Salty Shaq

Old man ball. We all know it well. Personally, even.

When dudes get older, the clutching, grabbing and bumping become synonymous with defense. Though rarely pretty, old man basketball can be very effective. The whole gritty veteran thing.

Charles Oakley is the patron saint of old man basketball.

And Shaq is a recent disciple.

Okay, maybe he has been playing his monster version of old man basketball for a few years now. This season, however, Shaq seems to be catching on to the potential for mastery of old man basketball's highest incarnation: The Enforcer. True, by simply being Shaq he has always been one of the most intimidating players of his generation. But by temprament, Shaq has generally took care not to lay the full wood on guys. He is a sorta a gentle giant-minus those jawing breaking spin-move, elbow clear-out turnaround and-one dunks.

Now that the Daddy has lost his quick spin, he has turned to a more brutish game. Look out.




He bumped poor Rodney Stuckey to the Earth. Here's his explanation: "The laws of physics say that a body in motion stays in motion. So if you have two objects meet in the air, the smaller object is going to fall much harder. I've never been the type of player to take anybody out, so I obviously went to the ball. The little guy ran into a brick wall."

Getting kicked out was not on Shaq's agenda. The intention is to bang people within the rules of the game, ideally without fouling. When T-Mac shoved Steve Nash down in last week's hubbub, Shaq pushed McGrady and then every other Rocket 7-10 feet from where they were standing--all without getting suspended. McGrady, went flying but always ahd control of his balance. Later McGrady talked about the Shaq encounter of the worst kind: "The big fella pushed the heck out of me." Oak would be proud.

As has been the case his entire life, his size and strength are to his great advantage. Paired with Shaq's coordination and body control, he is ideally suited to throw his weight around such that every player on the opposing name has literally felt his presence. To say the least, playing the Suns is no longer fun and run.

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Listened to Portland comeback on Minny last night up at the Hawk. Watched the Wolves lose yet another lead against Denver tonight. Really heart breaking. Miller was in down the stretch both games. Jefferson got a decent number of chances. But Foye and McCants are so not ready for prime time. Ryan Gomes might just be Sam Mitchell Mach II, but that doesn't necessarily help you win games. Get Kevin Love in the frickin game.

As for Portland, for a team that has been down two starters and faced with a brutal opening schedule, the young fellas are playing brilliantly. After Oden's injury and three tough early loses to the Lakers, Suns and Jazz, the team rebounded with Brandon's 30 ft game winner over the Rockets, and a 3-1 road swing. Rudy Fernadez is ridiculous (nice pick up HP). LaMarcus has become a force. Joel and Outlaw are doing theirs things. Best of all, Mr. Oden is back on the court kicking ass. Watch him come January-February. Great stuff ahead.


Paul Pierce rules this place of education.