November 23, 2008 – Dr. Browntorious
All day leading up to tonight’s match-up between the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trailblazers I was hearing from friends about how excited they were to see the rookie big man Greg Oden go head to head with future Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal. I hate to agree with Rick Kamla on much of anything, but Shaq certainly is “The Godfather of the NBA.”
Well Shaq didn’t fail to disappoint once again this season having a big game for the Suns. He further quieted his critics who all summer questioned his ability to continue playing at a high level given his age and supposedly diminished game. Shaq certainly looked like a youthful version of himself tonight putting up a big 19 points and 17 rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Not only did the Suns win the game, but Shaq sent a pretty big message to the rookie hype-box Greg Oden who had just 5 points and 5 fouls in 13 minutes.
How big was his message? Well given the fact that Oden only logged 13 minutes there weren’t a ton of head to head replays to show you, but on the play in the following video sequence Shaq dunked on Oden like he was just another guard or small forward getting in his way. Oden made a valiant attempt at the block, but he just bounced off Shaq like a rubber ball. Shaq is an animal! Check it out:
