O'Neal plays like his latest nickname By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle By the time Shaquille O'Neal was finished embarrassing the Rockets on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, he decided the latest title he had given himself was no longer suitable. Forget about the nickname "MD." No longer was he simply the "Most Dominant" player in the league. His 39-point performance prompted him to revise his self-proclaimed title. Now, O'Neal wants to be known as the "MDE" -- Most Dominant Ever. "Everyone knows what type of player I am," O'Neal said. "Even if you have one good game against me, it won't take me off my throne. I've been doing this for 10 years. I took it away from the king (Hakeem Olajuwon) a couple of years ago when he retired, so now it's my turn. Guys are going to have to go against me strong for a couple of years before I give away the `MDE' title." No one even challenged the title Wednesday night at the Compaq Center as O'Neal helped lead the Lakers to a 96-93 victory. It was a vast change from the first Shaq vs. Yao match-up. Yao Ming was rendered helpless every time he touched the ball and each time he tried to defend O'Neal. While Yao picked up 10 rebounds, he scored only six points, hitting a mere 3 of-13 shots. "He's a guy that likes to take a lot of jumpers," O'Neal said. "I tried to disrupt his shot. He wasn't really on his game tonight." Yao was off his game mostly because O'Neal forced the issue. O'Neal switched up both his offensive and defensive moves. Nothing was what Yao expected. "I think he knows how to attack me," Yao said. "I need to learn how to defend him better. "He backed me down slowly. Last time he tried to go at the basket a lot quicker. I couldn't use a lot of moves to stop him. When he uses his strength against me, it's really tough." Instead of trying to shoot over Yao, O'Neal pushed his weight around, dunking a number of times while Yao stood watching. "He's eight-feet tall," O'Neal said. "You can't go over him, so you have to go around him." Even though Lakers coach Phil Jackson was far from happy with O'Neal's total of five rebounds, he was more than pleased with the adjustments O'Neal made in the middle. Jackson said O'Neal was focused from the start of the game. "A lot of it was that he didn't know what he could do against Yao," said Jackson of the first time O'Neal faced Yao. "The first time, Yao got him pinned down there on the baseline and was able to do some things. This time, Shaq had learned. He was able to spin out of there and not let those things happen. "On offense, he was able to get the ball in deep and turn. Yao Ming ate that ball a couple of times." Now, maybe the comparisons that sprouted from the first contest between the two -- when Yao blocked six shots, including O'Neal's first three attempts -- will start to die down. Yao will continue to learn from his rookie season, and O'Neal will continue being the "MDE," or whatever title he chooses next week.
Is there any argument that Phil Jackson is right up there with Pat Riley and Jerry Sloan in terms of coaches that are utterly classless? Doesn't matter how many rings they give you while you ride M.J.'s glory. You'd never hear something like this spoken by Rudy towards opposing players.
Yep. Right now Shaq is the master. Yao is the grasshopper. Yao needs to get stronger (and more aggressive). Else he'll get schooled by Shaq everytime they meet.
I don't see anything wrong with what Shaq or Phil said because their statements are true. Shaq dominated Yao. That's a fact. It's like when Hakeem dominated Shaq, but times have changed, Shaq has become the main big man in the game and Yao is the rookie learning how to play in the NBA. No one can argue the facts.
he's just another phoney arrogant buddhist new age sheet head. its like all that meditation enlarges his ego and makes him coarse, arrogant, callous...basically he sounds like a sorry sonofabitch.
I still give Yao one more season to get better at defending Shaq. He needs to bulk up which will happen as he gets older. Yao will someday be the next MDE.
There is no doubt -- and never should've been any -- that Shaq is the most dominant center in the game. I found it interesting reading that article there were even comparisons between Yao and O'Neal. It's unfair to Yao. With that said, Yao is the second best center in the NBA, but it's amazing how wide the gap is between the best center -- Shaq -- and second best.
hmm shaq against wilt? shaq agianst russel? shaq against hakeem? just to name a few. keep telling yourself lies shaq maybe you will even believe your own hype. oh and when you can handle the ball like hakeem you had better wake up cuz you are only dreaming.
thats petty jealousy. Laker fans who disguse themselves as Rocket fans and that awesome ability they all must have in order to be sly and not give oneself away..that makes me jealous. I mean c'mon, they're so incognito!
I think Shaq got away with murder on both ends of the floor, bodies flying all over the place around him. It was hopeless. The officiating, now that is another story and another thread...
I hope Yao Ming can develop as quickly as possible and dominate Shaq while Shaq's still playing ball. I don't want Ming to get the MD title by default. Yes I am that confident with you, Ming.
SAC "Queens", Bibby as a Cub Scout, MDE....the list goes on... ego n, 1. the individual as aware of himself; the self 2. conceit
IMO this game was similiar to the rockets v magic final series.. Hakeem was schooling Shaq.. Shaqs now schooling Ming (from pure grunt and stupidity)... and Ming will be schooling everyone else in around 2 years..
We had several years of abusing Ewing. It was good fun. Now we are getting it handed to us. He was unstoppable. He made Cato look like a dud. The one good thing is that nobody fouled out. We have two big men that can go 48 minutes against Shaq and live to tell about it.
