Championship or bust: Kerr pins hopes on aging, ailing Shaq
As Heat fans will tell you, he can be a blast to watch, once you get past the fact he's missed at least 15 games in six of the last seven seasons and hasn't played in at least 60 of the 82 since 2004-05. O'Neal's scoring average has dwindled to a career-low 14.2 as he has played through pain this season. His rebounding average is at 7.8, slightly up from last year's career-low 7.4 clip, and his shooting percentage is at 58.1, his lowest since arriving in Miami from L.A.
He has failed to block at least two shots per game for the last three seasons after doing so in 12 of his first 13.
Presumably, O'Neal's acquisition has been made to keep up with a Spurs squad led by Tim Duncan; a Lakers team which will have Gasol and Andrew Bynum; and legitimate threats like Denver with Marcus Camby, Houston with Yao Ming and New Orleans with Tyson Chandler. The majority of the NBA's quality giants are in the Western Conference, so Kerr wants to make sure his team is equipped. He feels he can't beat them, so he'll join them.
It paints him and O'Neal into a corner together. Kerr is gambling on an aging center who says he's physically in the best shape of his career -- nagging hip issue aside -- and will do anything to win one for the thumb. We'll see if anything truly means anything.
Although he has played with running mates like Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant and Wade, Shaq has never played with a point guard the likes of Nash. In fact, Shaq has never played with a fellow MVP, much less a two-time winner. Nash's ego won't be a problem, but he's only slightly altering his approach. O'Neal might have to undergo a lobotomy to fit in with the Suns.
Sure, he'll change them into more of a half-court team when he's out there, but for the first time in his career, he won't be the primary option in the post. Stoudemire is on board. Though he grew up a fan of O'Neal's explosion down low and patterned much of his style after him, Stoudemire is a grown man now. He has his own ego, one that caused him to privately voice his displeasure over not getting enough touches earlier this season. Think he's simply going to step to the side?
Everyone will toe the company line and say all the right things at the outset of this experiment. O'Neal will charm the city and the organization. D'Antoni will go down to his lab and see how to best utilize him, counting on the double-teams that are sure to follow. Nash will immediately practice those alley-oop passes off his head. The Suns will play a half-court style when Shaq is out there and throw opponents their "seven seconds or less" curveball when he's not. Team chemistry might even improve.
That said, unless they end up with a ring for their efforts, this will have an unfavorable end. The Suns had a pretty good thing going, no? O'Neal, though thrilled he won't have to waste one of the final postseasons he'll have left, is set up to be the scapegoat if this doesn't work out. Same goes for Kerr, whose courage and conviction you at least have to admire. He's taken the mandate to put his stamp on the team and run with it, making an immediate splash. He'll go down as a genius or a fool.
Look at all the ifs now in play. Marion was saddled with the reputation of a malcontent because he never felt he got the credit he deserved, but no one can say he wasn't a game-changing defender who helped make up for many of the Suns' defensive flaws. He guarded everyone from point guards to power forwards, masked a lot of Nash's deficiencies and was perennially the team's top rebounder.
Now that he's gone, there is little behind Raja Bell in terms of perimeter defense. Rookie D.J. Strawberry will be asked to step up. There's no longer a safety net in case Grant Hill succumbs to an injury, either. All the eggs have been put in a single basket.
Ominously, it's marked "Fragile."
