Thursday, June 06, 2002
O'Neal proves mountainous obstacle
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The New Jersey Nets found out what the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers discovered in the last two NBA Finals — Shaquille O'Neal is virtually unstoppable when it's title time for the Lakers.
Dominating the middle against overmatched defenders, O'Neal had 36 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks Wednesday night in a 98-94 opening victory by the two-time defending champions.
Los Angeles' other superstar, Kobe Bryant, scored 22 points and didn't have a big game. The way O'Neal played, he didn't have to.
“You know Shaq, he gets pumped up,” Bryant said. “He starts to break out and get this going. Especially in the finals, he likes to turn it up.”
O'Neal, the MVP of the last two NBA Finals, is one imposing obstacle at 7-foot-1 and about 345 pounds.
“It's always a shock to have to play against Shaquille, especially when they weren't providing much help for Todd MacCulloch,” Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. “So we made an extra effort to got inside on them early and often.”
The Nets made adjustments after falling behind 29-14 in the first 15 minutes, trying to close passing lanes to O'Neal.
Jackson said there is no way to stop O'Neal when he is camped near the basket.
“I thought he was fatigued a little bit, missed a couple of shots that he normally would make,” Jackson said. “But other than that, he had his way inside.”
New Jersey coach Byron Scott played with O'Neal during the 1996-97 season.
“When he wants to go to the basket, there's no one in this league that's been able to stop him yet,” he said. “And there won't be anybody in this league for a long time.”
O'Neal has even become a relatively proficient free throw shooter, an area that had been his one glaring weakness.
He went 5-for-8 from the line over the final 6:12 as defenders committed several intentional fouls against him. He finished 12-of-21 from the line.
With the Lakers up by eight late in the game and the Nets needing to score quickly, Jackson told O'Neal during a timeout, “If they score, take the ball out of bounds so they won't foul you immediately.
“He said, "Those days are gone. I'm comfortable now, going to the line and making those foul shots at the end.”'
O'Neal believes it's unwise to deliberately foul him now because “either I'm going to get one point, two points or three points.”
He grinned and added, “I'm a prolific scorer.”
Since the Lakers and Nets played just twice during the regular season, O'Neal said the opener was “just sort of a feel 'em out” game.
“We figured out what was needed and won by five points,” he said. “I'm sure the second game will be more interesting.”
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O'Neal proves mountainous obstacle