As many of you know, I'm not a fan of the Spurs. But as much as I hate the Spurs, I won't blame them for employing the hack-a-Shaq strategy in last year's playoffs against my beloved Suns. It's part of the game, and if you can't hit your damn free throws, then it makes perfect sense for another team to foul the heck out of you.
Shaq, of course, disagrees. Over the offseason he ripped the Spurs for their strategy against him.
"When you're down, I can see using that as a strategy. But when you're up 10, 15 points, there's really no need for that. That's a coward move. And he knows that. I'll make 'em pay for that."
Hilariously, Poppovich had Michael Finley foul Shaq immediately after the tipoff of last night's opening game for both teams to let Shaq know everything's cool, and that he's going to foul the hell out of Shaq whenever these two teams meet.
Shaq did get his revenge though, at least for one night, going for 15 points and 13 boards as the Suns won 103 to 98. Now expect him to sit out the next 25 games.
Pop pulls a hack-a-Shaq joke during the game [NESW Sports]
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