June 30, 200620 yr I'm sure the the hundreds of millions of dollars he has earned over his career and the fact most still consider him the best player over the last two decades at his position might over shadow it. Again if you can teach 12 year olds to increase there ft percentage, no reason a paid multi-millionare should not be able to. Wether its mental or physical its a fixable part of anyones game. Probably the easiest part of any major sport in America. I think Shaq is a moron for not working on his free throw percentage. He has cost himself thousands of points throughout his career because he is lazy. He would be hands down the best center of all-time if he could score at the line. Instead, he is normally considered a top-3 center. My high school coach used to say that he could pull a blind man out of the stands and line him up straight and he could shoot 70%.
June 30, 200620 yr There is only one 7 footer in the league that can shoot like Pittsnogle.....His name is Dirk. Now, there is no comparison in the two in every other aspect of the game, but a 7 footer who can shoot the way Pittsnogle can should be welcome on any team, IMO. All he needs is the motivation to be a solid rebounder/defender. If I were Pittsnogle, and I started to wonder how to feed my wife & child. The most simple answer would be to improve my rebounding and defense, which is much easier to improve than shooting skills. Actually rebounding and defense are speed and effort and neither can be taught. Positioning could be, but Pittsnoggin can't guard anyone in the league 1 on 1.
June 30, 200620 yr He was talking about Championships. Has Shaq lost one because he had a bad night? I think what he is saying is that if he could shoot better than 40% from the line, his teams would have won more games during the regular season, then the playoffs, and that the ability to shoot free throws would have dramatically changed the way teams defend Shaq and would probably have led to at least another crack at a championship. That is my opinion on Shaq's free throw inadequacies, as well.
June 30, 200620 yr I think what he is saying is that if he could shoot better than 40% from the line, his teams would have won more games during the regular season, then the playoffs, and that the ability to shoot free throws would have dramatically changed the way teams defend Shaq and would probably have led to at least another crack at a championship. That is my opinion on Shaq's free throw inadequacies, as well. That's an assumption not a fact.
June 30, 200620 yr That's an assumption not a fact. That is why I included the assumption phrase "would probably have led to..." and not the definitive empirical "would have led to..." I'll tell you another assumption - his free throw woes are most likely due to nothing else besides laziness.
June 30, 200620 yr Actually rebounding and defense are speed and effort and neither can be taught. Positioning could be, but Pittsnoggin can't guard anyone in the league 1 on 1. Some of the slowest guys in the league have been the best rebounders (i.e. Charles Oakley, Rick Mahorn, Shaq, etc). Defense is all effort and feel for the game, rebounding is position and being physical. Speed can be improved and effort is self-taught. Pittsnogle can guard lots of NBA centers/power forwards, but none of the top tier centers.
June 30, 200620 yr That's a great read from Simmons... His running diaries never disappoint. Loved the part about the Knicks, especially the speculaton that Isiah though he was drafting Rolando Blackman. However, IMO the best line was as follows. The Mavs take Maurice Ager at No. 28. He puts his head in his hands and starts sobbing hysterically as his entourage congratulates him. It's about time we had some emotion tonight, dammit. Ager walks up to the stage in a triple-breasted, oversized beige suit, goes to shake hands with Stern and immediately gets whistled for a foul on Dwyane Wade.
June 30, 200620 yr I think Shaq is a moron for not working on his free throw percentage. He has cost himself thousands of points throughout his career because he is lazy. He would be hands down the best center of all-time if he could score at the line. Instead, he is normally considered a top-3 center. My high school coach used to say that he could pull a blind man out of the stands and line him up straight and he could shoot 70%. Wilt couldn't hit FT's and many consider him to be the best C of all time.
June 30, 200620 yr Wilt couldn't hit FT's and many consider him to be the best C of all time. It's a little different when you do the following: In 1962, the year Chamberlain scored his 100 points, he also led the scoring with a 50.4 per game average. He owns the next three highest seasonal averages at 44.8 ppg, 38.4 PPG and 37.6 PPG The next closest? Michael Jordan with 37.1 in the 1986-87 season. If Shaq could shoot 70% from the line, he would've had some seasons of averaging way up in the 30's, as well.
June 30, 200620 yr Give credit for RR's maturity in his intro presser today in Boston. A reporter asked him if he felt Tubby's style held him back. He said that , in general, most college offenses are not geared toward his strengths unlike the NBA.
June 30, 200620 yr No, he can't... Yes, he can. Michael Olowakandi - Celtics Jason Collins - Nets Samuel Dalembert - 76ers Loren Woods - Raptors This is just the Atlantic Division......Their aren't a lot of gifted offensive centers in the NBA (want to argue that???). Pittsnogle can't guard Shaq, Duncan, KG, or even Zo, I know this. But the game doesn't have as many true low-post scoring threats as it did in the 80s & 90s. IMO, the upside of his shooting and being able to get his shot off (by being 7 foot) negates his lack of D. BTW......Before you say no NBA GMs agree with me, save your breath. It's quite obvious they do not. But I will say that while I'm no Jerry West, if I couldn't be a better GM than Isiah Thomas I wouldn't come out of my house.
June 30, 200620 yr All I'm asking for is proof it cost them a title. I would agree it probably cost him a regular season game or two in his career. To make a claim like this though I would like Sticky to do some research. Did a poor free throw shooting game cost them a seed in the playoffs was there a year this would had affected the playoff outcome? Was their a playoff or finals game when Shaq's free throw shooting cost them. Except for this year Shaqs 30ppg and 12 boards usually overshadowed free throw shooting in the playoffs. This whole argument started with me saying I think Free Throw shooting is the easiest thing to fix in a persons basketball game would you agree with that CC? There is no way of proving any of that. But one point on Shaq's free throw shotting. For about the lats 10 years of his career in final minutes of a game how often is shaq on the floor. Maybe 30 second for a offense defense substitution. That right that might have cost him a title/game. So missing free throws down the stretch really isn't the issue. Its he isn't in the game to miss them that is the issue. Just because he hasn't missed any to lose a game does mean other ones he missed in the game didn't count. 1 point in the first minute is the same as 1 point in the last minute.
June 30, 200620 yr Yes, he can. Michael Olowakandi - Celtics Jason Collins - Nets Samuel Dalembert - 76ers Loren Woods - Raptors This is just the Atlantic Division......Their aren't a lot of gifted offensive centers in the NBA (want to argue that???). Pittsnogle can't guard Shaq, Duncan, KG, or even Zo, I know this. But the game doesn't have as many true low-post scoring threats as it did in the 80s & 90s. IMO, the upside of his shooting and being able to get his shot off (by being 7 foot) negates his lack of D. BTW......Before you say no NBA GMs agree with me, save your breath. It's quite obvious they do not. But I will say that while I'm no Jerry West, if I couldn't be a better GM than Isiah Thomas I wouldn't come out of my house. He couldn't guard any of those guys. Pittsnogle didn't get drafted because he is the slowest person in the continental United States. I'm 6'2" 240 and I am pretty sure he couldn't guard me because I'm too quick.
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