I probably shouldn't have said "as good as O'Neal,"
because I didn't mean to imply that he's skilled. But
with his size and strength he doesn't really need to
be as skilled as Tim Duncan or Hakeem Olajuwon.
Of course he can't shoot free throws; that's one of the
many reasons he shoots as many as he does. He's
less likely to make a free throw than a field goal.
"Sprinting to the basket and drawing the foul" isn't a
bad strategy. White players should do it more often,
rather than hanging out at the three point line. Also
he has extreme athleticism, so it's easy for him to
drive around every single defender in the league and
get to the basket.
Officiating isn't perfect. Life's unfair, s*it happens.
Oh well. But that's not an excuse. The original
discussion was about white stars and one-on-one
play. Remember? The bottom line is that being
aggressive, having an assortment of one-on-one
moves, driving to the basket, and scoring at the low
post will get any player to the free throw line, white or
black. Also, being extremely athletic helps because
a defender's only recourse is to foul (or just stand
there and watch you score). As overrated as Bryant
may be, I have yet to see a defender be able to
actually keep up with him. They have to rely on him
having a bad shooting night. I'm not talking about
skill. Skill is great, but athleticism (and sheer size
and strength with regards to O'Neal) can make up for
that to a certain extent. Regardless of skill, they
dominate the game physically in a way that
other players don't. That's just the sad truth.
because I didn't mean to imply that he's skilled. But
with his size and strength he doesn't really need to
be as skilled as Tim Duncan or Hakeem Olajuwon.
Of course he can't shoot free throws; that's one of the
many reasons he shoots as many as he does. He's
less likely to make a free throw than a field goal.
"Sprinting to the basket and drawing the foul" isn't a
bad strategy. White players should do it more often,
rather than hanging out at the three point line. Also
he has extreme athleticism, so it's easy for him to
drive around every single defender in the league and
get to the basket.
Officiating isn't perfect. Life's unfair, s*it happens.
Oh well. But that's not an excuse. The original
discussion was about white stars and one-on-one
play. Remember? The bottom line is that being
aggressive, having an assortment of one-on-one
moves, driving to the basket, and scoring at the low
post will get any player to the free throw line, white or
black. Also, being extremely athletic helps because
a defender's only recourse is to foul (or just stand
there and watch you score). As overrated as Bryant
may be, I have yet to see a defender be able to
actually keep up with him. They have to rely on him
having a bad shooting night. I'm not talking about
skill. Skill is great, but athleticism (and sheer size
and strength with regards to O'Neal) can make up for
that to a certain extent. Regardless of skill, they
dominate the game physically in a way that
other players don't. That's just the sad truth.