From ESPN: EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Shaq-Yao II might not come off as scheduled. Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal is listed as questionable for Tuesday night's game against Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets at Staples Center because of a sore left knee. O'Neal sat out Sunday night's 117-110 loss to the New York Knicks and didn't practice Monday. He is also bothered by soreness in his right big toe. "It will be a game-time decision,'' Lakers spokesman John Black said. Kobe Bryant also sat out practice Monday, but is listed as probable for the game against Houston. O'Neal said he wasn't close to being 100 percent. "I want to win the whole thing, not just win games,'' he said. "I want to get right before I come back.'' The three-time defending NBA champion Lakers are 23-15 with O'Neal this season and 3-10 without him. They have a busy week -- after facing the Rockets, they play Wednesday night at Utah; Friday night at home against Portland, and Sunday night at home against Seattle. Averaging 25.9 points and 10.6 rebounds, O'Neal underwent surgery on his arthritic right big toe Sept. 11 and missed the season's first 12 games, with the Lakers going 3-9. One of those losses was a 93-89 setback to the Rockets at Staples Center on Nov. 17. Yao shot 9-of-9 in scoring 20 points -- by far his best NBA game to that stage. The Rockets also won a 108-104 overtime decision over the Lakers in Houston on Jan. 17 when O'Neal and Yao faced off for the first time. O'Neal won the individual battle with 31 points and 13 rebounds to 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for Yao, but the Rockets won the game. The Rockets (27-24) enter this game with a one-game lead over the Lakers (26-25) for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth. The Lakers won seven straight before losing to San Antonio 103-95 on Friday night and then to the Knicks. O'Neal had 21 points and six blocked shots but only five rebounds while playing 40 minutes against the Spurs. The following day, he said: "I'm doing bad. I'm hurting.'' A team physician prescribed Indocin, an anti-inflammatory, for O'Neal last Thursday. Bryant, who scored 40 points in the loss to the Knicks, complained afterward about soreness in his right knee. He has scored 40 or more points in five consecutive games to tie Elgin Baylor's franchise record and 35 or more in nine straight.
while i want us to kick a full strength LAL team's butt, i will happily take either of them not playing. who cares if we don't see shaq/yao II if we move an extra game in front of the lakers (this would actually be a 2 game differential). i actually doubt that either of them will miss the game. in the "big picture" (ie making the playoffs) this is too important a game for both clubs... and shaq wants to mend his ego after loosing the first round. would be way cool to be 3-0 v the lakers.
Even with both Shaq and Kobe out, theres a good chance we won't win. We couldn't be the Hawks, Cavs (which are like 10-42), Warriors or Knicks. I don't see us blowing out a Laker team without Shaq and Kobe. I guess just the past experiences we have had with below .500 teams.
actually its better that both of them play..... at least we wun play down to the lowly lakers (without those 2).....
I hope and pray that they both play, and are in good form. I don't really enjoy hollow victories...If you're gonna dance with the big boys, you gotta find out whether you can keep up at full speed...I would rather we face them at their best, give a good account of ourselves, and lose, than 'steal' a win from them without their two cornerstones...
Actually, for this game, I will take a hollow victory. If we win this game it insures that we have the tie-break against LA if there is a knot at the 8th seed (or any other seed). That could be important as the season progresses.
I agree. But if it comes down at the end of the season to a 1/2 game that we're out of the playoffs, then I say steal a win anyway you can.
We already knew we could beat them at full speed. What we need now is a playoff spot. So I'll take a win anyway we can. But as many people has pointed out, Lakers without the two big guns might turn out to be more dangerous to this bunch of Rockets.
Sorry to be the negative one, but Laker w/o Shaq and Kobe is a bad team. Guess what does Houston do when they meet a bad team? They fold. I'm not looking forward to this game at all.
Without Kobe and Shaq, the Lakers are the worst team in the NBA. Even the bad teams have up and coming stars or young talent that can have their great nights. But the Lakers have none of that, without Shaq or Kobe. I don't mind a hollow victory up at this point. A win's a win, and I'll gladly take it. Given the impression about Shaq and Kobe's injuries, if they were to miss or play sub par and lose a few games this week, this could be a good week for the Rockets if they were to win the majority of their games. Also without Shaq atleast, Yao Ming shouldn't be as exhausted in the Phoenix game which will be a very important game as well, considering it'll be a back to back night games. Assuming things go right, the Rockets could very well go back to being a few games ahead of the Lakers, given their injury's and tough schedule this week. I can only hope the Rockets will take advantage of such a situation, and play good, smart ball.
Somaki Walker is dropping a season high Derek Fisher is putting a career high Robert Horry grabbing 30 rebounds and 8 blocks. Rick Fox shooting 10/10 from 3 pt line.
Sad part is that those guys play harder than ours. If Shaq and Kobe dont play, we'll probably wont take those other guys seriously, and then we'll lose the game.
Good news to hear as a Rockets fan, but it is not the cooooolest thing when 2 All-Stars sit out. But this is a great way for the Rockets to extend the lead to take a spot in the playoffs.
From LA times -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...1,7640348.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba J.A. ADANDE His Obligation Is Painfully Obvious J.A. Adande February 18, 2003 Shaquille O'Neal's two-word response when the Times' Tim Brown asked him if he would play against Houston tonight — "Probably not" — demands a one-word reply: unacceptable. By waiting to have surgery on his toe, he put the Lakers into this unexpected predicament, scrambling just to get into the playoffs. He's obligated to do whatever he can to get them out of it. I didn't hammer him for delaying his surgery because he had earned some time off after bringing three consecutive championships to the city. Three parades (and one replaced cop car) ought to buy you something, but now the credit's used up. He has forfeited any more breaks. He left his teammates hanging at the start of the season, exposed all of their weaknesses. Just when they're regaining their form, showing that they contributed to those championships too, he appears ready to make them do it alone. We've already seen they can't do it this season, no matter how many points Kobe Bryant scores. When they lost to New York on Sunday, they dropped to 3-10 without O'Neal. His teammates would be wise to cue up an old Stevie Wonder song and hit play: "When the winter came, you went further south/ Parting from love's nest, leaving me in doubt/ Where are you when I need you, like right now?" He has already resumed taking anti-inflammatory medicine to alleviate the pain in his sore left knee and surgically repaired right big toe, and that means more days of queasy intestines and possible long-term damage to his kidneys. If he's willing to gulp those Indocin pills, then he might as well swallow some pride and step onto the court when he doesn't have his full mobility. Maybe he doesn't want to look bad by having Yao Ming swat a few more of his shots. Perhaps he doesn't want to hear any more boos like the ones he heard during the San Antonio game Friday night, when the too-short arms on the too-old body of Kevin Willis snatched rebounds away from him. Tough. There's no choice. Unless the Laker medical staff says there's absolutely no way O'Neal can play, he needs to be out there. Even if he can't do any better than the five rebounds he grabbed in 40 minutes Friday, or the nine-for-19 shooting, the Lakers need him on the court. His presence alone will improve the quality of Bryant's life. With O'Neal sitting out against the Knicks, Bryant had trouble getting easy shots in the lane. Knick center Kurt Thomas kept sneaking over to help in case Bryant got by his defender. You think Thomas would have abandoned O'Neal to help on Bryant? O'Neal in the low post would also create more open shots for Derek Fisher, who is shooting 57% this month and is coming off a 21-point game Sunday. Bryant has played in every game this season, despite his own assortment of knee problems. And he has done all the heavy lifting the last two weeks. Folks in the Laker camp believe that one of the reasons O'Neal hasn't grumbled about Bryant's recent free-shooting ways was that O'Neal appreciated the burden being lifted from his shoulders. O'Neal never has played a full season and last played in as many as 79 games in 1999-2000. When O'Neal missed games in recent years the usual comment was, "If this were a playoff game, he would play." Well, this is a playoff game. Right here. Not a statement game, but an absolute must-win. The Rockets hold the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot, with a one-game lead over the Lakers. If the Lakers win tonight, they're all even with 30 games to play. A fresh start after their dismal first half of the season, with a chance to control their own fate by outplaying the Rockets down the stretch, is more good fortune than the Lakers have earned. But if the Rockets win, not only do they drop the Lakers two games behind but they clinch the season series and the first tiebreaker with the Lakers. Phil Jackson attempted to chide O'Neal by suggesting if Shaq sat out this game, it would be because he had "Ming-itis". If questioning his manhood doesn't work, what about appealing to Shaq's love of marketing? TNT has been hyping the Shaq-Yao rematch since All-Star weekend. Think of the disappointment for the TNT announcers who flew all the way out here just to get an extended look at Slava Medvedenko. (And can't you just see the executives at Turner asking themselves, "We pulled another showing of 'Krull' for this?") O'Neal recently explained his surgery timetable this way: "Since I suffered the injury on company time, why shouldn't I also be able to get surgery and do recovery on company time?" That's the same type of logic employed by Jeff Spicoli when he had a pizza delivered to his classroom in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High": "I've been thinking about this, Mr. Hand: If I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time? Certainly there's nothing wrong with a little pizza on our time." It didn't work for Spicoli, who had to share his pizza with the whole class. And O'Neal's argument can now be used against him. He's out of sick days. Time to get to work. J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com. If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives. Click here for article licensing and reprint options -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times
Actually I am wondering why a lot of guys are so rough at Shaq. They seems not believe that he does have a physical problem. Imagine you were in Shaq's shoes (too large, of course), why do you have to risk your athletic life?
If you're paid as much as Shaq, you would get heat for your every absent day too. Plus Shaq seemed to have a reputation of being not exactly hard-working. Similar situation to Vince Carter I guess.
I guess three championships doesn't earn as much credit as it used to. MJ got a 1.5 year break and Shaq can't even have half a season.
