Rasheed Wallace says no defensive game plan actually worked against prime Shaquille O’Neal because he was simply too dominant.
Carmelo Anthony : What was the scouting report for guarding Shaq?
Rasheed Wallace : The goal was simple. Don’t let him get a post-up dunk. Force him over his right shoulder and send the double team from the right spot. We’d try everything. Double from the baseline, the middle, anywhere we could.
We had whole game plans built around getting the ball out of his hands.
It didn’t matter.
Shaq would crack you in the mouth and keep going.
At that time he was 7-foot-2, around 340 pounds, could run the floor, and was the best athlete on the planet.
People forget how scary that combination was.
I took so many elbows guarding him. None of them were dirty, that’s just what happened when you played against him.
The refs actually let defenders be way more physical with Shaq because they figured it would take more than a little arm slap to affect him.
That’s part of why he got so frustrated and started throwing elbows back. Then teams started using Hack-a-Shaq, and I know he wanted to fight a lot of people over that.
Monica McNutt : People compare Victor Wembanyama to Shaq because both change how teams have to defend. Do you think that’s fair?
Rasheed Wallace : No.
Victor is a great player, but it’s different.
Shaq outweighed most guys by 80 pounds or more. If your center got in foul trouble and you had to switch onto him, you were in trouble.
There were times I’d be the first big back on defense, see Shaq sealing in the paint, and immediately tell him, “Big fella, I’m about to foul you.”
I wasn’t trying to be tough.
I just didn’t want to catch one of those angry elbows.
Prime Shaq was unlike anything else. Guarding him was survival.
Dame watching this: what’s with the fake stealing? We used to steal for real. His reflexes were never good. This what he doing in front of white people?