<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MIAMI ? Rarely has the giant who calls himself Superman looked more mortal. Even Shaquille O'Neal's ardent supporters had to wince at a couple of episodes during the Heat's Western swing. Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Utah center Greg Ostertag blocked two of O'Neal's dunk attempts. On the second try, Shaq wound up sprawled on the floor. And then Monday night in Los Angeles, 18-year-old Lakers center Andrew Bynum spun past O'Neal and dunked on him. Besides these examples, statistics suggest that O'Neal ? who has missed 18 of 39 games this season because of a right ankle injury ? is slipping from his throne. He has reached career lows in several key categories. But most of the NBA expects him to return to form in time for the post-season. "He'll be there when the playoffs are going," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "and he's going to be at his peak at that time." "It's January," an Eastern Conference scout said, "and everybody knows Shaq's showtime is May and June. If I were rooting for the Miami Heat would I have concerns? Absolutely not." An opponent, Seattle forward Rashard Lewis, also expects him to snap back. "You've just got to give him some time," Lewis said. "Sometimes when you get injured you lose a lot of rhythm. You're not in as good of shape as you would be at the start of the season." O'Neal, as usual, expresses no worries. "I just have to get my whole game back," said O'Neal, who returned Dec. 11 after missing more than a month. "I'm coming back piece by piece." He'll get a chance to show that tonight in a nationally televised game against defending champion San Antonio at AmericanAirlines Arena. Some observers won't be easily convinced. Hall of Fame center Bill Walton, an ESPN analyst, recently took O'Neal to task on the air, saying he appears disinterested and much heavier than his listed weight of 325. O'Neal, 33, has hardly dominated at any point this season. He has four double-doubles in his past nine games. Overall, he has nine double-doubles in 21 games this season. His season averages of 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds are career lows. In a full season, O'Neal never has averaged fewer than 21.5 points and 10.4 rebounds. He is shooting 44.1 percent on free throws and 54.1 from the field and blocking 1.38 shots per game ? all career worsts. Beyond the statistics, the spring isn't there when he jumps and his footwork lacks crispness. His ferocity and dominance have yet to surface. "He's never going to be what he was in Orlando, when he was long and was in great shape," ESPN analyst Tom Tolbert, a former NBA forward, said of O'Neal's first four years in the league. "Those days are over." O'Neal was limited in the playoffs last spring because of a deep thigh bruise. This season, he hurt his right ankle in the second game. Heat coach Pat Riley said last week O'Neal is about "80 percent" recovered from the two torn ankle ligaments. "I'm still sore every now and then," O'Neal said, "but I'll be back when it counts." Riley keeps the faith, too. "He's coming," the coach said. Still, time and again O'Neal has misfired badly on jump hooks and turnaround jumpers. Riley spoke of the need to get O'Neal the ball at different angles because opponents have taken to double-teaming him before he catches the ball. By doing that, they not only cut down passing angles but push him farther from the basket. "We've got to find a better way to get him the ball deep, and that's going to be my challenge," Riley said. O'Neal hasn't appeared to challenge himself as much as usual when it comes to grabbing rebounds, perhaps saving his energy for offense. Heat guard Gary Payton attributed that to the savvy of a veteran understanding his limitations. "He's a little older and a little wiser," Payton said. "You can't come out every night and get 29, 30 (points) at your age right now. You're getting a little bit more fatigue.</div> Source
His rebounding is up a little from last year, but his offense has declined. He's still getting the same percentage of dunks as last year (24% of attempts are dunks, with 93.6% accuracy compared to 95.5% last year). The big decline is on non-dunk shots in the lane, where this year he's only successful 50% of the time versus 56.4% last year. And when he takes "jump shots" outside the lane, forget about it. He's only 27% this year, compared to 35% last year (35% is where he's been at the last 3 years on these type of shots). His assist rate has also declined, but that might be more due to the lack of strong perimeter shooting. Plus, Wade is attracting more attention this season and probably isn't open under the basket as much as he was last year. Shaq is still rounding into shape, and I wouldn't make too big a deal about this decline at this point. The writer seems to ignore that he's only playing about 28 minutes per game so far this year, which makes his numbers look even worse compared to previous years. Even at the level he's at right now, I still think he's the best center in the league.
The thing is Shaq is only playing 28 minutes a game. I'm sure if he played about 3 more minutes hed easily have 20 and 11 averages. He's averaging 13.3 rebounds per 40 minutes (which is his best rebounding year per 40 minutes since his MVP year in 2000). The thing is last year they used Shaq all year long in heavy minutes so now their just conserving him until the playoff.
I really hope this guy is healthy throughout the playoffs. I love him and I was so disappointed when I realized he wanted to win it with his injury. Plus, Wade's injury last year sealed the deal against Detroit..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Diesel:</div><div class="quote_post">The thing is Shaq is only playing 28 minutes a game. I'm sure if he played about 3 more minutes hed easily have 20 and 11 averages. He's averaging 13.3 rebounds per 40 minutes (which is his best rebounding year per 40 minutes since his MVP year in 2000). The thing is last year they used Shaq all year long in heavy minutes so now their just conserving him until the playoff.</div> You hit the nail right on the head. I really don?t think the Heat are really trying to push Shaquille right now. Let?s be honest there is no chance they are going to catch up to Detroit, and they are in no immediate danger of losing hold on that number two seed. So why should they be playing Shaq big time minutes? At this point in his career I really don?t think Shaq has anything left to prove in terms of statistics for him it?s either win the title, or it was a wasted season. You will probably see the Heat up his minutes to around maybe 33-35 in the last month of the season just so Shaq can get use to it heading into the playoffs. As long as the Heat have a healthy Shaq and a healthy Dwayne Wade come playoff time they will be a force in the eastern conference. With the position they are in right now they are just playing these games for the sake of playing them, because they have nothing to gain, but everything to lose if Shaq or Wade suffers a major injury. So in short the Heat are doing the right thing by monitoring Shaq?s minutes during the regular season. They learned a big lesson last year about what will happen if you push Shaq too much in the regular season.
The problem is Dwyane Wade is having to carry the offensive load, and he's taking a beating in the process. He relies on driving hard to the basket and teams are starting to punish him. At the rate Wade is going he will suffer a major injury before the post-season starts. Riley is still not happy with Shaq's conditioning, which is why I think he's only playing 28MPG. Shaq was playing half-assed in Los Angeles and always said he just uses the regular season to get in shape for the playoffs. Then comes the playoffs, and guess what? He's not in shape. Heat fans have a right to be concerned about Shaq, because he was a lot more hungry and dedicated last season. Now with his new deal he's become complacent again. He was even yanked in the Suns game, when was the last time a superstar player making $20Million a year was yanked from a game?
I agree with Shape. Watching DWade sometimes scares me cuz he takes a harsh hit and it worries even me that he might not be able to take all the beating forever. Soon or later, he might suffer injury and without him, the Heat is doomed. And watching Shaq in Heat jersey is different that watching him in yellow and purple. I dont think he had one game that he gave the impression of "dominating" force. Good thing we have Zo but Shaq needs to be 100% and come out as the Shaq that people used to fear.
