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By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 11:12 p.m. EST, Feb 08, 2010
INDEPENDENCE: Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal has had to step to the forefront a little bit earlier than planned.
With point guards Mo Williams and Delonte West out with injuries, O'Neal has been counted on to pick up the scoring slack.
O'Neal, whom the Cavs acquired in an offseason trade, has returned to the form of last year, when he averaged close to 18 points and nine rebounds for the Phoenix Suns.
Since Williams and West were injured in back-to-back games, O'Neal has averaged 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds and the Cavs have gone on an 11-game winning streak, their longest of the season.
O'Neal's bump in production wasn't supposed to happen this soon, coach Mike Brown said.
O'Neal was brought in to add muscle and mass to the middle and bolster the Cavs' chances of reaching the NBA Finals, but the plan was for him to get more playing time and a subsequent statistical increase after the All-Star break, which begins this weekend.
''He's getting his touches and he's getting his minutes and he's showing what he's capable of doing,'' Brown said.
What O'Neal is capable of doing is drawing plenty of attention, despite the fact that he's been in the league for 17 years and is almost 38 years old. He came to the Cavs in shape and, it seems, with enough of a chip on his shoulder to contribute significantly to a team with an NBA-best record of 41-11.
''He's on a good team. If Shaq was on a team where he had to get 30 touches, it'd be a little different,'' Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade said of O'Neal. ''Centers like him, guys that have that much mileage, want to be on a team that's good where they don't have to do as much and still be effective.''
Indeed, there have been moments when the O'Neal of old has returned. He's produced two double-doubles during the winning streak, one against the up-and-coming Memphis Grizzlies.
''Shaq looked pretty good,'' Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. ''He looked like he is in better shape and he is moving much better. He's still pretty dominant. I think they are finally figuring out how to use him.''
At the beginning of the season, Brown admitted it would take some time to acclimate O'Neal and fellow newcomers Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon into the team's system.
But O'Neal offered the stiffest challenge, primarily because the Cavs were not used to having a physical presence at center. As valuable as Zydrunas Ilgauskas has been to the organization, no one will ever accuse him of being an overly physical player.
''In the past, we've been undersized, undermanned,'' LeBron James said. ''[O'Neal] allows us to stay home on a lot of shooters and play a team straight up. Offensively, he puts a lot of pressure on other bigs by getting them in foul trouble and getting easy baskets.''
It was also possible O'Neal could have hurt the Cavs.
''I came in with the perfect chemist's perception,'' O'Neal said. ''The formula they had was perfect [because] any added ingredient could either go bad or for worse.''
Brown said he didn't see that as a possibility after the Wine & Gold Scrimmage in October.
''He did some things in that scrimmage that made me go, 'Wow, I can't believe we have him,' '' Brown said.
It didn't hurt that O'Neal came in with the right attitude.
''I wasn't brought here to put up big numbers. I wasn't brought here to put up 27 [points] and 10 [rebounds],'' he said. ''As a guy, I'm just doing what I'm told, and now we have a couple of guys out and I'm getting more touches.''
And he's under no illusions the Cavs are anybody's team except James'.
''One thing is I'm a realist and I've dominated the game for four presidents. I'm older now,'' he said. ''I ran three different corporations my way and I was successful and now I'm an older guy on my way out, and now they brought me in as a consultant to look over another up-and-coming CEO.''
But even as he's adopted that tone, criticism has continued about his current skills and a past that featured him leaving other teams on less than the best of terms. He admitted he burned some bridges.
Even after the Cavs acquired O'Neal, many wondered whether he had anything left. He said nothing about it.
''Only guys who've been in my shoes can tell me I have nothing left,'' he said. ''Like if I hear it from a Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], a [Charles] Barkley or [Charles] Oakley or guys like that. I was brought here to be a high-level role player, and that's my job.''
And he has little desire to be the CEO again and deal with the rigors associated with it. It's a case of having done it before with the Los Angeles Lakers, a situation that ended in a somewhat acrimonious divorce. He had no regrets, however, as he talked about that situation.
''My thing was if I'm going to get blamed by [the media] for losing games and get blamed by the organization for not winning, I'm going to do it my way. Period. No matter who likes it,'' he said. ''It actually worked. Me and the other guy aren't the best of friends, but if you look at how that corporation was run, we won three out of four.''
Reality creeps in again when he speaks about his current role and why he's been so willing to not be the focus of the offense.
''The guys that have not accepted their diminishing roles are the guys who have been forced out,'' he said.
Wade recognizes that about O'Neal. When asked if O'Neal is the missing piece to get James his first title, Wade said not necessarily.
''It's a little different,'' Wade said. ''I think what LeBron is doing for him is what he helped many guys do for years.''
James honored
James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the fifth time this season. In three games, James averaged an NBA-best 35 points on .541 shooting, seven rebounds and 10.3 assists in 40.3 minutes per game.
Buzzer beater
There is speculation that West could return to action tonight against the New Jersey Nets.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas. Follow Cavs coverage on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cavsabj.
INDEPENDENCE: Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal has had to step to the forefront a little bit earlier than planned.
With point guards Mo Williams and Delonte West out with injuries, O'Neal has been counted on to pick up the scoring slack.
O'Neal, whom the Cavs acquired in an offseason trade, has returned to the form of last year, when he averaged close to 18 points and nine rebounds for the Phoenix Suns.
Since Williams and West were injured in back-to-back games, O'Neal has averaged 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds and the Cavs have gone on an 11-game winning streak, their longest of the season.
O'Neal's bump in production wasn't supposed to happen this soon, coach Mike Brown said.
O'Neal was brought in to add muscle and mass to the middle and bolster the Cavs' chances of reaching the NBA Finals, but the plan was for him to get more playing time and a subsequent statistical increase after the All-Star break, which begins this weekend.
''He's getting his touches and he's getting his minutes and he's showing what he's capable of doing,'' Brown said.
What O'Neal is capable of doing is drawing plenty of attention, despite the fact that he's been in the league for 17 years and is almost 38 years old. He came to the Cavs in shape and, it seems, with enough of a chip on his shoulder to contribute significantly to a team with an NBA-best record of 41-11.
''He's on a good team. If Shaq was on a team where he had to get 30 touches, it'd be a little different,'' Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade said of O'Neal. ''Centers like him, guys that have that much mileage, want to be on a team that's good where they don't have to do as much and still be effective.''
Indeed, there have been moments when the O'Neal of old has returned. He's produced two double-doubles during the winning streak, one against the up-and-coming Memphis Grizzlies.
''Shaq looked pretty good,'' Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. ''He looked like he is in better shape and he is moving much better. He's still pretty dominant. I think they are finally figuring out how to use him.''
At the beginning of the season, Brown admitted it would take some time to acclimate O'Neal and fellow newcomers Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon into the team's system.
But O'Neal offered the stiffest challenge, primarily because the Cavs were not used to having a physical presence at center. As valuable as Zydrunas Ilgauskas has been to the organization, no one will ever accuse him of being an overly physical player.
''In the past, we've been undersized, undermanned,'' LeBron James said. ''[O'Neal] allows us to stay home on a lot of shooters and play a team straight up. Offensively, he puts a lot of pressure on other bigs by getting them in foul trouble and getting easy baskets.''
It was also possible O'Neal could have hurt the Cavs.
''I came in with the perfect chemist's perception,'' O'Neal said. ''The formula they had was perfect [because] any added ingredient could either go bad or for worse.''
Brown said he didn't see that as a possibility after the Wine & Gold Scrimmage in October.
''He did some things in that scrimmage that made me go, 'Wow, I can't believe we have him,' '' Brown said.
It didn't hurt that O'Neal came in with the right attitude.
''I wasn't brought here to put up big numbers. I wasn't brought here to put up 27 [points] and 10 [rebounds],'' he said. ''As a guy, I'm just doing what I'm told, and now we have a couple of guys out and I'm getting more touches.''
And he's under no illusions the Cavs are anybody's team except James'.
''One thing is I'm a realist and I've dominated the game for four presidents. I'm older now,'' he said. ''I ran three different corporations my way and I was successful and now I'm an older guy on my way out, and now they brought me in as a consultant to look over another up-and-coming CEO.''
But even as he's adopted that tone, criticism has continued about his current skills and a past that featured him leaving other teams on less than the best of terms. He admitted he burned some bridges.
Even after the Cavs acquired O'Neal, many wondered whether he had anything left. He said nothing about it.
''Only guys who've been in my shoes can tell me I have nothing left,'' he said. ''Like if I hear it from a Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], a [Charles] Barkley or [Charles] Oakley or guys like that. I was brought here to be a high-level role player, and that's my job.''
And he has little desire to be the CEO again and deal with the rigors associated with it. It's a case of having done it before with the Los Angeles Lakers, a situation that ended in a somewhat acrimonious divorce. He had no regrets, however, as he talked about that situation.
''My thing was if I'm going to get blamed by [the media] for losing games and get blamed by the organization for not winning, I'm going to do it my way. Period. No matter who likes it,'' he said. ''It actually worked. Me and the other guy aren't the best of friends, but if you look at how that corporation was run, we won three out of four.''
Reality creeps in again when he speaks about his current role and why he's been so willing to not be the focus of the offense.
''The guys that have not accepted their diminishing roles are the guys who have been forced out,'' he said.
Wade recognizes that about O'Neal. When asked if O'Neal is the missing piece to get James his first title, Wade said not necessarily.
''It's a little different,'' Wade said. ''I think what LeBron is doing for him is what he helped many guys do for years.''
James honored
James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the fifth time this season. In three games, James averaged an NBA-best 35 points on .541 shooting, seven rebounds and 10.3 assists in 40.3 minutes per game.
Buzzer beater
There is speculation that West could return to action tonight against the New Jersey Nets.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas. Follow Cavs coverage on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cavsabj.
Comments
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DaHood, OH
Posted 11:33 AM, 02/09/2010
This team will bring a ring to Cleveland !! They are playing great and are down a couple bodies. It will happen this year.
Thanks Shaq !!
masury, oh
Posted 12:11 PM, 02/09/2010
if i can't make it to tonights game , because of the snow storm can i get my money returned or tickets for another game?
findlay, oh
Posted 12:12 PM, 02/09/2010
Hopefully they are not peaking too early.
Canton, OH
Posted 02:44 PM, 02/09/2010
@mikea : Nope. . .
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 12:22 AM, 02/10/2010
I think they need at least one more athletic wing player. Someone who is an above average NBA talent, like a Jamario Moon or Anthony Parker.
If only they could get Leon Powe!
Is this team deep or what???
Always In Akron, OH
Posted 05:48 AM, 02/10/2010
Nobody touches the Shaqtus!
Akron, oh
Posted 10:19 AM, 02/10/2010
shaqtus, hahaha i like that.
