Does Shaquille O'Neal Have Another Run In Him
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 9:56AM Joe Simmons 
The most interesting twist in the NBA playoffs is the return of Shaquille O’Neal. If this were 1998 or even 2005 this would be a big deal, but in 2011 does it really mean anything at all. Shaq was the most dominant player of his era when he was in his prime. The man could move mountains in the post and he had the uncanny ability to make the big defensive play that his team needed in the clutch.
Ironically Shaq’s popularity has declined and he is more popular now for whom he dates, and what he does off the court versus what he does on it. This season Shaq has been just a shell of his former self and has been on the shelf injured for more games than he has been available for.
No doubt the big man has slowed down some, but what if he can become a shadow of his former self. What if he can for a quarter or even a spell of minutes become dominant like he used to be? Can he be inspired to turn it up a notch even if it’s pure adrenaline or is that asking too much from the 38 year old? What do the Celtics have to lose? It is obvious that they miss the big Kendrick Perkins.
The Celtics are being outrun and out hustled in this series and maybe Shaq can give them some bonus time even if its just 4 to 5 minutes per quarter. Conditioning will be an issue but honestly it shouldn’t affect his shooting since he is not a shooter anyways. His game is built on position and strength. If you think about it, the Heat don’t really have an answer for O’Neal. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is not a banger and Joel Anthony is not big enough.
One of the reasons the Celtics were able to dominate the Heat during the regular season was the use of Perkins and Shaq on the smaller Miami frontline. The first two games have obviously revealed how much those two big bodies are needed. The funny thing is that when the season began no team had more big bodies than the Celtics, now they are decimated on the frontline and they are betting on the beat up legs of a 38 year old legend that may or may not have it in him to be great once again.
We will be graced with witnessing a legend be great or we will watch as the final chapter is written on O’Neal’s legacy. Either way it’s worth tuning in.
Stay Breezy ~ I’m Out!
Reader Comments (5)
Shaq is one of my fav player of all time and probably my fav center of all time. As a huge Shaq fan, I wish he realizes this... This is probably his last chance at a ring. Even IF Celtics sign him again next year, the Celtics will be too old anyways. There is no way they can play against the younger forces like the heat, bulls, hawks, knicks, etc. Unless they have some moves that we don't know about planned in the off season. I wish Shaq will come back and lay EVERYTHING he has on the court. We still saw glimpses of his former shadow (references to Mr.Simmons article) this year. He came back for like 6 mins and dominated till he got hurt again. He dominated the Heat when Shaq was actually healthy and played. The thing is Shaq didn't play bad last year in the playoff for the Cavs. I feel like he actually held up his end of the bargin last year for the Cavs. This will be the first time where he can play without worrying about foul, where he actually will be asked for the first time in his career to MAKE the hard fouls instead of shying away so he could stay on the floor. I feel like Shaq could bang up the Heat's players every time they drive (not saying to hurt them but scare them so every time they drive they look over their shoulder to see if Shaq is coming over). Idk if he IS the difference, but apparently the Celtics GM thought Shaq was all he needed at the Center position to win a ring, so let's see if Shaq can deliever.
here iz the prediction............forget shaq he wont do anything to help........bottomline like i said
the other day, referees and media biast will prevail..........odds are celtics will win their games at home
but dont have a prayer in miami cause of the refs..........watch how it all plays out.............ive seen so many
games watching refs its just become way to easy to see it.........mark my words, celtics heart and D will keep
them fighting but in games 5 and 7 but the refs will make sure the celtics are done.......i know heat fans will bicker
about what i say but its true..........the refs dictate the games and they always have............................................
..............................................................................................................................................................................
.................... ( signal gone to smoke and wishes our fans was like international soccer fans------
I BET THAT WOULD CHANGE OUR REFS THINKING........ what do u think pablo escobar ? oh yea
he got his azz dropped like its hot a long time ago.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA )
( signal came back for an icky sticky quicky ).......speaking of cartel leaders.....why oh why would the famous
columbian godmother GRISELDA BLANCO put guns up to a mans head forcing them to fuck ? it dont make
any sense........think about it.....she has billions....why go through all that trouble when u can custom make a
giant battery operated tonka toy robotic fuckbuddy with a half dozen glow in the dark dildoz and a singing
rooster nippin on them nasty ass nipples ?......i know she was butt fucking fat and nasty with a sticky set of corn
starch cumming out of her murdering azz but dang she could have saved herself the trouble...i know she did a
thousand times more coke snorting then keith richards but dam.........can u imagine a gun to your head trying to
fuck the nastiest bitch from the coffee land ?.........OOOHHHHHH i dont have any fucking clue so i guess i should
just go smoke my MARY JAMACIAN J.....................................................................................................................
...........................................HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA............................................................
......... ( signal gone )
Eric it would be nice to see Shaq be Shaq again but I don't see it.
Wildcard you are probably right. That is one of the reasons I don't trust the NBA. Sometimes I think refs are conspiring to let teams win. However I don't think they could get away with it if the commissioner didn't allow it.
To answer your question, Crazy Joe.....no.
I can't speak for you, but The Big Homie is one of my favorite players ever. At one time, we were all able to see him at his best. It sucks that youngsters see this version of Shaq, hell, the Shaq of the past five years, and not the version we came to know and love.