship, one thing Brian and I can relate on, is the love for the game of basketball. Anyways, we were having a little chat about who should be considered the best center to ever play the game. Ironically this conversation was going on as we were playing a game of NBA 2k13 (we choose random teams, because we are just that good). I always enjoy debating about basketball with Brian because no matter how much we both know, we never can agree on anything, but that's what debates are all about. One thing we were smart to agree on, is that it pretty much comes down to Big Diesel, SuperMan, Shaquille O'Neal and The Dream himself, Hakeem Olajuwon.

   

I was the biased Laker fan, and chose Shaq. Now my decision was not only based on being a Los Angeles Laker, but strictly on how much of a monstrosity he really was. When I compare players, I like to use the examples of them while they were in their prime, it's only fair. Now I'm sure anyone knows who Shaquille O'Neal is, the first thing that comes to mind is massive, and uncontrollably strong, Hulk-like. Shaquille was consider to be both the immovable object and the unstoppable force. When he came into the league in 92', he towered at 7'1" and weighed a "light" 285 pounds. Regardless, he was able to run the floor like a guard and finish at the rim like a wrecking ball. If that wasn't anything, once he got to the Lakers he gained pure muscle and weighed up 325 pounds. While Shaq was in Los Angeles, he was borderline unguardable, not a single person was able to stop him one-on-one, and even sometimes double teams meant nothing.

As a laker, Shaquille's stats were phenomenal. Throughout eight seasons in Los Angeles, he averaged 27.0 PPG, 11.9 RPG 2.5BPG and shot 57.5% from the field. He had two 50+ point games, 21 40+ point games and shot much over 50%  in each of them. Amongst his list of achievements,he was the league's  2000 Most Valuable Player and 2000 Scoring Champion (his highest was 61 against The Clippers). He truly was, SuperMan

I'm a fair man, as amazing as SuperMan was, there were some flaws in his game. First things first, he was a terrible free throw shooter. During his time in L.A he shot for 53.3 from the line. One would say that isn't too bad, "you make one, you miss one", let's be smart. Another thing about Shaq, was that he was a one move monster. He pretty much had a two dribble, two step, jump hook, which did not fail him. Lastly, you could say that he was not the greatest of defenders, he didn't win a defensive title in a segment of NBATV's Open Court, he admitted he wasn't the best of defenders, but that wasn't his concern.

I could go on an on with pros and cons, but I'd like to know, who you think G.O.A.T is, center wise? Until next time, catch ya on the rebound!

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Love to Hate Mondays, Or Hate to Love Mondays? Now that's the Question.

       
Ah Mondays how the human race despises you so. Having to go back to work after either having an amazing weekend that you probably do not remember or just being a grumpy old man and sleeping through it. One thing is for sure, no matter what you were doing, you made sure you were coherent enough to be ready for, what I like to call, the best day of the week, Football Sunday. Why it isn't a national three month holiday in this country is beyond me.

Coming into Week 5 this weekend I had no idea we would be in for such a treat and even a bit disappointed by some teams. My Pittsburgh Steelers ( Yes I am a New Yorker who's a Steelers fan, and I like to think I'm part of the team) were on their Bye week, but not even that could stop the social media world from ripping them a new one for their 0-4 start.

While we are on the subject of 0-4, I think it is safe to say the New York Giants season, is pretty much over. This isn't me being a negative Nancy, because being from New York, I really enjoy watching the Giants and I'm a fan of Eli Manning. Seeing the Giants struggle does not come to me as a surprise, this is what they do every other year and sometimes they just figure out how to make the playoffs, or even just like in 2012, win the Super Bowl. But, what history does tell us, it's that out of the 183 teams that have started 0-4, only ONE team ( 92' SanDiego Chargers) have made it to the playoffs. Sorry G-Men, looks like you'll be going for early picks this year, because numbers don't lie.

Speaking of Manning, can some please hurry up, polish up the MVP and personally hand deliver it to the door step of Peyton Manning? WOW! What a start to this season he is having and what a game he was in yesterday! 414 yards, 4 pass touchdowns, and even a vintage Tennessee rushing TD, which absolutely no one saw coming. Not even his teammates knew it was coming. Peyton Manning sir, you are a genius. You did manage to throw your first interception of the year during the game, but you won the game, so no harm done.

One of the other main reasons yesterday Broncos-Cowboys game was such a big hit was because of a surprising performance from Daddy Big Bucks himself, Tony Romo had not only a career afternoon, but a franchise one as well. Im the first one to say that I am no fan of Romo and his massive contract, but I respect an incredible performance when I see it. Tony threw for 506 yards, five dazzlingly touchdowns and SADLY just when all was going well for the Dallas Cowboys, yet again late in the fourth quarter Tony Romo throws a game changing interception which results to the game winning field goal for Denver. That's the Tony Romo we've all grown to love to hate.

With that said, please excuse me as I go back to watching my second favorite day, Monday Night Football and pray Matt Ryan gives me 36+ or my playoff hopes are over. Catch ya on the Rebound!

The Beginning of Something Good

                                                    
First things First, to celebrate my first post as a blogger, I'd like to say... GOD BLESS SPORTS! If you're like me, your whole world revolves around the miracle of sports. Whether you're holding clothes at your retail job, you have a corporate desk job or even  clean the streets as sanitation, as soon as you get the chance to speak about your favorite team to a random stranger, YOU take it.

There are so many things I'd like to cover, especially the fact that in just less than one month from now, the NBA season will begin. Boy oh boy am I ready for it. I'm the kind of person who keeps his television on and ESPN and NBATV is on all day long.

I've even been watching the preseason games (yes they are exciting in my eyes) I was so happy to see the long waited return of our 2011 NBA MVP, Derrick Rose. Man did he look great out there or what!? Seeing that first dunk coming off the fast break gave me chills. People like to criticize him and say he was being selfish when he decided to not show up for last season, but I for one thing it was an amazing idea and this year will be proof.

He was so aggressive and he did not hesitate to take the ball to the rim. He even took contact from 7 foot 2 man in the middle, Roy Hibbert, missed the lay up, got his own rebound and made the put back, all simultaneously for his first bucket. Not everything went smoothly for D-Rose, there was some rustiness shown from time to time through the first half of the game. He did have some poorly made turnovers and was not on the same page with some of his teammates for a couple of plays.

Overall, I think Derrick did really well for his first game back in. In 20. Minutes of play, Rose had 13 points on 5-12 shooting, 3 rebounds, a couple of assists and 4 turnovers. He pushed the ball with no problem and showed no signs of knee issues. I like to think that this was a great first test for D-Rose and the Bulls. I won't get ahead of myself due to the fact that it was just only the first preseason game, but I'm an optimist, and sure as hell am ready to see him get back and dominate this league again. A healthy, dominate Derrick Rose is not only great for the Chicago Bulls, it is great for the league itself.


This is Average Joe, gonna hit the showers and get back to my Sunday Night highlights. Catch you on the rebound!

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