duncan228
01-12-2009, 11:24 PM
Shaq bringing out vintage moves (http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/01/12/20090112sunsoneal0113.html)
by Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
If you feel you're seeing more vintage Shaquille O'Neal than just old Shaquille O'Neal with the Suns this season, you're probably right.
O'Neal said he is physically able to dip into his repertoire and pull out some low-post moves that were gathering dust when he arrived in a trade for Shawn Marion last season.
The result is a revitalized O'Neal, who enters tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks at US Airways Center making a pretty convincing case for a reserve spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
"I'm using a lot more," O'Neal said of his low-post options. "My game is different. It's a mixture of everybody's game. When I was coming up I was like, 'OK, spin lob - David Robinson. Get the knees up - Rony Seikaly. 'Bow people in the face and look mean - Patrick Ewing. Then I just added a little of my own."
Like his signature drop-step spin move. It's back.
"You always take what the defense gives you, but I couldn't always do that last year," he said. "I've got a lot of young, energetic, new-millennium trainers here, and they're really into their craft."
O'Neal said his problem was major.
"A muscle in my (rear) wasn't firing," he explained. "So they left me for dead. 'He's old. He don't have it anymore.' Now I'm doing things I couldn't do last year because my (rear) wasn't firing."
Makes sense. O'Neal without his gluteus muscles is like Allen Iverson without his crossover, Tim Duncan without his bank shot, Rasheed Wallace without his rants.
O'Neal is averaging 17.4 points and nine rebounds a game.
But since telling management, "If you want me to be Shaq, let me be Shaq," he has averaged 22.8 points and 10 rebounds over the past 10 games.
Still, teams have continued to guard him one-on-one in the vast majority of his low-post possessions, according to a breakdown on Synergy Technology's Web-based scouting service.
"That's because of the age factor," O'Neal said. "And once something is out there, it's out there. Last year, I didn't have all these moves, and they thought, 'Shaq's old. He ain't got no moves. We're not going to double him.'
"You can't do that. And if they do double, I play smart, do what I do and get everybody involved.
"Now that I'm hitting free throws, I have confidence to go to an array of moves.
"People that like to do mathematics can tell you if a guy shoots (58) percent, he isn't being doubled, he's shooting well from the line and he's a great passer; it's a no-brainer. Give it to him."
Now, O'Neal believes the Suns finally are beginning to hit their stride as a team, finding a balance between pushing the ball and pounding it inside.
"The last 10 years I've been there (won a championship) four times," he said. "Mr. (Tim) Duncan has been there four times, and we play a similar style. I've always learned that if you live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot - a la Dallas when I was in Miami and we were in the Finals. They were smoking in the first two games, but we won the series."
And O'Neal joked that Suns fans still haven't seen everything in his bag of tricks.
"I'm working on my Steve Smith," he said of the former NBA star's signature move. "He would hesitate, move his head like he's going that way and then spin this way.
"Yeah, I'm bringing that out."
by Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
If you feel you're seeing more vintage Shaquille O'Neal than just old Shaquille O'Neal with the Suns this season, you're probably right.
O'Neal said he is physically able to dip into his repertoire and pull out some low-post moves that were gathering dust when he arrived in a trade for Shawn Marion last season.
The result is a revitalized O'Neal, who enters tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks at US Airways Center making a pretty convincing case for a reserve spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
"I'm using a lot more," O'Neal said of his low-post options. "My game is different. It's a mixture of everybody's game. When I was coming up I was like, 'OK, spin lob - David Robinson. Get the knees up - Rony Seikaly. 'Bow people in the face and look mean - Patrick Ewing. Then I just added a little of my own."
Like his signature drop-step spin move. It's back.
"You always take what the defense gives you, but I couldn't always do that last year," he said. "I've got a lot of young, energetic, new-millennium trainers here, and they're really into their craft."
O'Neal said his problem was major.
"A muscle in my (rear) wasn't firing," he explained. "So they left me for dead. 'He's old. He don't have it anymore.' Now I'm doing things I couldn't do last year because my (rear) wasn't firing."
Makes sense. O'Neal without his gluteus muscles is like Allen Iverson without his crossover, Tim Duncan without his bank shot, Rasheed Wallace without his rants.
O'Neal is averaging 17.4 points and nine rebounds a game.
But since telling management, "If you want me to be Shaq, let me be Shaq," he has averaged 22.8 points and 10 rebounds over the past 10 games.
Still, teams have continued to guard him one-on-one in the vast majority of his low-post possessions, according to a breakdown on Synergy Technology's Web-based scouting service.
"That's because of the age factor," O'Neal said. "And once something is out there, it's out there. Last year, I didn't have all these moves, and they thought, 'Shaq's old. He ain't got no moves. We're not going to double him.'
"You can't do that. And if they do double, I play smart, do what I do and get everybody involved.
"Now that I'm hitting free throws, I have confidence to go to an array of moves.
"People that like to do mathematics can tell you if a guy shoots (58) percent, he isn't being doubled, he's shooting well from the line and he's a great passer; it's a no-brainer. Give it to him."
Now, O'Neal believes the Suns finally are beginning to hit their stride as a team, finding a balance between pushing the ball and pounding it inside.
"The last 10 years I've been there (won a championship) four times," he said. "Mr. (Tim) Duncan has been there four times, and we play a similar style. I've always learned that if you live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot - a la Dallas when I was in Miami and we were in the Finals. They were smoking in the first two games, but we won the series."
And O'Neal joked that Suns fans still haven't seen everything in his bag of tricks.
"I'm working on my Steve Smith," he said of the former NBA star's signature move. "He would hesitate, move his head like he's going that way and then spin this way.
"Yeah, I'm bringing that out."