Shaquille O'Neal vs. Amaré Stoudemire

by iamtrevorpaxton on Nov 17, 2008 11:08 AM MST Comment 5 comments

It's been no secret that so far, this season, we've learned a few things regarding our big men. First off, Shaq has had a resurgence. He's playing well, he's dominating the post, he's looking like the force he once was. Secondly, we've learned (er, remembered) that Stoudemire is a beast...and last, but not least, we've found that when one dominates, the other is relatively quiet. Let's take a look, game by game (I'm glad there haven't been many so far). I'll bold out the player who I thought had the edge.

Wednesday, October 29th
Phoenix Suns vs. San Antonio Spurs

Amaré: 22 points on 73% shooting, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. 2 turnovers and only 2 fouls. Made 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 15 points on 50% shooting, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals and 2 blocks. 1 turnover and 5 fouls. Made 5 of 8 from the free throw line.

Thursday, October 30th
Phoenix Suns vs. New Orleans Hornets

Amaré: 21 points on 56% shooting, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks. 2 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 3 of 4 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 8 points on 75% shooting, 8 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals and 1 block. 2 turnovers and 1 foul. Made 2 of 5 from the free throw line.

Saturday, November 1st
Phoenix Suns vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Amaré: 23 points on 67% shooting, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 0 blocks. 2 turnovers and 1 foul. Made 7 of 10 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 16 points on 75% shooting, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. 0 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 4 of 5 from the free throw line.

Tuesday, November 4th
Phoenix Suns vs. New Jersey Nets

Amaré: 14 points on 67% shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals and 2 blocks. 0 turnovers and 4 fouls. Made 2 of 2 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 18 points on 88% shooting, 6 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. 5 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 4 of 5 from the free throw line.

Wednesday, November 5th
Phoenix Suns vs. Indiana Pacers

Amaré: 49 points on 81% shooting, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 15 of 15 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 3 points on 50% shooting, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals and 0 blocks. 1 turnover and 4 fouls. Made 1 of 4 from the free throw line.

Friday, November 7th
Phoenix Suns vs. Chicago Bulls

Amaré: 26 points on 50% shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. 4 turnovers and 2 fouls. Made 16 of 18 from the free throw line.

Shaq: Did not play.

Saturday, November 8th
Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Amaré: 24 points on 38% shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals and 1 block. 4 turnovers and 5 fouls. Made 18 of 20 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 29 points on 75% shooting, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 0 blocks. 2 turnovers and 5 fouls. Made 5 of 9 from the free throw line.

Monday, November 10th
Phoenix Suns vs. Memphis Grizzlies

Amaré: 18 points on 46% shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assist, 0 steals and 2 blocks. 2 turnovers and 4 fouls. Made 6 of 6 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 9 points on 38% shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks. 2 turnovers and 6 fouls. Made 3 of 5 from the free throw line.

Wednesday, November 12th
Phoenix Suns vs. Houston Rockets

Amaré: 11 points on 38% shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 0 blocks. 5 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 1 of 2 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 18 points on 58% shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals and 4 blocks. 2 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 4 of 4 from the free throw line.

Friday, November 14th
Phoenix Suns vs. Sacramento Kings

Amaré: 12 points on 36% shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 blocks. 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. Made 4 of 8 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 29 points on 67% shooting, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 9 of 15 from the free throw line.

Sunday, November 16th
Phoenix Suns vs. Detroit Pistons

Amaré: 29 points on 65% shooting, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 blocks. 1 turnovers and 1 foul. Made 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

Shaq: 12 points on 50% shooting, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks. 1 turnovers and 3 fouls. Made 0 of 3 from the free throw line. (Ejected midway through the second quarter)

So, as you can see, where one player has played well, it has taken its toll on the other. Even though I'd like to see both players putting up great numbers (as I'm sure they would have against the Pistons, had Shaq not been forced to leave the game), these sorts of numbers make sense. If one player is feeling it and is in the groove, why not feed him the ball more often?

The only problem I really have with the seeming nightly polarity in Shaq's and Amaré's lines is Amaré. When Amaré has taken over a game, Shaq is still there to clog the middle and make people take tough shots. The box score may not reflect that, but we all know that it's true. Conversely, when Shaq is having a great night, Amaré seems to be lulled into a passive state, where he sits on the edge of or just out of the key, doing...just about nothing.

The (first half of the) Pistons game revealed something that I was extremely happy about. Shaq was having a dominant performance, but Amaré was doing just as well. I was pleased to finally see both players playing well, and putting up the numbers to prove it.

Let's just hope it stays that way.

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Comments

GREAT STUFF!

I think its a bit too soon to assume too much from 11 games but this is certainly something to watch. How well these two play together is yet another interesting story line for this team.

My gut reaction is that Amare’s poor games were more about Amare though then anything to do with them together. And Shaq is simply not going to be able to score 20+ ppg on a nightly basis. Nor do we need him to.

But combined they present quite the inside presence on both ends of the floor. Shaq never played w/ a PF like Amare and certainly Amare has never played with a center….at all.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 17, 2008 11:20 AM MST reply actions 1 recs

Oh and

before you all think I’ve drunk the diesel I am HIGHLY skeptical that Shaq will be able to sustain this level through June or July.

Hopefully, by the time he needs his mid-season nap Lopez will be better prepared to step in and the rest of the team will be clicking more.

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Nov 17, 2008 11:21 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Love it

Love the number crunching and analysis. Going into the season I didn’t expect the numbers to be that close between the two at all. If anything, I expected Amare’s numbers to continue to soar like last year. Not that his numbers aren’t great, but I just expected (as you mentioned) the polarity to continue to grow.

But hey, if Shaq and Amare can coexist in the way they are now, that’s only good news for the Suns and bad news for their opponents.

Again, health and energy are major, major factors for us to go anywhere in the playoffs.

It's Ba-Nash. It's a no brainer.

by Suns Ben on Nov 17, 2008 12:15 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

thanks.

it was just something i had noticed, and a couple friends and i talked about it briefly the other night. i decided to actually go back to all the box scores and compile them into one spot.

and…i agree with stan. i don’t think shaq will be able to keep this level of play up throughout the rest of the season (unless he gets that rest porter was talking about before the season). to agree with ben, health and energy are major factors for us to succeed this year, and i think we’ve done a pretty good job of it so far (even if the rest we got our oldies [nash, shaq] was due to ejections/suspensions).

it’ll be an interesting season. i’m just waiting for that fateful day when suddenly the headline reads “big cactus goes down with _________”.

i hope that doesn’t happen.

by iamtrevorpaxton on Nov 17, 2008 3:27 PM MST reply actions 0 recs