Shaquille O’Neal of the Phoenix Suns called coach Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs cowards for going to Hack-a-Shaq during the 2008 NBA Playoffs. In the first game of the 2008-09 season, Popovich had a little joke to play on Shaq. On the first play of the game, Pop had Michael Finley foul Shaq.

The result was a double thumbs up from Popovich and everyone on the floor and both benches laughing. You can see a video of the funny Hack-a-Shaq at the end of this entry.

While this funny business didn’t have much affect on the game, the Hack-a-Shaq strategy is not good for fantasy basketball owners. If you are in a league that counts free throw percentage, you certainly don’t want Shaq going to the line repeatedly. Any extra points would be negated by the mass amount of free throw misses.

In many fantasy basketball formats, Shaq can hurt more than he can help. If more NBA teams start employing Hack-a-Shaq, that will lower Shaq’s value even further. Keep an eye out to see if this is just a tactic the Spurs will use against the Suns or whether the rest of the NBA will copy it.

Here is the funny Hack-a-Shaq video featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Gregg Popovich:

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Manu Ginobili, the star shooting guard on the San Antonio Spurs, is back on his feet and is running once again. Ginobili underwent offseason ankle surgery and is expected to miss up to 25 games during his recovery.

Recently, Ginobili was able to run for 15 minutes on a treadmill. It was his first time running since the surgery. While Ginobili is sidelined, the Spurs will likely start either Michael Finley, Ime Udoka or Roger Mason, Jr. at shooting guard.

The news of Ginobili running is good news for fantasy owners. There are whispers around San Antonio that Ginobili may in fact be ahead of schedule. Ginobili himself is hoping to return at the end of November instead of the end of December.

In fantasy basketball drafts, Ginobili continues to be a bit of a fantasy sleeper. Many fantasy owners are scratching him off of their draft cheat sheets due to the injury. While the injury shouldn’t be ignored, it also shouldn’t be forgotten how well he played last season.

Roger Mason, formerly of the Washington Wizards, signed a two year contract with the San Antonio Spurs for a reported value of $7.4 million. The 27-year-old Mason is coming off of a career year for Washington last season.

In the 2007-08 season, Mason averaged 9.1 points, 1.7 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game. He shot 44.3% from the field and 39.8% from beyond the three-point arc. Mason split most of his time between shooting guard and point guard.

For the Spurs, Mason will play mostly shooting guard for the Spurs. In fact, there is a chance that Mason could start for the Spurs at shooting guard. With the unknown futures of Michael Finley and Brent Barry, Mason could start so that reigning Sixth Man of the Year Manu Ginobili can continue to come off the bench.

Mason doesn’t currently look like a guy who will have a lot of fantasy basketball value but that would change quickly if he’s named a starter in San Antonio. As a starter, Mason brings to the table a guy who can score, hit three-pointers and shoot for a high percentage.