Well...Rolando...

[Skandery]

...hate to admit it bud, but when February One came and Shaq had played only 6 lackluster games with horrible numbers (12 pts, 6.5 rebs, 1 ast, 1.5 blk, 2.8 TO, 3.3 Fouls, 45% FG, 44% FT) even I was ready to pick up the shovel and start lobbing dirt on the coffin...then Shaq-Fu came back with the resurrection!

Post-All-Star:

21.7 pts, 10.5 rebs, 3.0 ast, 0.8 TO, 62% FG, 38% FT

...still can't drain a freebie but he's playing some inspired ball recently.

[Lurker]

...hate to admit it bud, but when February One came and Shaq had played only 6 lackluster games with horrible numbers (12 pts, 6.5 rebs, 1 ast, 1.5 blk, 2.8 TO, 3.3 Fouls, 45% FG, 44% FT) even I was ready to pick up the shovel and start lobbing dirt on the coffin...then Shaq-Fu came back with the resurrection!

Post-All-Star:

21.7 pts, 10.5 rebs, 3.0 ast, 0.8 TO, 62% FG, 38% FT

...still can't drain a freebie but he's playing some inspired ball recently.

Best player on a sh**ty team syndrome.   

Although he did look motivated and active in the Heat/Pistons game over the weekend.

[westkoast]

...hate to admit it bud, but when February One came and Shaq had played only 6 lackluster games with horrible numbers (12 pts, 6.5 rebs, 1 ast, 1.5 blk, 2.8 TO, 3.3 Fouls, 45% FG, 44% FT) even I was ready to pick up the shovel and start lobbing dirt on the coffin...then Shaq-Fu came back with the resurrection!

Post-All-Star:

21.7 pts, 10.5 rebs, 3.0 ast, 0.8 TO, 62% FG, 38% FT

...still can't drain a freebie but he's playing some inspired ball recently.

Best player on a sh**ty team syndrome.   

Although he did look motivated and active in the Heat/Pistons game over the weekend.

He has no choice but to play at that level with Wade being gone.

Once again we can add another chapter to 'Motivating Shaq via his Ego'.  See now that Wade is down and has been getting most of the props (FINALLY people are starting to recognize it) Shaq has a chance to inflate his ego.  If he plays well and Miami stays in the chase while Wade is out then he can once again be Superman!

Yes, he is back but for the time being.  Don't expect him to post those numbers all the way through the playoffs.  He had alot of gas in the tank as he took the entire first half of the season off.

[Reality]

Wade and Mourning obviously led the Heat over the Pistons a few days ago.

We only measure by Championships around here.

[Rolando Blackman]

Post-All-Star:

21.7 pts, 10.5 rebs, 3.0 ast, 0.8 TO, 62% FG, 38% FT

...still can't drain a freebie but he's playing some inspired ball recently.

Hey Skandery!
   
Much respect for giving 'The Big Poise' props...and, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
   
As I have challenged this board MANY times before (without a single rejoinder, BTW), name even ONE center in the NBA more dominant than 'The Daddy' to this very day - not possible.

38% really does suck, though.  Dang.
   
- RB
Shaq #1

[westkoast]

Post-All-Star:

21.7 pts, 10.5 rebs, 3.0 ast, 0.8 TO, 62% FG, 38% FT

...still can't drain a freebie but he's playing some inspired ball recently.

Hey Skandery!
   
Much respect for giving 'The Big Poise' props...and, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
   
As I have challenged this board MANY times before (without a single rejoinder, BTW), name even ONE center in the NBA more dominant than 'The Daddy' to this very day - not possible.

38% really does suck, though.  Dang.
   
- RB
Shaq #1

Yao Ming   

[Rolando Blackman]

Hey wk!!!
   
That's what Yao is for Shaq...breakfast (and we're talking cereal, here - not flapjacks with all the fixins')!
   
-RB
Shaq #1

[Reality]

Shaq has benefitted and continues to benefit from coaching of Phil J and Riles.
Yao has been stuck with Van Grunty.

Reverse the roles and Yao is ahead of Shaq now easily.

Dwight Howard, A Stoudamire, TD i assume you are calling FCs.
As for straight up Cs, the league is in the biggest drought ever.

Did women stop giving birth in 1975-1985 to athletic 7 footers or what happened?

[Rolando Blackman]

Hey Reality!
   
Yes, I am classifying the group you named as FCs = come on, none of those guys has a chance (notice the grammatically correct English) against even a broken-down Shaquille.  The "Big Aristotle' is the standard by which all other centers are judged, now and in the forseeable future.
   
And Reality, that is a very interesting point you raise - did the human race stop giving birth to coordinated 7-footers recently?  Is this another sign of 'The End Times"? Tune in next week for more 'Shaqtion'...LOL
 
I am trying to remember what SPURS101 called the beat-down of SA by the LAL back in the day (17 -1) - it escapes me right now.
   
-RB
Shaq #1

[WayOutWest]

Yo Ro,

It was the "Milk Money" run.  Yao has been the marquee center for two years running.  Previously Yao would bring out a big performance out of the "big lazy" but now Shaq can't really step up to the plate.  He's been putting up impressive numbers and I hope he'll have enough gas in the tank to make the EC playoffs interesting.  I still can't think of a player I've EVER liked more than Shaq when he his switch was on, Kareem is a close 2nd cause he was also dominant but Shaq just POUNDED you into submission, Cap was less harsh but just as effective.  I'm a fan of the post so Shaq, Kareem, McHale and Duncan are still my top dogs, only Magic and MJ break into the top 5 for me.

[Lurker]

Young athletic 7 footers are around...you named several of them.  Amare, Dwight, Bosh...they just play a different game.  Look at Dirk & KG as the forerunners of today's big men.  More ball handling skills, better shooting range...the ability to play more than 5 feet from the basket.  Hey, big guys fall into the MJ syndrome also.

[Rolando Blackman]

Hey WoW!
   
Thanks for that one...yes, I still remember the quote:  "Tim was sitting on the Spurs' bench, looking like the Lakers had just taken his milk money."  HAHAHAHAHA
   
Those were 'The Great Years'...snif
   
Many NBA fans have forgotten the awesome skills that 'The Daddy' used to be able to exhibit on a nightly basis...during the LAL's unrivaled 17 - 1 playoff skein, Shaq was making plays like he was Iverson.  I'm not kidding...he laid an unbelievable cross-over move on DR that put him on his butt, and Shaq never touched him (believe it or not)!  He was feeling so on, he even took a 3-pointer (a miss...dang)!
   
Dang...now I'm sounding like that Bulls poster from back in the day on the NBC board who used to make everyone shout him down...I didn't mean it, y'all!!!  lol
   
-RB
Shaq #1

[Lurker]

ESPN special report on top ten centers all time...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestCenters

Here's their list:

Abdul-Jabbar 
Chamberlain
Russell 
O'Neal 
Olajuwon 
Malone 
Walton
Robinson 
Mikan 
Ewing

Here's the methodology...

We compiled top-10 rankings and comments from a panel of ESPN.com's NBA experts, and then pooled those rankings to produce this composite top-10 list.

The voters were:

Henry Abbott, TrueHoop.com (HA)
Greg Anthony, NBA analyst (GA)
Andrew Ayres, ESPN.com NBA editor (AA)
Jon Barry, NBA analyst (JB)
Chris Broussard, ESPN The Magazine (CB)
Ric Bucher, ESPN The Magazine (RB)
John Hollinger, ESPN.com Insider (JH)
Scoop Jackson, ESPN.com Page 2 columnist (SJ)
Tim Legler, NBA analyst (TL)
Jamal Mashburn, NBA analyst (JM)
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com Insider (JO)
Chris Ramsay, ESPN.com NBA editor (CR)
Jack Ramsay, NBA analyst (JR)
Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com Insider (CS)
Ken Shouler, ESPN.com (KS)
Marc Stein, ESPN.com senior writer (MS)
David Thorpe, Scouts Inc. (DT)
Kiki Vandeweghe, NBA analyst (KV)
Royce Webb, ESPN.com NBA editor (RW)
Jeff Weltman, Scouts Inc. (JW)

Players received 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, and so on down to one point for a 10th-place vote.