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Bench Warmer
With his ever-expanding and creative vocabulary and his showmanship nature, sometimes it can seem like Shaquille O'Neal has an answer for everything.
Such as the issue he attempted to solve Tuesday night after his Cavs beat the Toronto Raptors 108-100. Most aren't thrilled that O'Neal's teammate, LeBron James, has effectively gone back on his word about taking part in the dunk contest next month. O'Neal has a thoughtful answer and one that pretty much takes the pressure off James.
"As his manager, I will only allow LeBron to do the dunk contest if Vince Carter comes back out, if Kobe [Bryant] comes back out and if another big name comes back out," O'Neal said. "And if we can get a big prize and half of the money go to the people of Haiti and the other half to the winner."
Some star power, a pop culture problem and a Shaq quote to tie it all together, and anything seems possible. Even if O'Neal probably shouldn't be waiting for his BlackBerry to buzz with a text from Bryant with a confirmation.
In essence, though, it's those traits the Cavs are hoping O'Neal employs on the floor when the games are the center-stage attraction. Games like Thursday, when the Cavs host a rematch with the world champion Lakers less than a month after hammering them between foam fingers on Christmas Day. And games in April, May and, the Cavs hope, June.
What happened in the victory over the Raptors is exactly the sort of on-court creative impact the Cavs had planned when they traded for O'Neal last summer.
He had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting with five rebounds against Toronto, which like many teams doesn't have anyone on its roster who can truly slow down O'Neal when he still wants to get going. But it was his impact without scoring that has the Cavs still dreaming big dreams this season.
It was perfectly illustrated during a 90-second stretch in the fourth quarter, when O'Neal took control of the game and swung it into the Cavs' favor without even taking a shot.
The Cavs were ahead by one point and the Raptors were making a serious bid to pull off the upset. Winners of 10 of their last 13 games and putting up some impressive offensive numbers, it perhaps wouldn't have been shocking for Toronto to get it down even at Quicken Loans Arena. Then, with six minutes left, O'Neal came into the game.
First, in a crowd, he grabbed a long rebound that appeared to be headed into Chris Bosh's hands.
Then he caught a pass on the block, drew some attention, and faked a look to James before finding Mo Williams for a 3-pointer.
On the defensive end, he called for a switch when his man screened for Hedo Turkoglu. So there O'Neal was, 20 feet from the rim and one-on-one with Turkoglu. It was this play, when Turkoglu was a member of the Orlando Magic, that the Cavs were gutted with during last season's Eastern Conference finals. Well, that and a few incredible clutch 3-pointers from Rashard Lewis.
As he should, Turkoglu took him off the dribble and drove to the glass. But O'Neal, despite all the jokes about his physical ability these days, cut the Raptors small forward off and forced him down to the block. Eventually, Turkoglu ran out of rim and tossed up a weak left-handed lob that never got to the rim.
"One of the first things we noticed about Shaq was how quick his feet are," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "We're not afraid to switch with him at times. He's been out there on Brandon Jennings and Steve Nash."
After forcing the miss, O'Neal got down to the other end and set up shop in the post again. The ball found him and the Cavs set up their action. This time O'Neal looked at Williams for a potential 3 and froze the defense for a second before hitting James on a backdoor pass for a dunk.
"Coach called a couple of my plays, and I don't like to force shots," O'Neal said. "I've been known to be able to do something with the ball."
Moments later, he grabbed another rebound in traffic and then finished off a play with a dunk of his own after James had drawn a double-team and kicked to O'Neal for a free dunk that essentially broke the Raptors' backs. This is why the Cavs -- who at 32-11 have two more road wins than the Lakers have played road games -- feel they may have a better mix this season.
Earlier in the game, O'Neal became just the fifth player to score 28,000 in NBA history. But his focus on everything else but the points -- the key rebounds, the facilitator role on offense, the switching at times on defense -- is what the Cavs are most pleased with. That and what he did in the third quarter, which was to knock Raptors who were driving to the hole onto their backsides.
Even though O'Neal is in the final year of his contract and wants another, and even though this is by far the most limited role he's had on any team in his 17-year career, he continues to seem eager to go with the program.
"I'm happy being No. 5 -- there's some great names in front of me and some great names behind me," O'Neal said. "I've always been a player to only get happy about the big picture."
By Brian Windhorst
Special to ESPN.com
Such as the issue he attempted to solve Tuesday night after his Cavs beat the Toronto Raptors 108-100. Most aren't thrilled that O'Neal's teammate, LeBron James, has effectively gone back on his word about taking part in the dunk contest next month. O'Neal has a thoughtful answer and one that pretty much takes the pressure off James.
"As his manager, I will only allow LeBron to do the dunk contest if Vince Carter comes back out, if Kobe [Bryant] comes back out and if another big name comes back out," O'Neal said. "And if we can get a big prize and half of the money go to the people of Haiti and the other half to the winner."
Some star power, a pop culture problem and a Shaq quote to tie it all together, and anything seems possible. Even if O'Neal probably shouldn't be waiting for his BlackBerry to buzz with a text from Bryant with a confirmation.
In essence, though, it's those traits the Cavs are hoping O'Neal employs on the floor when the games are the center-stage attraction. Games like Thursday, when the Cavs host a rematch with the world champion Lakers less than a month after hammering them between foam fingers on Christmas Day. And games in April, May and, the Cavs hope, June.
What happened in the victory over the Raptors is exactly the sort of on-court creative impact the Cavs had planned when they traded for O'Neal last summer.
He had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting with five rebounds against Toronto, which like many teams doesn't have anyone on its roster who can truly slow down O'Neal when he still wants to get going. But it was his impact without scoring that has the Cavs still dreaming big dreams this season.
It was perfectly illustrated during a 90-second stretch in the fourth quarter, when O'Neal took control of the game and swung it into the Cavs' favor without even taking a shot.
The Cavs were ahead by one point and the Raptors were making a serious bid to pull off the upset. Winners of 10 of their last 13 games and putting up some impressive offensive numbers, it perhaps wouldn't have been shocking for Toronto to get it down even at Quicken Loans Arena. Then, with six minutes left, O'Neal came into the game.
First, in a crowd, he grabbed a long rebound that appeared to be headed into Chris Bosh's hands.
Then he caught a pass on the block, drew some attention, and faked a look to James before finding Mo Williams for a 3-pointer.
On the defensive end, he called for a switch when his man screened for Hedo Turkoglu. So there O'Neal was, 20 feet from the rim and one-on-one with Turkoglu. It was this play, when Turkoglu was a member of the Orlando Magic, that the Cavs were gutted with during last season's Eastern Conference finals. Well, that and a few incredible clutch 3-pointers from Rashard Lewis.
As he should, Turkoglu took him off the dribble and drove to the glass. But O'Neal, despite all the jokes about his physical ability these days, cut the Raptors small forward off and forced him down to the block. Eventually, Turkoglu ran out of rim and tossed up a weak left-handed lob that never got to the rim.
"One of the first things we noticed about Shaq was how quick his feet are," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "We're not afraid to switch with him at times. He's been out there on Brandon Jennings and Steve Nash."
After forcing the miss, O'Neal got down to the other end and set up shop in the post again. The ball found him and the Cavs set up their action. This time O'Neal looked at Williams for a potential 3 and froze the defense for a second before hitting James on a backdoor pass for a dunk.
"Coach called a couple of my plays, and I don't like to force shots," O'Neal said. "I've been known to be able to do something with the ball."
Moments later, he grabbed another rebound in traffic and then finished off a play with a dunk of his own after James had drawn a double-team and kicked to O'Neal for a free dunk that essentially broke the Raptors' backs. This is why the Cavs -- who at 32-11 have two more road wins than the Lakers have played road games -- feel they may have a better mix this season.
Earlier in the game, O'Neal became just the fifth player to score 28,000 in NBA history. But his focus on everything else but the points -- the key rebounds, the facilitator role on offense, the switching at times on defense -- is what the Cavs are most pleased with. That and what he did in the third quarter, which was to knock Raptors who were driving to the hole onto their backsides.
Even though O'Neal is in the final year of his contract and wants another, and even though this is by far the most limited role he's had on any team in his 17-year career, he continues to seem eager to go with the program.
"I'm happy being No. 5 -- there's some great names in front of me and some great names behind me," O'Neal said. "I've always been a player to only get happy about the big picture."
By Brian Windhorst
Special to ESPN.com
