"The major challenges folks mention about adding Shaquille O'Neal to the Cavaliers do not seem to be challenges in the eyes of the Cavs.
The first says that LeBron James won't be able to get to the basket with Shaq's big body clogging the paint.
I don't quite understand this one. Did Dwyane Wade have a problem driving when O'Neal was with the Miami Heat?
It will take some adjustment, yes, because James has never played with such a massive low-post presence.
But nobody in the league has better basketball savvy than James, so any adjustment seems less consequential than it's being made to be.
Too, O'Neal's presence gives James a rather hefty option if teams double him.
Think back to Game 7 in Boston in 2008. James set up Ben Wallace for a dunk in the final minutes with the game in the balance. Wallace threw the ball outside to Delonte West for a 3-pointer, which he missed.
Shaq is probably going to dunk that ball - with force.
The team simply must handle the other challenge, and that is to keep O'Neal healthy and ready for the playoffs. It would do no good to win 60 games with him if he's burned out in May and June.
Nobody doubts that the Cavs will have to strive to make it work with two players with mega-watt star power on their team.
Home games could be nightly festivals, road trips like the journeys of a rock band. Imagine the team plane with James and O'Neal chattering throughout the flight.
''Both guys are good guys; both guys like each other,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''Both guys will be happy to play with one another. And the most important thing is they have one common goal - those things are the things that are going to make this work.
''Because they're competitive, because they have that one common goal . . .I think that will help this relationship and make this journey work.
''Only time will tell as we go along how it all meshes out.''
There is risk and reward to every trade. In this case, there was minimal risk. The players the Cavs traded were going to retire (Wallace) or not be a major contributor (Sasha Pavlovic).
O'Neal could average 18 and eight like he did a year ago, and the Cavs would benefit.
He also could fall apart from age, though that seems unlikely.
Given the low risk and possible reward, it was a move that needed to be made.
All Shaq, all the time"
2 komentari:
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It ain't happening. Though I'm a long time Laker fan, I like LeBron and company. Shaq's presence on the court will hurt them. He will have good enough looking stats but underneath the numbers is a huge downside. No "Dee", and no running game for the Cavs. LeBron will continue to star and Cavs and fans may continue thinking Shaq can still play defense, for awhile. HE CANNOT!
They're paying him 21 million dollars and he will NOT help the team. [See second game of the season: Toronto killed them inside.]
After Cleveland unloads him there will be another owner/sucker out there who thinks he can help their team.
Teams that know better include: Lakers, Heat, and the Suns. Cavs will very soon be added to that list.
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