Shaq is 'Sure' Riley will return as coach

With his season ending unusually early, Shaquille O'Neal has kept busy traveling (Las Vegas recently), spending time with family, publicizing his new ABC reality show and turning up the thermostat for his regular yoga sessions.
Shaq opined on a few issues during a phone conversation:
• Though O'Neal has been given no assurances and Pat Riley remains noncommittal publicly, O'Neal said he feels ''sure'' Riley will coach next season and that ''it's important'' Riley do so. O'Neal said Riley told players after the season that he ''will be here for the next five years'' -- though Riley, 62, didn't specify whether it would be as coach, president or both titles.
• He said none of the conference finalists is better than the Heat. ``Cleveland was in the right bracket. This year was a bad-luck year.''
• So what's the deal with the yoga? ''Just to be flexible, to get limber. In my 15 years, I've never stretched before games. This is the first time I'' will.
• On returning to past dominance: ``If they want me to put up the big numbers, I have to get the big shots . . . [Then] make sure I touch the rock. I shot [nearly] 60 percent.''
But O'Neal said he won't ask Riley for more touches. ``I'm a very unselfish player. We don't have a problem with our offense.''
• On the notion that this season will give him extra motivation: ``I don't really need motivation because my mission has always been to get as many championships as I can so I can take two steps to the Hall of Fame. I'm 10 steps away now.''
• He said he would be happy to recruit free agents if Riley asks, but won't suggest personnel moves.
• One frustration this season was ``we never got to develop our own style. You have to be able to play both styles [running and half court], like San Antonio.''
• He said he will finish out the last three years of his contract (worth $60 million): ``I'm not going anywhere.''
• O'Neal's reality show, Shaq's Big Challenge, runs six consecutive Tuesdays on ABC, beginning at 9 p.m. June 26. O'Neal and specialists help six obese middle school students from Florida become healthy and fit.
''I always wanted to do a Shaq's challenge-type show,'' he said. ``Childhood obesity is a big problem. Only 6 percent of schools in America have mandatory P.E. It's an inactive society.''