Oct 16 2008
Shaq calls Spurs Cowards, Continues to Suck at Freethrows
Shaquille O’neal was recently asked about the Suns early exit in last year’s playoffs to the San Antonio Spurs. He then proceeded to call them cowardly for using the hack-a-shaq tactic, noting that there is no reason to use it when they are up 10 points. Yeah, it may be cheap, but when you go against the suns, 10 points is not a comfortable lead.
The most basic tactic in combat (or any other scenario in which two opposing forces are pitted together) is to go for you opponents weaknesses. Let me ask you a question shaq, if a football team has a subpar defensive line, would you call it cowardly to run it up the gut all day and get touchdowns? Likewise, all those teams with subpar centers you’ve played against, would you call yourself a coward for repeatedly posterizing them knowing they could not stop you? If you know you can get an easy dunk over a player over and over, wouldn’t you go for it to give your team the best chance of winning? Do you find it equally cheap every time Lex Luthor uses brings out his Kryptonite? Listen, I’ve hated the hack-a-shaq tactic as long as its been around. I find it cheesy, cheap, and an exploitation of the rules (which have slightly changed since its inception).
Here is how I now view the hack-a-shaq. It is your legacy- it shows how unstoppable you once were. The only way to neutralize you is to resort to an extremely cheap (and equally genius) tactic. On the other hand, you could just work on your free throw shooting. 52.4% career free throw shooting is inexcusable to me. Granted you did try and practice, the fact that coaches sometimes wished you practiced more reflects your effort to me. You know what you should do? Lob it up granny style, you know, how they did it back in the day. Or you can go one handed underhand, like skeeball or something. It may look stupid, but I would give you mad props if you did it in a real game. You’d probably have the same probability of making it as you did the way you are shooting it now anyways.
