October 24, 2008 – Dr. Dime
Shaquille O’Neal has been called “The Big…” everything from Aristotle to Shaqtus. Well it’s time for a new name I guess. How about “The Big Sabbatical”? As I was doing my regular web surfing on NBA issues this afternoon I came across a rather interesting update on the Phoenix Suns in the East Valley Tribune. What caught my attention were comments from Terry Porter regarding their planned usage for Shaquille O’Neal during the regular season on back to back game nights. Here is what Coach Porter’s thoughts were on the matter:
“We want to be proactive in giving him enough minutes to stay sharp, but looking at the big picture and giving him ample time to get rest.
“He might go 28-30 minutes (in the first or second game of a back-to-back) and then the second night he might be limited or not play.”
In an era where superstars are coddled and even your average player makes more money and has more power than a franchise’s Head Coach, what kind of message is Porter sending to the youth of the Phoenix Suns? If you’re a big star you don’t have to play all of the games, even if you’re healthy. More importantly Shaq has typically been the type of player that needs to be pushed to stay in shape, and ‘stay sharp’ as Porter puts it. It’s a risky move to publicly announce your intentions to let the big fella rest on back to backs in the middle of the NBA regular season. Especially since the Western Conference is projected to be even more competitive than last year in efforts to make the playoffs. Every win and every loss could be so crucial in your positioning or even your playoff livelihood.
Cuzoogle had a very entertaining post today about Bizarro World NBA Predictions. Since Shaq is such a big fan of Superman and even likens himself to the Superhero, he should realize very quickly that Terry Porter’s comments are sort of like a “Bizarro Pat Riley”. There is no way Pat Riley would let a healthy player ‘rest’ or ‘skip practice’ or anything of the sort. Regardless of his star power.
Hey Terry Porter, i’m pretty sure the real Pat Riley has NBA Championships as a Coach! Can you figure out what that means for you as the “Bizarro Pat Riley?”
