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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Oyson: Shaq wins over Kobe in round one
By Maneul N. Oyson, Jr.
Counter Punch
SHAQUILLE O’Neal told ABC’s Monday Night Football: “If you got a Corvette that runs into a brick wall, you know what’s gonna happen.” Stay out of my lane, Shaq was trying to advice his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Kobe Bryant for their much-hyped confrontation five days later since departing their separate ways from the fabled Lakers team. It was the brick wall (O’Neal) that gave way after incessant ramming by the Corvette (Bryant), who was fishing for fouls and succeeded nevertheless.
O’Neal was sent to the showers after six fouls with 2:15 left in regulation play. He bumped into Bryant who was driving down the lane. LA then took command on Kobe’s free throws, 93-91. But the 7-foot-4 Shaq, who scored 24 points, had the last laugh. Despite his absence in the last seven minutes (including the overtime) the Heat stunned the Staples Center crowd that included several Hollywood celebrities and sports figures for a regular NBA season game that had drawn so much attention.
HIGHLY-CHARGED. The testy relationship between the two former teammates who have displayed no love lost since the break-up of the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty added to the highly-charged encounter. Their initial meeting lived up to its billing as electric and volatile. Because of the pre-game media hype and the boisterous hometown crowd on Christmas Day, the Lakers were slight favorites to take Game 1 this season. It was not to be, however.
Despite Shaq’s exit and Kobe’s season-high 42 points, including four of five 3-pointes in the blistering first quarter, Miami could not be denied as it scored a scary but ego-boosting 104-102 win. In those tense moments Shaq sat on the bench fidgety, watching helplessly, and not being able to help out his team.
But Dwayne Wade and veteran Eddie Jones took up the slack as they scored four points each in the overtime.
LOST TOUCH. Unexplicably, Kobe’s arsenal unusually became silent. Maybe, from too much ramming into that fabled brick wall, he lost his touch. He could not anymore hit a basket, including the tremendous 3-point attempt in their last possession, which just hit the ring and rimmed out as time ran out.
Miami coach Stan Van Gundy placed minimal importance to the game saying that there was no hype concerning the game at all. “The hype was Shaq and Kobe.”
Whatever, it was one of the greatest regular NBA season confrontation in history since the days of the Los Angeles-Boston Celtics feud. Or the one-on-one match-up between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird of the past. It has whetted the appetite of NBA fans the world over for the next three games between the two teams before the season is over. For a backgrounder, the relationship between Shaq and Kobe was not really lovey-dovey playing together with the Los Angeles Lakers for five years and three NBA championships.
TOO SOON. They feuded most of the time, although out of the public eye. The relationship turned acrimonious after the Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA finals last June. Then Lakers coach Phil Jackson declared that he did not want to return if Bryant was still around. Lakers owner Jerry Buss ignored Jackson, owner of nine NBA championships, and sided with the flamboyant Bryant. Shaq learned about it only on the NBA website. He also asked to be traded in the off-season and went to Miami in July in what is considered one of the blockbuster transactions in NBA history.
His teammates, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler, however, were picked up by Los Angeles in the multi-trade. Odom scored 24 points against Miami on Christmas Day. It is still halfway through the NBA season before Miami can show its real bite despite having the best record in the East, at 22-7. The Lakers are still struggling in the NBA Pacific-West with a so-so 14-12 clip. In fact, it is still too soon to forecast how the entire NBA set up will wind up till after the next All-Star Game in Denver in February.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT. Thank you, Felix Tiukinhoy Jr., Pepe and Joann Serafin, Shannette Oyson, and Tessie G. Cuenco for the sincere thoughts.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I don’t have a hatchet. We just want to come in here and win.” – Shaquille O’Neal, when asked if he had buried the hatchet with former teammate Kobe Bryant
(e-mail: mno@sunstar.com.ph)
(December 28, 2004 issue)
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