duncan228
06-26-2009, 12:13 AM
O'Neal achieves relevance (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/ONeal_achieves_relevance.html)
Mike Monroe
What should we now call Shaquille O'Neal now that The Big Cactus has left the desert?
The Big Rocker?
The Cavaliers play within sight of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, filled with aging superstars still performing past their primes.
The Big Partner?
Shaq always has been part of a potent tandem, teamed in the past with Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Steve Nash before joining LeBron James in a blockbuster draft day trade on Thursday.
What O'Neal really has become is the NBA's Big Headline.
No matter what is happening in the league, O'Neal always finds a way to become part of the story.
A draft night with a player pool some experts believe is as thin as any in the past two decades wasn't hard to marginalize, but the O'Neal deal rendered Thursday night's selections nearly irrelevant. Vince Carter, who went from the Nets to the Magic on Thursday, helped overshadow it, but the day belonged to O'Neal.
Nobody, not even James, was happier Thursday than was Shaq. He understood he would be back on the sports cover of the daily newspapers in every NBA city, even Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.
That's relevance.
New Spur Richard Jefferson met the San Antonio media on Wednesday and coalesced his thoughts about going from a lottery team to a championship contender: “You just want to be relevant again.”
Shaq's more than relevant again: He's headed for his sixth Finals. The Cavaliers stumbled in the Eastern finals because Zydrunas Ilgauskas wasn't strong enough or wide enough to prevent Dwight Howard from owning the series.
Even at 37, O'Neal can stand up to Orlando's young Superman.
James wanted O'Neal as a teammate in February. After his stomp-off that followed the Cavs' ouster in Orlando in May, the Cavs had to convince LeBron they would not allow him to embarrass himself again next spring. Trading for O'Neal temporarily quelled his 2010 wanderlust daydreams.
Most years, the Spurs trading for a 20-points-per-game scorer and former U.S. Olympian would have overshadowed anything that happened on draft night.
This year, it was nearly an afterthought on a day that produced the O'Neal and Carter trades.
But Jefferson's presence on the Spurs' roster will have as much impact as O'Neal's will for the Cavs or Carter's for the Magic.
DeJuan Blair, the first of the Spurs' second-round picks Thursday, won't be an impact player, but might make the opening-night roster. Until, and unless, Fabricio Oberto returns, the Spurs have only three legitimate big men. Blair can be a bargain at the end of the bench. So can James Gist, another rugged rebounder taken in last year's second round. He will be back on the team's summer league roster when it is announced next week.
The Spurs took advantage of Milwaukee's need to dump salary, but it put them in luxury tax territory. If second-rounders like Blair, Gist and guard Jack McClinton show they belong, their under-$1 million salaries will add to their value.
Money matters more in the league these days. All three of the major pre-draft trades had one common factor: Championship contenders on one end, money dumps on the other.
The Nets at least got three useful players, and Courtney Lee will be a starter.
The Suns?
In the words of Suns general manager Steve Kerr: “Everyone understands we're a team in transition.”
Kerr just returned from a meeting in New York with Nash, to whom he pitched a contract extension.
Think Nash will want to finish his career with a team in transition?
O'Neal's transition is complete: Once again he's The Big Relevance.
*********************
The article with the Jefferson 'relevant' quote:
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129552
Mike Monroe
What should we now call Shaquille O'Neal now that The Big Cactus has left the desert?
The Big Rocker?
The Cavaliers play within sight of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, filled with aging superstars still performing past their primes.
The Big Partner?
Shaq always has been part of a potent tandem, teamed in the past with Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Steve Nash before joining LeBron James in a blockbuster draft day trade on Thursday.
What O'Neal really has become is the NBA's Big Headline.
No matter what is happening in the league, O'Neal always finds a way to become part of the story.
A draft night with a player pool some experts believe is as thin as any in the past two decades wasn't hard to marginalize, but the O'Neal deal rendered Thursday night's selections nearly irrelevant. Vince Carter, who went from the Nets to the Magic on Thursday, helped overshadow it, but the day belonged to O'Neal.
Nobody, not even James, was happier Thursday than was Shaq. He understood he would be back on the sports cover of the daily newspapers in every NBA city, even Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.
That's relevance.
New Spur Richard Jefferson met the San Antonio media on Wednesday and coalesced his thoughts about going from a lottery team to a championship contender: “You just want to be relevant again.”
Shaq's more than relevant again: He's headed for his sixth Finals. The Cavaliers stumbled in the Eastern finals because Zydrunas Ilgauskas wasn't strong enough or wide enough to prevent Dwight Howard from owning the series.
Even at 37, O'Neal can stand up to Orlando's young Superman.
James wanted O'Neal as a teammate in February. After his stomp-off that followed the Cavs' ouster in Orlando in May, the Cavs had to convince LeBron they would not allow him to embarrass himself again next spring. Trading for O'Neal temporarily quelled his 2010 wanderlust daydreams.
Most years, the Spurs trading for a 20-points-per-game scorer and former U.S. Olympian would have overshadowed anything that happened on draft night.
This year, it was nearly an afterthought on a day that produced the O'Neal and Carter trades.
But Jefferson's presence on the Spurs' roster will have as much impact as O'Neal's will for the Cavs or Carter's for the Magic.
DeJuan Blair, the first of the Spurs' second-round picks Thursday, won't be an impact player, but might make the opening-night roster. Until, and unless, Fabricio Oberto returns, the Spurs have only three legitimate big men. Blair can be a bargain at the end of the bench. So can James Gist, another rugged rebounder taken in last year's second round. He will be back on the team's summer league roster when it is announced next week.
The Spurs took advantage of Milwaukee's need to dump salary, but it put them in luxury tax territory. If second-rounders like Blair, Gist and guard Jack McClinton show they belong, their under-$1 million salaries will add to their value.
Money matters more in the league these days. All three of the major pre-draft trades had one common factor: Championship contenders on one end, money dumps on the other.
The Nets at least got three useful players, and Courtney Lee will be a starter.
The Suns?
In the words of Suns general manager Steve Kerr: “Everyone understands we're a team in transition.”
Kerr just returned from a meeting in New York with Nash, to whom he pitched a contract extension.
Think Nash will want to finish his career with a team in transition?
O'Neal's transition is complete: Once again he's The Big Relevance.
*********************
The article with the Jefferson 'relevant' quote:
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129552