Shaq and the NBA's good old days
OAKLAND -- Call him what you will --
Diesel, the Big Socrates, or by his name, Shaq. It doesn't matter, if
you don't call him finished. Which people were doing a few months back
in describing Shaquille O'Neal.
Finished? "I've been watching him since he was 15," said Alvin Gentry. "He's never been finished. You saw what he can do."
And what the Phoenix Suns can do. Which is what the critics said they never could do with Shaq in the lineup: run.
Turn a basketball game into a track meet. As the Suns did Sunday night,
beating the Golden State Warriors, 154-130. Without any overtimes.
It was like the good old days when the NBA was a league of grace, glory
and points, like the days before the game became one of shoving and
bumping and scores in the 90s or the 80s, something more resembling
wrestling than basketball.
Phoenix picked up Shaq in a trade just about a year ago, intending to
add muscle to speed. When the plan didn't work, the critics sneered.
Shaq and Steve Nash? That's like trying to blend Santa Claus and Tinkerbell.
"He's a proud guy," Gentry said of O’Neal. "Everybody felt he was done.
But as you can see, he's still a huge factor. He gives us the best of
both worlds. We can run or we can set up. If you don't double-team him,
he goes inside. If you do, he passes off. Arguably, he's the best big
man who ever played in this league."
Against the Warriors, in his second game in two nights – Saturday the
Suns were home against Oklahoma City – 37-year-old Shaq O'Neal,
7-foot-1, 325 pounds, played a few seconds less than 24 minutes and had
26 points. He was 11-of-13 from the field, 4-of-9 from the free throw
line.
"I accept all challenges," said O'Neal.
He is sitting in front of his locker, looking bemused. The man has a
great sense of humor. Also of timing. As we saw when he danced at the
opening of the All-Star Game program before he became the co-MVP with
Kobe Bryant.
"People have been saying I can't do this, can't do that," said O'Neal.
"I have four championships. I would like to get two or three more."
The Warriors couldn't match up against Shaq, not with their 7-footer,
Andris Biedrins, recovering from a sprained ankle. The Warriors
couldn't match up against the Suns. Phoenix had 120 points at the end
of three quarters. Say all you want about defense, but offense like
this is delightful.
The late Wilt Chamberlain told us again and again, "Nobody roots for
Goliath," and it's true there's a tendency to favor a smaller guy
against a bigger one. But Shaq is lovable, a jester, and for the heck
of it he has a master's degree. He's easy to cheer for.
Years ago, in the same building where the Suns crushed the Warriors,
Shaq, then with the Los Angeles Lakers, was telling about his life's
objectives during a break from a late-morning practice.
"I'd like to be somebody like Larry Ellison," said O'Neal, alluding to
the head of Oracle, the dot-com giant located down the highway in
Silicon Valley. "Now there's a man with real money."
Maybe someday, Shaq responded when reminded of the comment. That still
was a goal. If not quite as realistic as again scoring 40 points, which
he did against Toronto, becoming the third in NBA history to do it in
the uniform of four different teams.
A year ago, Shaq averaged 12.9 points in the 28 games he played for the
Suns. "A lot of people thought I lost it," he conceded. "I was injured.
It's kind of funny, when people say I'm injured nobody really believes
me. This is my 17th season, but I've really only played about 13
seasons because of the injuries. I have years left."
Earlier in March, one of Shaq's numerous former coaches, Stan Van Gundy
of Miami, whined about O’Neal "flopping" in the lane to draw a foul.
Shaq, the gentle giant, was less than gentle in his reaction.
"I heard his comment," Shaq said of Van Gundy. "Flopping to me is doing
it more than one time, and I realized when I tried to take the charge
as I went down, I realized that play reminded me of his whole coaching
career."
O'Neal had a better relationship with Warriors coach Don Nelson, for
whom he played on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. "He was my sixth man,"
said Nelson. "He asked me if he could come off the bench. I said fine.
I love him to death."
If Nelson, who eventually was ejected Sunday night with a couple of
quick technical fouls, didn't love what Shaq did to his team. Finished?
Shaquille O'Neal's only just begun.
- - - - - -
© RealClearSports 2009
Diesel, the Big Socrates, or by his name, Shaq. It doesn't matter, if
you don't call him finished. Which people were doing a few months back
in describing Shaquille O'Neal.
Finished? "I've been watching him since he was 15," said Alvin Gentry. "He's never been finished. You saw what he can do."
And what the Phoenix Suns can do. Which is what the critics said they never could do with Shaq in the lineup: run.
Turn a basketball game into a track meet. As the Suns did Sunday night,
beating the Golden State Warriors, 154-130. Without any overtimes.
It was like the good old days when the NBA was a league of grace, glory
and points, like the days before the game became one of shoving and
bumping and scores in the 90s or the 80s, something more resembling
wrestling than basketball.
Phoenix picked up Shaq in a trade just about a year ago, intending to
add muscle to speed. When the plan didn't work, the critics sneered.
Shaq and Steve Nash? That's like trying to blend Santa Claus and Tinkerbell.
"He's a proud guy," Gentry said of O’Neal. "Everybody felt he was done.
But as you can see, he's still a huge factor. He gives us the best of
both worlds. We can run or we can set up. If you don't double-team him,
he goes inside. If you do, he passes off. Arguably, he's the best big
man who ever played in this league."
Against the Warriors, in his second game in two nights – Saturday the
Suns were home against Oklahoma City – 37-year-old Shaq O'Neal,
7-foot-1, 325 pounds, played a few seconds less than 24 minutes and had
26 points. He was 11-of-13 from the field, 4-of-9 from the free throw
line.
"I accept all challenges," said O'Neal.
He is sitting in front of his locker, looking bemused. The man has a
great sense of humor. Also of timing. As we saw when he danced at the
opening of the All-Star Game program before he became the co-MVP with
Kobe Bryant.
"People have been saying I can't do this, can't do that," said O'Neal.
"I have four championships. I would like to get two or three more."
The Warriors couldn't match up against Shaq, not with their 7-footer,
Andris Biedrins, recovering from a sprained ankle. The Warriors
couldn't match up against the Suns. Phoenix had 120 points at the end
of three quarters. Say all you want about defense, but offense like
this is delightful.
The late Wilt Chamberlain told us again and again, "Nobody roots for
Goliath," and it's true there's a tendency to favor a smaller guy
against a bigger one. But Shaq is lovable, a jester, and for the heck
of it he has a master's degree. He's easy to cheer for.
Years ago, in the same building where the Suns crushed the Warriors,
Shaq, then with the Los Angeles Lakers, was telling about his life's
objectives during a break from a late-morning practice.
"I'd like to be somebody like Larry Ellison," said O'Neal, alluding to
the head of Oracle, the dot-com giant located down the highway in
Silicon Valley. "Now there's a man with real money."
Maybe someday, Shaq responded when reminded of the comment. That still
was a goal. If not quite as realistic as again scoring 40 points, which
he did against Toronto, becoming the third in NBA history to do it in
the uniform of four different teams.
A year ago, Shaq averaged 12.9 points in the 28 games he played for the
Suns. "A lot of people thought I lost it," he conceded. "I was injured.
It's kind of funny, when people say I'm injured nobody really believes
me. This is my 17th season, but I've really only played about 13
seasons because of the injuries. I have years left."
Earlier in March, one of Shaq's numerous former coaches, Stan Van Gundy
of Miami, whined about O’Neal "flopping" in the lane to draw a foul.
Shaq, the gentle giant, was less than gentle in his reaction.
"I heard his comment," Shaq said of Van Gundy. "Flopping to me is doing
it more than one time, and I realized when I tried to take the charge
as I went down, I realized that play reminded me of his whole coaching
career."
O'Neal had a better relationship with Warriors coach Don Nelson, for
whom he played on the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. "He was my sixth man,"
said Nelson. "He asked me if he could come off the bench. I said fine.
I love him to death."
If Nelson, who eventually was ejected Sunday night with a couple of
quick technical fouls, didn't love what Shaq did to his team. Finished?
Shaquille O'Neal's only just begun.
- - - - - -
© RealClearSports 2009