Shaquille O’Neal made his much anticipated debut for the Phoenix Suns in a home game Wednesday, but fell 130-124 to the Los Angeles Lakers in a thrilling fast-paced game.
Shaq finished with 15 points on 6-of-9, nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 29 minutes.
Despite the loss, there are several things we can expect for the remainder of the season after this game.
1. Shaq will not slow down the Sun’s offense.
The Suns responded to critics that questioned Shaq's ability to run the floor by scoring 124 points on 52% shooting.The Suns had no trouble running the fastbreak offense with Shaq on the floor.
When they didn’t score on the fastbreak, the Suns ran many possessions through Shaq in the half-court offense. That resulted in easy baskets for Shaq or drew the double team that allowed the Suns to find open shooters.
The only thing the Suns didn’t do right on offense was hit their 3-point attempts, going 5-of-16 for the game. But they had many open looks, so when the Suns do hit their threes, they will be even more dangerous on offense. I’m not saying the Suns will score 124 points every night, but the Suns will still be able to score over 100 points on a consistent basis.
2. Shaq will give the Sun’s more opportunities on offense.
The Suns always ranked near the bottom of free throw attempts and offensive rebounds, but they got to the line 30 times and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds against the Lakers and outrebounded the Lakers 46-33 overall.
Shaq’s presence and energy allowed the Suns to get second chance opportunities and more free throw attempts. Expect the Suns to get more offensive rebounds and more free throws for the remainder of the season.
Shaq was only 3 of 8 from the foul line but he also helped get the big men into foul trouble.
It was great to see Shaq dive for loose balls, secure rebounds, and create more scoring opportunities. The Suns will be able to feed off of Shaq’s energy once he’s fully integrated into the offense.
3. Amare Stoudemire will be more aggressive on both ends of the floor.
Stoudemire scored 37 points on 13 of 24 shooting and 11 of 11 free throw shooting and also had 15 rebounds and three blocks.
With Shaq in the game, Stoudemire will have mismatches against other power forwards on offense. He is quicker than bigger forwards and stronger than smaller forwards, which was evident when he torched Pau Gasol, Ronny Turiaf, and Lamar Odom.
We can expect Stoudemire to be more aggressive on offense and get more easy baskets. He will also be more aggressive on defense because he doesn’t have to guard true centers. Expect Stoudamire’s overall game to improve for the rest of the season.
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10 months ago
Its Stoudemire not Stoudamire...
from 10 months ago
aha how embarassing...way mistaken for damon stoudamire
10 months ago
Shaq had a huge impact on Amare's game and it'll be fun to watch this team when everyone starts clicking. I loved seeing Shaq dive for the loose ball in the second half. He definitely looks younger than he did in Miami and it should be interesting to see how he performs.
10 months ago
shaqs three assists are promising. if we can see more of that, then we can be assured that running a low post offense at least when shaqs in will not slow down scoring(if shaq is missing). he consistently drew doubles and kicked it out, but when confronted one on one, he put two fouls on Mbenga and two on Gasol. also several on Turiaf. this is promising in that he had the lakers rotation all screwed up, (Turiaf, who is 6-10 and 250 lbs had to play him) but not if he cant hit free throws. i thought a charictaristic play of his in this game was his only points in the 1st quarter, a massive dunk off an inbounds pass, rsulitng in a foul on Mbenga. he then went to the line, missing it, and after two lane violations, missing the re-dos as well. because of shaqs poor free throw shooting, i assumed d'antoni wouldnt play him much during the end of the 4th quarter, but he played several minuted, and really exploded in the last 5 minutes. we all must keep in mind that this is only shaqs first game as a sun, and we should see more point production, assists and rebounds per game with minutes staynig around 20-30 as plays start to revolve around him and he gets the ball in the low post more, drawing rebounds and fouls. duriing this game, he did stay true to his promises of trying to "fit in" to the sus offense, playing the tratitional suns center in every way but one: he played defense. the numbers dont show it, but the video does. gasol was afraid to get the ball in the low post. the ways he played the traditional suns center were uncharictaristic of him: a high post screen followed by a drive. he did not get the ball on these drives, but set up nash for assists and points. if i were d'antoni, i would look at the way his sheer SIZE made not only him have a decent game, but allowed stoudemire to have a massive game, and immediatley draw up 6 or 7 basic low post floods and isolation setups designed specifically for shaq, with stoudemire on the wing ready to shoot or charge off a shaq pass. overall, this is a great and promising debut for shaq.
10 months ago
http://nbabasketballblog.blogspot.com/
SHAQ IS BAQ
10 months ago
too much statistical evidence..put some flavor in it. Not bad though.
10 months ago
The Suns gave up many points in the paint, even when Shaq was in there.
Plus, almost all Western teams have guards/personnel that can expose Shaq's inability to defend the pick n' roll.
It's difficult to see these Suns taking down the Spurs, and it's become clear the Lakers are the better team at this point.
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