Even in those “bad” Duncan games, the Spurs went away from Duncan because whoever had the ball on the wing — usually Parker or Ginobilli — had open shot after open shot, due to poor pick and roll defense from Nash/Shaq, Bell/Shaq, or Barbosa/Shaq.

So the numbers are against you, but, worse, pick and roll “assists” for Duncan and pick and roll “failures” for Shaq do not show up in the stat sheet. Most of Parker’s 41 in game 3 and 31 in game 5 were scored off of poor pick and roll defense by the big fella. Even if we ignore the numbers and pretend Shaq “shut down” Duncan, “shutting down” your man by letting the other guy score at will is useless, and is the surest way to lose.

Shaq’s defense thoroughly shut down Duncan.

- Doc Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trdsKp94Io0

Umm….no. I was at the Phoenix-San Antonio playoff series, and Shaq was absolutely abused on defense.

Duncan’s offense numbers were down not because of Shaq’s good defense, but because Shaq’s defensive weaknesses meant Duncan had less touches off the pick and roll. Tony Parker had wide open layups and 17 foot jumpers every time he wanted it — he had a career series not because of Nash, whom he had abused, but not as badly, in the past, but because of Shaq. Shaq was an indifferent pick and roll defender in his prime; now he busts his butt, but is simply unable to get the job done.

Howard will score less against the Cavs this year, but Jameer Nelson is going to get 35 without breaking a sweat.