THE FANTASY VALUE OF SHAQUILLE O'NEAL 9/16/00   I was asked the other day who I thought the best fantasy players would be this season. As usual my response was "for what category group"? For those with the number one overall pick this used to be a crucial question because if free throw percentage was a category Shaq was not number one overall whereas if free throws made was a category instead Shaq would be number one. This season is different. Last year Shaq put up such dominating numbers in points, rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage he was able to offset much of the damage from his free throw percentage in leagues with that category. His 29.7 ppg scoring was his highest ever, his 13.6 rpg and 3 bpg were his highest total since his rookie season (which if you can believe was eight seasons ago). His 57.4% field goal shooting was right on line with his career average but that still has an awesome fantasy impact considering the number of shots he takes. Shaq's free throw percentage was only 52.4% although at times he showed a better proficiency. It seemed as he made more free throws, the attention on him intensified and it caused him to stiffen up a bit and start missing again. Over the last three months of the season though he did shoot around 60% which was much improved over how he began the season. If he can build on this he could be number one in just about any kind of scoring system. But lets assume he keeps converting free throws at a 50% clip. I think there may be some scoring systems with FT% where he can still be worth taking number one overall. The reason is not just his dominance of the pt, reb, bl, and fg% categories, but also his recent progress in the assist category. Last season Shaq averaged 3.8 apg, far above his 2.7 apg career average. It is this improvement which almost allows the fantasy owner to forgive Shaq for his rotten free throw shooting. If your league has the center position requirement (as most do) it is a further plus for Shaq. To see where Shaq ranks according to your league's scoring system, order the HoopsKlyce Preseason Player Rating Report.   Previous Article Next Article Copyright © Hoops Klyce 2000 - All Rights Reserved Website Designed by Lelnet Failed to execute script '../cgi-local/ax.cgi': Win32 Error Code = 2