OT- Shaq news conference at 12pm

[bychai]

Not to get into a Shaq\Kobe debate but all this talk about Kobe being the villian in the Laker feud is somewhat silly. Yes he did try and finger Shaq when he got caught with his pants down in Colorado but if you were the Lakers GM who would you have kept. An aging, perpetually out of shape Shaq who wanted an ungodly amount of money or a young, hard working Kobe who always gave 100%. No matter how much you hate Kobe you can never question he always came ready to play, something you could never expect of Shaq. Both thier attitudes are questionable so that was a wash.

[cdel00]

Shaq complained that the Heat were not getting him the ball in the right spot for him to be effective. If anyone can get Shaq the ball in his butter zone it's Nash.

[Theta64]

People need to stop saying that Dwayne Wade was the reason why the Heat won a title. The reality is, Shaq played a very important part in helping that team win the title. They couldn't have won a title without either of those two players.

[xAIRNESSx]

D'Antoni is on PTI (TSN) right now for 5 minutes.

[xAIRNESSx]

He said:
- Needed a big guy
- Nash said "lets do it" on the deal
- Doesn't think Shaq is injury prone
- Shaq can fit in their system
- Looking to play him 25-30 mins
- Suns were the best team in the West before this trade, and just got better

[emfive]

Shaq seemed quite confident about his health. If he is healthy, he will contribute a dynamic to that team that they cannot do without in that conference. I am also guessing that they feel they may have a replacement, in minutes, for Marion in Diaw (although we might all agree no one can bring the defence Marion has.

I would be a little more confident about them if they had another useful big besides Skinner. There is no doubt amongst any of us, I am sure, that if Shaq can play, Nash will get him the ball as often as he likes.

PS A special thanks to Hank. I did not realize I was so ... Zen.

[Bryans_Collar]

The thing nobody here wants to talk about .... so they get Shaq to match up against:

Duncan, Yao, Chandler, Bierdrins, Bynum, etc.

What's the common link? Seems like a bunch of 7 footers who play close to the basket, and you know, shoot a high FG% and grab boards like a big is (was?) supposed to.

What happened to the whole "Positions are overrated, all you need are basketball players". "7 footers who can shoot 3's are the future"

The team that brought us run and gun and undersized lineups is going as conventional as you can get with Shaq.

Anyone else think about these implications?

[rapstarr]

really wish shaq comes back to old form

[Bruvyman]

Just noticed something that really drove home the impact Shaq could have on Phoenix. If anyone's watching the Houston - Cleveland game, and saw that drive through the middle of the lane by Bonzi Wells, you probably also noticed (and you would have) the space created by Yao taking up space in the middle and giving him that wide open highway to the basket.

THAT is what Shaq will do for the lakers I think, and I think it'll be huge for them. They're going to be able to run a half-court offense so well with guys like Barbosa, Nash, Stoudamire et al. who can get that open space out of a set to get easy baskets.

I don't think anyone can call them one-dimensional or pigeon-hole the Suns anymore.

It should be interesting at the least to see him coexist there and I'm pretty pumped.

[LLJ]

Anyone notice how sheepish D'Antoni looked? "I always thought we could win with our old style but now..."

Kerr made D'Antoni look like a fool with this trade. Of course, when they get bounced in round 1 or 2 people will see at least D'Antoni's old belief was closer to it than they are now.