<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The heartbreak, Pat Riley believes, was not created by a breakdown. Because of that, the Heat president said he retains faith in Shaquille O'Neal's determination to deliver a NBA title to South Florida, even as the franchise center gets on in years. "He didn't break this year," Riley said. "He got hurt a couple of times." To Riley, that is a significant difference, that by improving his conditioning upon his arrival from the Lakers last July, O'Neal succumbed only to ailments that could afflict any player of any age. "I'm really concerned about his disappointment, and I'm concerned that this guy has given everything he has to give all year long," Riley said. Riley's comments came as the Heat was moving closer to what became Monday's Game 7 demise against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals. He has not addressed O'Neal or the 33-year-old center's impending contract talks since that loss. What mattered most to Riley is that the 7-foot-1 center met team-mandated conditioning targets, dropping from 360 pounds to about 325 and significantly reducing body fat. "You've got to give the guy an absolute ton of credit for that," Riley said. "You're concerned about whether a guy is going to break, and that's not what happened this year."</div> Source
