Expert Fantasy » shaq fantasy basketball

Shaquille O’Neal Injury Info – Fantasy View

Stephen Kersey — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:55:02 +0000

Shaquille O’Neal has missed five games due to a mysterious shoulder injury. As it turns out, there was a battle behind the scenes. O’Neal wanted a cortisone shot to help him get out on the court, while the Cleveland Cavaliers simply wanted him to rest.

“I was cursing and screaming and trying to make them shoot me up,” explained O’Neal, “but they wouldn’t do it.”

For fantasy basketball owners, they’ll be happy to learn that O’Neal plans to return on Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons. On the season, the Big Clevelander is averaging 11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocks. He’s hitting 53.2% of his field goals but only 47.4% of his free throws.

Even though his free throw percentage limits his fantasy basketball value, the good news is that O’Neal has cut down on his turnovers — averaging a career-low 1.4 per game.

As the season goes along, expect Shaq to become a bigger part of the Cavs attack. He probably won’t average more than 14 or 15 points but expect him to remain efficient everywhere except for at the free throw line.

Shaquille O'Neal will return from injury soon (Image: Zuma Press)

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Shaq Scores 45 – Video and Fantasy Analysis

Stephen Kersey — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:04:36 +0000

Shaquille O’Neal turned back the clock on Friday night against the Toronto Raptors. The Big Cactus poured in 45 points for the Phoenix Suns and did so on 20-for-25 shooting from the field. He also finished with 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks in his 35 minutes of play.

With Amare Stoudemire out with an eye injury, it’s not too surprising that Shaq is more involved in the offense. He no longer has to share touches with Stoudemire down low and will be more involved in the pick-and-roll attack.

That said, don’t expect this type of outburst too often from Shaq. He was going up against the dreadful Raptors defense and was just too big and too strong for the Raptors to handle. Against most teams, Shaq doesn’t have much of a chance to score 30 points – much less 45 points.

Overall, Shaq’s fantasy basketball value is on the rise. If you can live with his free throw percentage and his turnovers, he’s a good player to have on your fantasy team. Here’s the Shaq video of him scoring 45 points against the Raptors:

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Hack-a-Shaq Video – Fantasy Basketball Impact

Stephen Kersey — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:36:34 +0000

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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