All posts by Matt Hubert

NBA

Revisiting the Lakers’ decision to trade Shaquille O’Neal

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On a night when Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are preparing to meet for the first time as division rivals, it’s hard to believe that it’s been just four years since one of Hollywood’s most tumultuous relationships (the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant) ended in divorce.

After eight years, more than 400 wins and 3 NBA championships together, the Shaq and Kobe feud finally reached its breaking point during the summer of 2004 and O’Neal was traded to Miami for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a first round draft choice.

In the immediate aftermath of the trade, many observers (myself included) and experts (Bill Simmons’ take) crushed the Lakers for making this move, and they appeared to be justified.

2004-05, the first season after the trade:

  • The Lakers finished 34-48 and out of the playoffs for the first time since 1994 when O’Neal was still in Orlando and Bryant was still a sophomore in high school.

  • The Heat finished 59-23, good enough for first place in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost in seven games to the Detroit Pistons.

2005 off-season

  • The Lakers drafted center Andrew Bynum, a 17-year old, 7-foot project straight out of high school with the 10th overall pick, the team’s first lottery selection in more than a decade.

  • The Lakers drafted forward Ronny Turiaf from Gonzaga in the second round with the 37th overall pick.

  • The Lakers sent Caron Butler, who was acquired in the O’Neal deal, along with Chucky Atkins to Washington for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit.

2005-06, the second season after the trade:

  • The team improved to 45-37, which was good for a seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They then lost to Phoenix in seven games in the first round.

  • Miami went 52-30, a slight drop-off from the previous year, but they made everyone forget about their second place Eastern Conference regular season finish by avenging their loss against the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and then coming back from an 0-2 series deficit in the NBA Finals to win four straight and the championship against the Dallas Mavericks.

In a “what have you done for me lately?” society, the verdict on the Lakers’ trade of O’Neal was in, and the Lakers were the losers. General Manager Mitch Kupchak was heavily criticized. O’Neal was hoisting another championship trophy, and he was not wearing a Lakers uniform. While most people even didn’t bother weighing in on this trade anymore after O’Neal helped Miami win a championship, the story didn’t end with Miami’s championship.

2006 off-season

  • The Lakers drafted point guard Jordan Farmar from UCLA with the pick acquired from Miami in the O’Neal trade.

2006-07, the third season after the trade:

  • The Lakers finished 42-40, which is once again good for seventh in the West. Again they faced Phoenix in the first round, and again they lost, this time in just five games. Three less regular season wins, two less postseason wins and another first round exit were not welcomed by Lakers fans. Neither was the news that Caron Butler was named to the All-Star team as a member of the Washington Wizards while Kwame Brown played just 41 games and averages 8.4 points and 6.0 rebounds for the year.

  • Because of the Lakers inability to show progress, the regression of the Heat was overlooked. Miami won only two more games than the Lakers, going 44-38, before being swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Chicago Bulls. O’Neal played in only 40 games, averaging a career-low 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

2007 off-season

  • Kobe Bryant demands a trade, then rescinds his demands. This pattern seemingly repeats a dozen times and rumors of Bryant’s imminent departure continued to swirl even after the 2007-08 season began.

  • The Lakers signed Derek Fisher, one of the mainstays from their championship seasons earlier in the decade, and someone to bring leadership into the locker room.

2007-08, the fourth season after the trade:

  • The Lakers exceeded everyone’s expectations by starting the season strong. They defeated the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 13 to improve to 25-11, but center Andrew Bynum, who was having an all-star caliber year injured his knee in the win. The Lakers went just 3-5 in their first eight games after losing Bynum, but then they acquired 2006 All-Star Pau Gasol in a deal that sent Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol and two future first round picks to Memphis. Since they made the deal, the Lakers are 8-1, currently one game back of Phoenix and New Orleans atop the Western Conference standings.

  • Miami began the season 0-5, and things haven’t gotten much better. The Heat have lost 24 of their last 25 for a league worst record of 9-42. Aware that the playoffs were not in the cards this season and that their roster was not getting any younger, Miami traded O’Neal to Phoenix for four-time All-Star forward Shawn Marion and fifth-year guard Marcus Banks.

The fourth season is not yet complete. The Lakers are in the middle of a playoff push that currently has the top nine teams in the West separated by just five games. Adding to their difficulties, Bryant is attempting to play out the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his finger after doctors advised him to have surgery that would keep him out for six weeks. The Lakers are also waiting on the returns of injured players Bynum, which likely will not happen until late March, and Trevor Ariza, whom they acquired earlier this year by sending Brian Cook and Maurice Evans to Orlando.

Still, the Lakers are being picked by some to represent the West in the NBA Finals this season. Miami’s postseason highlight will be the NBA Draft Lottery. It’s taken four years—and patience is not something Lakers fans are known for—but the Lakers and Mitch Kupchak finally can make a legitimate argument that they got the better end of the O’Neal deal.

The trade resulted in just one season out of the playoffs. Most teams would die for that short of a “rebuilding period.” And for their troubles, the Lakers drafted Bynum, who appears to be on his way to becoming one of the best low-post threats in the league.

With the pick from Miami, they also drafted Farmar, who looks to be the Lakers’ point guard of the future.

Odom has led the team in rebounds each season since he’s been in L.A. while scoring between 13 and 15 points per game. And while the decision to deal Caron Butler may have been a mistake, the ability to deal Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol made amends.

Four years later, the trade looks something like this:

  • Los Angeles Lakers acquire: Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom, Pau GasolMiami Heat acquire: 2006 NBA Championship, Shawn Marrion, Marcus Banks

That championship is still hard to argue with. So if you go back to the summer of 2004 and you’re the Heat, I think you still make this deal. But I think the Lakers do it all again too. And when you factor in that only one player on the Lakers will be in his 30s during this year’s postseason—Derek Fisher is 33—this is a team that will contend for a title this year and for the next several years.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

College Basketball

Easter Basketball

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When I looked at the calendar a month or so ago to find the start of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, I was surprised to find that it coincided with the Catholic Church’s Holy Week.

Being a Catholic myself that meant that I wouldn’t spend March 23 simply watching eight games determining the second half of the sweet 16. I’d spend it celebrating Easter, only the biggest day of the year in the church.

Schedule conflictions and religious convictions aside, March 23 seemed like a very early date for Easter to me, so I did some research and found that I was right. Dating back to 1875, March 23 is the earliest date that Easter has been celebrated. And 2008 will mark just the second time it’s happened. Easter also fell on March 23, 1913.

That means it’s been 95 years since Easter came this early! World War I hadn’t even happened yet, let alone March Madness. Back then, the NCAA didn’t have a tournament to crown its champion. In 1913, Navy was voted national champions by the Helms Foundation after posting a 9-0 record—for the entire season. Today it takes six games just to win the NCAA Tournament.

In the past, several Final Fours have been played on the Saturday before Easter with the championship following on Monday. But only twice in the past 30 years have teams played NCAA Tournament games on Easter Sunday.

In 1989, Illinois beat Syracuse 89-86 and Duke defeated Georgetown 85-77 in two regional final games held on Easter.

The most recent games played on Easter also came in the regional finals of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Michigan State edged Kentucky 94-88 in two overtimes and North Carolina defeated Wisconsin 88-82.

With Easter coinciding with second round action in this year’s NCAA Tournament, a record 16 NCAA teams will be competing on Easter. So after church and a search for your Easter basket, basketball won’t be hard to find. Celebrate the holiday with friends and family and the most exciting event in sports.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA

Dunk or Not a Dunk?

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There’s no denying that Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard put on quite a show last night in New Orleans, winning the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. His creativity and freakish leaping ability, especially for a 7-footer made it one of the best all around performances in the history of the competition.

I don’t question that he was the best dunker, but I’m not sure that one of his dunks was actually a dunk at all. It was creative. It was exciting to watch. But Howard’s “Superman” dunk, which came complete with cape and Superman t-shirt, was really more of a throw into the basket than a traditional dunk. His hand was several inches away from making contact with the rim.

Judge for yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in the hysterics of TNT’s Kenny Smith and Magic Johnson, but it looks to me like Howard took off from about one step too far. The resulting play was still incredible to watch, and unlike anything anyone had seen in the dunk contest before, but I still don’t think that makes it a dunk.

Yes, he was above the rim, and yes he threw the ball downward, but it wasn’t like he was throwing it straight down. He was throwing it forward too. My reaction? Great play. But not a dunk. Not really a shot either. I don’t even know what you’d call it. Never seen that done to a basketball before. Howard’s athleticism is amazing and his other dunks made him championship worthy.

Plus, he got ripped off last year for the sticker dunk, so maybe Howard deserved a pass.

I still think he should have had to re-try this one, though. I’m pretty sure he would’ve made it, but this is not an all-time best dunk because if you watch the slow-motion replay, it doesn’t look like a dunk.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA

Friday Notes and Links from the Association

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  • The newest Hall of Fame class will be announced April 7. Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing lead the list of candidates and appear locks to be voted in. Other finalists include Dennis Johnson, Adrian Dantley and Chris Mullin, all of whom were among my 40 finalists for inclusion among the 61 Greatest Players in NBA History.

  • The trade of Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks now has two different snags that may keep it from happening. First, Devean George is refusing to be included. Second, Jerry Stackhouse may have said too much about his team’s plans to circumvent league rules.

  • Kobe Bryant is the latest in a long line of Los Angeles Lakers players to suffer an injury this season. Doctors said Bryant has a torn ligament in his finger. The team is already without Andrew Bynum (knee), Trevor Ariza (foot) and Chris Mihm (heel). Bryant has bowed out of this weekend’s 3-point shootout but is likely to play in the all-star game. He said he wants to put off surgery until after the season and the 2008 Summer Olympics in August. If he can get by with the pain and without causing further damage to his finger, this is a huge relief for the Lakers. Despite being third in the West, L.A. is just 3 games ahead of 9th place Denver in the loaded Western Conference. Any missed time from Bryant could see the Lakers fall out of the playoff race.

  • The rookies/sophomores game is tonight at 9 p.m. In the 8-year history of the game, the rookies have won only twice. The sophomores have won the last five games by an average score of 133-109. Expect that trend to continue this year.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA

The NBA at 61

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Who are the 61 greatest players in NBA history?

Why 61? Well, in celebration of the first 50 years of the National Basketball Association, the NBA named its 50 greatest players of the first 50 years prior to the 1996-97 season. Eleven seasons later, assuming that the one player per year ratio remains the gold standard, that brings us to 61 players for 61 years.

As with any best-of list, there was debate about several names left off the original list of 50. Today the debate is even more difficult. To make matters a little easier, I decided that the 50 players already on the list are safe. Their honor cannot be taken away from them. They’ll always be remembered among the greatest players ever.

So I set out on a quest to add 11 names to the list, making it the greatest 61 players in the 61 year history of the NBA. To make sure this list is not short-changing anyone, I considered current and recently retired players along with past greats who didn’t make the original list.

Active NBA players needed at least four full seasons of NBA experience in order to warrant consideration because that was what Shaquille O’Neal had as the youngest player named to the original top 50 list. That eliminated names like Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Brandon Roy from contention, but the list of qualified candidates remained extensive.

I used basketball-reference.com for the majority of my research and to compile statistical data on the players. In order to find the most deserving candidates I looked primarily at Hall of Fame inductees and NBA All-Star game participants.
After developing an original pool of nearly 75 candidates, I narrowed that list down to 40 finalists comprised of 20 current players and 20 retired players spanning every generation of NBA basketball. The 40 finalists have combined for 248 all-star game appearances.

Categories that I took into consideration included but were not limited to: points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals per game; player efficiency rating, All-NBA team honors; All-Defensive team honors; All-Star game selections; MVP awards and championships won. (Click to download an Excel spreadsheet full of data on the 40 finalists).

Taking all of these factors into consideration, I found this to be an extremely challenging process. It was easy to add players to the list but almost impossible to decide which players to leave off. I went back and forth about the final spots for hours. Every time I thought I had the debate settled, I found a different player who stuck out and the process restarted.

Eventually I settled on a group I was comfortable with, but it wasn’t easy. With only 11 spots up for grabs, the list of names not on the list read’s like a basketball almanac. But in the end, 11 players stood above the rest as newly named members of the basketball’s most elite fraternity, the 61 greatest players in NBA history.

  • Kobe Bryant
    With 10 all-star game appearances, 5 first-team All-NBA selections, 5 first-team All-Defensive selections and 3 NBA championships, there is no debate for Bryant’s inclusion among the top 61. Throw in the fact that he is still only 29 years old and it’s pretty clear that the real argument may be for Bryant as the best player ever by the time he retires. Currently playing on a Lakers team that many are picking to represent the West in the NBA Finals, Bryant may yet add another championship ring to a résumé that is already Hall of Fame material.

  • Tim Duncan
    If Bryant isn’t the most established NBA player today, it’s because of Tim Duncan. A 4-time NBA Champion, Duncan has the seventh highest player efficiency rating in NBA history. For those not aware of the new-age statistic, check out the story behind PER. As if his PER and 4 titles weren’t enough, Duncan has also been an all-star every year he’s been in the league, making the All-NBA first-team 9 times, the All-Defensive first-team 7 times and winning 2 league MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs along the way. Despite all of these accolades and accomplishments, Duncan is still underappreciated by the average fan because he doesn’t come with the glitz and glamour. He’s all business, and it seems to be working just fine. Just ask any Spurs fan.

  • Kevin Garnett
    Before reinvigorating his career this season in Boston, where he may win a second league MVP and perhaps his first NBA Championship, Kevin Garnett played himself into the Hall of Fame with the Minnesota Timberwolves. An 11-time all-star, Garnett is the T’Wolves franchise leader in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. And second place isn’t even close in any of the categories. If the numbers weren’t as great as they are, you could make a case for Garnett to get on this list based on passion alone. Few would argue that anyone plays as hard as he does for the full 82 games.

  • Allen Iverson
    The 32-year-old Iverson is currently 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list and his career scoring average of 27.8 points per game trails only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain in NBA history. He was the NBA’s MVP in 2001 and is a 9-time all-star. Seven times he’s been named to the All-NBA team, including 3 first-team selections. But perhaps the most amazing fact of all is that Iverson has done all of this at 6’0” tall and 165 pounds. He’s the size of an ordinary man, but his ability to perform on the court is nothing short of extraordinary.

  • LeBron James
    He just turned 23 years old in December, but he’s already one of the greatest players in NBA history. In his first season he was rookie of the year. Each season since then, he has been an all-star. Now in his fifth season in the league, James is averaging more than 30 points per game. He averaged 31.4 in 2005-06. But while he wears number 23, his all-around game has people comparing him to Magic Johnson as much as Michael Jordan. He almost single-handedly willed the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference championship last year, and he’s the most feared matchup in the East again this year. His résumé is a work in progress, but no one has entered the league with as much hype—Sports Illustrated cover as a high school junior, for starters—and then lived up to it and exceeded it, as James has. With such great returns so early in his career, there’s no limit to his potential. But James’ name belongs among the game’s greats right now.

  • Dennis Johnson
    Playing the last 7 seasons of his career with the Boston Celtics, Dennis Johnson was overshadowed by the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, all of whom made the NBA’s 50 at 50 list. But Johnson was an NBA Finals MVP back in 1979 with the Seattle Supersonics. For his career he averaged 14 points and 5 assists per game. But he made his greatest impact on the other end of the court where he was 6 times named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first-team. Johnson enjoyed great individual and team success in his career as a 5-time all-star and 3-time NBA Champion, earning him a spot among the best ever to play the game.

  • Neil Johnston
    You’ve probably never heard of Neil Johnston. I hadn’t either, but the Philadelphia Warriors great is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and for good reason. His career average of 11.3 rebounds per game is 19th best in NBA history. Plus, he led the league in scoring three years in a row from 1953-55. He was named an all-star six times and named to the All-NBA first-team 4 times. He also played a key role on the Warriors’ 1956 championship team. Finally, while there was no such stat as PER back in the 50s, Johnston’s PER is 9th best in league history, directly ahead of Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. If that’s not elite company, I don’t know what is.

  • Jason Kidd
    Arguably the best point guard of his era, Jason Kidd is still producing at a high level. He was named to his 9th all-star team this season. He is currently 5th on the NBA’s all-time assists list, and he’ll likely pass everyone other than John Stockton on that list within the next 2-3 years. He’s also 11th in steals in NBA history. Additionally, Kidd has made the All-NBA first-team 5 times and the All-Defensive first-team 4 times while leading the New Jersey Nets to consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002-2003. Known as a teammate players want to play with because of his passing ability, Kidd has to be included in any discussion about great NBA point guards.

  • Gary Payton
    If Kidd was not the best point guard of his generation, Gary Payton was. Known as “The Glove” for his tenacious defense—he was named to the NBA All-Defensive first-team 9 times—Payton was also a gifted scorer, averaging 18.9 points per game for his career. Only six players have recorded more minutes made in their career than Payton, who ranks 3rd all-time in steals and 7th in assists. After falling just short of a championship in 1996 with Seattle, Payton returned to the Finals as a Laker in 2004 before finally winning a ring in 2006 with Miami. His ability to contribute to winning teams late in his career despite a decline in his physical ability helped put Payton on this list ahead of others offering stiff competition.

  • Dwyane Wade
    In the midst of Miami’s horrid 2007-08 campaign—they have a league worst 9-41 record at the all-star break—Wade was the last inclusion on this list, narrowly edging the other 29 finalists who did not make the cut. Yet despite having completed only four seasons and missing significant parts of this and last season, Wade’s performance has been so good and his potential is so great that I cannot see him failing to justify this selection among the greatest players of all-time. Consider this the Shaquille O’Neal exemption. What Wade has done, however, that even O’Neal hadn’t at this stage of this career is win an NBA Championship. Wade was even named Finals MVP. That honor coupled with 4 all-star appearances in five seasons suggests that Wade deserves this recognition despite his relative youth.

  • Dominique Wilkins
    The final name on the list, alphabetically, is one that many felt should have been included on the original list. Many also felt he should have been included on the original Dream Team roster (Christian Laettner? Really?). Wilkins was a 9-time all-star not to mention a 2-time slam dunk champion. He was voted to the All-NBA team 7 times, including once to the first-team and 4 times to the second-team. He averaged nearly 25 points per game for his career, and is 9th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. He was known as “The Human Highlight Film” for his thunderous dunks, but his dunks should not overshadow the rest of his career as a big scorer in the NBA that rivaled Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in the late 80s.

Nearly 2,000 words later, there’s your answer to the question about the 61 greatest players in NBA history. Add those 11 to the original list of 50 (see sidebar, top right, for the complete list). Who should be selected as number 62 next year? Who should be on this year’s list that was not included? Who snuck onto the list that should not have? Weigh in with your thoughts.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA

I’m a Shaq Fan

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As a diehard Lakers fan and a dedicated Shaquille O’Neal supporter, the recent trade sending O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns has me torn. To read the other side of my internal debate, read “I’m a Lakers Fan.”

Challengers beware. The Suns just turned up the heat out west.

Suns General Manager Steve Kerr knew exactly what he was doing when he gave up a four-time all-star and key member of the Suns’ run-and-gun offense, Shawn Marion, to bring Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix. And just like that, Pau Gasol was only the second biggest acquisition in the Western Conference.

In three previous NBA stops O’Neal has led his team to the NBA Finals. He teamed with Penny Hardaway in Orlando, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles and Dwyane Wade in Miami. Two-time MVP Steve Nash must be excited to welcome the Diesel to Phoenix.

Forget points per game or age. The only number that matters in this equation is four – the number of championship rings O’Neal has won.

Cast aside the questions of how O’Neal will fit in with Phoenix’s seven seconds or less mentality. This isn’t about offensive schemes. This is a character acquisition. He may be in the desert, but Shaq is Hollywood. He’s a larger than life personality. And, most importantly, he’s a winner. In fact, O’Neal has never played a season in the NBA on a losing team. Only in his rookie season did he not play on a playoff team—his Orlando Magic lost a tiebreaker with Indiana for the eighth seed in the East.

O’Neal brings star power to the Suns that even Steve Nash can’t come close to. They suddenly got the bump from supporting actor to lead role in the story of how the 2008 West was won.

And if Phoenix is to get over the hump, it’ll be the man who rapped on Shaq Diesel and acted in Kazaam that will make it happen. What figures to be the final installment in a surefire Hall of Fame career will take place in Phoenix, and the rest of the league has to be worried because they’re going to encounter a motivated Shaquille O’Neal.

Motivated to show Miami he still had Diesel left in the tank. Motivated to show the Lakers that their acquisition of Pau Gasol still isn’t enough to get them back to the level they were at when O’Neal was in purple and gold. Motivated to show everyone who said the Suns were crazy to make this deal that the doubters are the crazy ones.

O’Neal doesn’t want to bookend his career with close calls in Orlando and Phoenix. The Suns were close before making this trade. So this isn’t about coming close. They have to win it all, or the trade will be viewed as a bad move. O’Neal knows that and welcomes the challenge.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA

I’m a Lakers Fan

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As a diehard Lakers fan and a dedicated Shaquille O’Neal supporter, the recent trade sending O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns has me torn. To read the other side of my internal debate, read “I’m a Shaq Fan.”

Sorry Phoenix, but I know what it’s like to be on the wrong end of a Shaq trade. We made the mistake of giving him up then. You made the mistake of picking him up now.

You gave up Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for a behemoth, plodding big man. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a charismatic, public relations godsend behemoth, plodding big man, but he’s closer to 40 than 30 and his best playing days came two teams ago—with the Lakers.

The Lakers are the team that gained the most steam heading into the all-star break. In two trades, the Lakers were helped in four key ways.

1. The Lakers acquired Pau Gasol.
A 2006 all-star and the best player on a Memphis Grizzlies team that went to the playoffs three years in a row from 2004-06, Gasol gives the Lakers a short-term fill-in while Andrew Bynum recovers from a knee injury. More importantly, at 7-feet tall and 27 years old, Gasol is both a size and age appropriate complement for Kobe Bryant.

2. The Lakers got rid of Kwame Brown.
The former number one overall pick in Washington had fallen so far out of favor in L.A. that he was mercilessly booed at home this season. While he may be able to offer an NBA team a quality presence on the defensive end, it’s hard to envision him starting anywhere in the league given his struggles and inconsistency finishing around the basket on offense.

3. The Suns acquired Shaquille O’Neal.
Phoenix is known for its seven-seconds-or-less offense. They have been the highest scoring team in the NBA for each of the past three seasons since acquiring point guard Steve Nash and are leading the NBA in scoring again this year. Their offense is predicated on fast break opportunities and quick shots. Neither of those categories fits into Shaquille O’Neal’s traditional repertoire. His methodical low-post game is essentially the anti-Phoenix offense.

4. The Suns got rid of Shawn Marion.
Say what you will about Marion being a discontent in Phoenix. The fact remains Lakers fans should be more excited to see him go than Suns fans should be to see Shaq’s arrival.

In four games against the Lakers this season, Marion has averaged 16 points, 13 rebounds and 3 steals per game. The common denominator for all those numbers? They’re higher than his season averages.

Marion was always the toughest matchup for the Lakers. Mike D’Antoni seemed to think so too because he played Marion more than any Suns player—nearly 200 of the 240 minutes possible—in the Suns-Lakers playoff series last year. By comparison, NBA MVP Steve Nash played just under 180 minutes in the series. Marion averaged better than 18 points and 10 rebounds per game in helping the Suns to a 4-1 series victory.

O’Neal will slow down the league’s fastest, highest-scoring offense. He’ll clog the lane on defense, sure, but he’s also had difficulty staying out of foul trouble this season. He’ll be challenged by young big men such as Tyson Chandler of the Hornets and Andrew Bynum of the Lakers as well as more experienced players like Yao Ming and Tim Duncan. You could easily rank all four of those players ahead of Shaq in terms of best big man in the West. And don’t forget about Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur, Brad Miller or Chris Kaman either.

O’Neal’s numbers show he’s not the dominant center he once was. His 14.2 points per game put him ninth among centers. And his 7.8 rebounds per game leave him at 21st among centers. But it’s watching Shaq miss layups, failing to get enough lift to throw down a dunk that has me convinced this trade will not have a happy ending for Suns fans.

With a win in either of their final two games before the all-star break, Phoenix will enter the all-star break with the most wins in the Western Conference. But they’ll come out of the break facing a grueling schedule that features the Lakers, Celtics, Pistons and Hornets before the end of the month. Don’t be surprised if the Suns are looking up at the Lakers in the standings by the time the calendar turns to March.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NFL

Tyree is ‘That Guy’

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New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree earned Super Bowl XLII That Guy honors with his clutch performance against the New England Patriots.

His three catches—he caught four during the entire regular season—included a five yard touchdown to give New York a 10-7 lead early in the fourth quarter and a historic highlight reel 32-yard grab that kept the Giants’ game-winning drive alive.

My prediction for that guy (Donte’ Stallworth) also made three catches, which netted 34 yards for the Patriots. However, it was the little-known New York wideout who made the out-of-this-world catch and earned himself a Super Bowl ring.

Falling just short was Giants’ defensive end Justin Tuck, who recorded six tackles and two sacks. Tuck and the Giants defense held New England, the highest scoring team in NFL history, to a season-low 14 points.

Eli Manning may have won the MVP, but he couldn’t have done it without help from the likes of Tyree. Congratulations to David Tyree, the latest NFL player making Super Bowl viewers everywhere ask, “Who the hell is that guy?”

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.