Kori Ellis
03-15-2005, 04:06 AM
Knicks' Rose Embraces a Role, and O'Neal
By HOWARD BECK
Published: March 15, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/sports/basketball/15knicks.html
REENBURGH, N.Y., March 14 - Doubt Malik Rose's sanity, if you must. Others certainly have. Many more undoubtedly will by the end of this week, after the height-deficient Rose has gone head-to-ribs with Shaquille O'Neal, and at his request.
As an undersized big man - an oxymoron, if ever there was one - it is what you do to make it in the N.B.A. So several years ago, as a young fringe player with the San Antonio Spurs, Rose approached his coach, Gregg Popovich, and volunteered for Shaq duty.
That moment of inspiration (or pure foolishness) turned into a six-year vocation. Rose became the Spurs' designated O'Neal defender off the bench every time the Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers met, including five playoff series between 1999 and 2004.
"When I first guarded Shaq, it was when I was trying to keep a job," recalled Rose, who was obtained by the Knicks last month. "So I just ran out there and tried to do whatever."
The Knicks can only hope that the modest success Rose enjoyed will give them an edge against O'Neal and his new team, the Miami Heat. The Knicks and the Heat play Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden and again Saturday in South Florida.
It is a critical stretch for the Knicks (26-35), whose playoff hopes hinge on every game. If O'Neal runs wild through the Knicks' interior this week, he might trample their postseason dreams.
So Coach Herb Williams's strategy against O'Neal is simple. "We're going to use everybody we have," he said.
Mike Sweetney, the Knicks' stout young center, will guard O'Neal to start the game, allowing Kurt Thomas to avoid early foul trouble. After Sweetney, the Knicks will send a chorus line of relative runts at O'Neal, who is 7 feet 1 inch and 330 pounds. Having traded 6-10 Nazr Mohammed for Rose, the Knicks have a rotation littered with big men measuring 6-7 to 6-9, none heavier than 270 pounds (Sweetney).
Williams promises to send double-team help, as the Knicks did in a 116-110 overtime loss to Miami on Feb. 9. They held O'Neal to 16 points, only to get buried by guard Dwyane Wade, who scored 10 of his 30 points in overtime.
But any hope of beating Miami begins and ends with defending O'Neal, and the Knicks now have a new option.
In San Antonio, Rose had an unofficial nickname - Generously Listed. He is probably 6-5, but as countless articles noted, he was generously listed at 6-7 in his official biography.
When Rose's turn against O'Neal comes, he will embrace it with a peculiar enthusiasm.
"Hell, yeah," Rose said, smiling. "Twice in a week."
Rose is looking for redemption. He played perhaps his worst game as a Knick in Sunday's loss to Seattle, committing a late offensive foul and missing a critical free throw.
"Every time I used to play against Shaq, win or lose, I looked at it as I'm going up against the most dominant post player in the game," Rose said. "If I make him miss a shot or I get a rebound on him, I feel that much better. So it kind of boosts my confidence, and I could use a little bit of that right now."
Only a handful of players Rose's height have had success against O'Neal.
Danny Fortson, rotund and powerful, has sometimes flustered O'Neal with his aggression. Charles Barkley, perhaps the greatest 6-6 power player in N.B.A. history, used strength and a low center of gravity.
Rose has the low center of gravity, but a modest supply of muscle. Yet he gained a loyal following in San Antonio for his hustle and smart play, and his willingness to sacrifice his well-being.
"I used to always call him the most versatile defender in Spurs history," Seattle's Antonio Daniels, Rose's former Spurs teammate, said. "One day he would guard Shaq, and the next day we would play in Orlando and he would guard Tracy McGrady."
But it was O'Neal who made Rose a hero to Spurs fans. Daniels said Rose succeeded by using his quickness and his shrewdness, bumping O'Neal from behind on one possession, playing off him on the next.
"It was like he was always feeling for Malik and could never find him," Daniels said.
Whenever possible, Rose simply pinned himself to O'Neal.
"I'm like a book bag on him," Rose said. "I hang on his back all night long."
His low moment against O'Neal came in the 2001 Western Conference finals, a four-games-to-none Lakers sweep.
"I would do all my little tricks on him and he wasn't having it," Rose said. "I was helpless. He wouldn't let me get any offensive rebounds, he wouldn't let me push him out. That was a nightmare."
The only one unimpressed with Rose's sturdy defense on Shaq is Shaq.
"He does what everybody else does," O'Neal said. "Grab and foul and hope that the ref doesn't call it."
By HOWARD BECK
Published: March 15, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/sports/basketball/15knicks.html
REENBURGH, N.Y., March 14 - Doubt Malik Rose's sanity, if you must. Others certainly have. Many more undoubtedly will by the end of this week, after the height-deficient Rose has gone head-to-ribs with Shaquille O'Neal, and at his request.
As an undersized big man - an oxymoron, if ever there was one - it is what you do to make it in the N.B.A. So several years ago, as a young fringe player with the San Antonio Spurs, Rose approached his coach, Gregg Popovich, and volunteered for Shaq duty.
That moment of inspiration (or pure foolishness) turned into a six-year vocation. Rose became the Spurs' designated O'Neal defender off the bench every time the Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers met, including five playoff series between 1999 and 2004.
"When I first guarded Shaq, it was when I was trying to keep a job," recalled Rose, who was obtained by the Knicks last month. "So I just ran out there and tried to do whatever."
The Knicks can only hope that the modest success Rose enjoyed will give them an edge against O'Neal and his new team, the Miami Heat. The Knicks and the Heat play Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden and again Saturday in South Florida.
It is a critical stretch for the Knicks (26-35), whose playoff hopes hinge on every game. If O'Neal runs wild through the Knicks' interior this week, he might trample their postseason dreams.
So Coach Herb Williams's strategy against O'Neal is simple. "We're going to use everybody we have," he said.
Mike Sweetney, the Knicks' stout young center, will guard O'Neal to start the game, allowing Kurt Thomas to avoid early foul trouble. After Sweetney, the Knicks will send a chorus line of relative runts at O'Neal, who is 7 feet 1 inch and 330 pounds. Having traded 6-10 Nazr Mohammed for Rose, the Knicks have a rotation littered with big men measuring 6-7 to 6-9, none heavier than 270 pounds (Sweetney).
Williams promises to send double-team help, as the Knicks did in a 116-110 overtime loss to Miami on Feb. 9. They held O'Neal to 16 points, only to get buried by guard Dwyane Wade, who scored 10 of his 30 points in overtime.
But any hope of beating Miami begins and ends with defending O'Neal, and the Knicks now have a new option.
In San Antonio, Rose had an unofficial nickname - Generously Listed. He is probably 6-5, but as countless articles noted, he was generously listed at 6-7 in his official biography.
When Rose's turn against O'Neal comes, he will embrace it with a peculiar enthusiasm.
"Hell, yeah," Rose said, smiling. "Twice in a week."
Rose is looking for redemption. He played perhaps his worst game as a Knick in Sunday's loss to Seattle, committing a late offensive foul and missing a critical free throw.
"Every time I used to play against Shaq, win or lose, I looked at it as I'm going up against the most dominant post player in the game," Rose said. "If I make him miss a shot or I get a rebound on him, I feel that much better. So it kind of boosts my confidence, and I could use a little bit of that right now."
Only a handful of players Rose's height have had success against O'Neal.
Danny Fortson, rotund and powerful, has sometimes flustered O'Neal with his aggression. Charles Barkley, perhaps the greatest 6-6 power player in N.B.A. history, used strength and a low center of gravity.
Rose has the low center of gravity, but a modest supply of muscle. Yet he gained a loyal following in San Antonio for his hustle and smart play, and his willingness to sacrifice his well-being.
"I used to always call him the most versatile defender in Spurs history," Seattle's Antonio Daniels, Rose's former Spurs teammate, said. "One day he would guard Shaq, and the next day we would play in Orlando and he would guard Tracy McGrady."
But it was O'Neal who made Rose a hero to Spurs fans. Daniels said Rose succeeded by using his quickness and his shrewdness, bumping O'Neal from behind on one possession, playing off him on the next.
"It was like he was always feeling for Malik and could never find him," Daniels said.
Whenever possible, Rose simply pinned himself to O'Neal.
"I'm like a book bag on him," Rose said. "I hang on his back all night long."
His low moment against O'Neal came in the 2001 Western Conference finals, a four-games-to-none Lakers sweep.
"I would do all my little tricks on him and he wasn't having it," Rose said. "I was helpless. He wouldn't let me get any offensive rebounds, he wouldn't let me push him out. That was a nightmare."
The only one unimpressed with Rose's sturdy defense on Shaq is Shaq.
"He does what everybody else does," O'Neal said. "Grab and foul and hope that the ref doesn't call it."