Shawn, Shaq to determine their teams' fate

[MikeB]

Another Bradley article.

Enjoy!

Shawn, Shaq to determine their teams' fate
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By Ric Bucher
ESPN the Magazine


The chance of the Dallas Mavericks making good on their strongest start in franchise history depends as much on Shawn Bradley as the Lakers overcoming their worst start in 36 years depends on Shaquille O'Neal.

That isn't quite as scary for the Mavs or reassuring for the Lakers as it might have been in the past.

Now, I'm not advocating that a Shawn vs. Shaq showdown favors the spindly Mormon. Not a chance. All indications are, though, that Bradley just may be ready to provide what Dallas desperately needs -- and while everyone is assuming O'Neal can do the same for the Lakers, there's plenty of reason to wonder if that's taking Shaq's Superman persona a bit too far.

Let's put aside, for a moment, the 10-0 start. The Mavs are built for regular-season success, a compilation of funky parts that pose difficulties unless a team can prepare a game plan specifically for them, as it can during the playoffs. But there's a grit and determination in Dallas that's never been evident before and while Bradley isn't the leader, he's clearly part of the pack. That's important because he gives them an element no one else on the roster can provide -- a post presence at both ends of the floor. Steve Nash looks better than ever, Dirk Nowitzki's offensive versatility continues to expand and trade talk appears to be firing up Michael Finley rather than weighing him down, but unless Raef LaFrentz comes back from his sprained ankle a completely different player, Shawn remains the most vital part of their puzzle. His ability to be a threat in a two-man offense and a factor in pick-and-roll defense will decide at the end of the year if Dallas deserves to be taken seriously. He doesn't have to be great. He just can't be a drag.

No one's sure why, but it's as if that finally dawned on Bradley. Maybe it's the harping that coach/GM Don Nelson did last season, or the private talks with owner Mark Cuban. Maybe it's that Shawn's teammates have made it clear they need him to take the next step, and they have no use for him if he doesn't. Maybe it's that, after four daughters, his wife gave birth to their first son just before the season started.

In any case, we're seeing a different Bradley than we've ever seen before. He committed to his first offseason training program, which was strenuous enough that assistant-something-or-other Greg Dreiling tore his Achilles tendon. He's rebounding better (8.3 a game over a career average of 7.2) and fouling less. If he got dunked on in previous seasons, the head dropped and the confidence evaporated and he was done for the next 10 minutes, if not the night. Now he keeps playing and playing hard. In Boston last weekend he was sick, which in the past would have been enough to sit out. But he played both that night and the next in New Jersey, allowing the Mavs to go into tonight's showdown against the Lakers at 10-0.

The optimism has been generated largely by Shaq talking about how much better his toe feels and how much it clearly limited him last season. That's all well and good, but shouldn't his toe feel better after five months' rest? And how do we know the same problem won't resurface? And how much will he be able to play without risk of hurting it again?


Shaq won't be around tonight, of course, thanks to his convalescence from offseason surgery to alleviate an arthritic big toe. The latest is that he's planning to return Friday vs. the Bulls, although Lakers officials aren't counting on it. What everyone is expecting is that whenever he does return he will be much better than he was last season. The optimism has been generated largely by Shaq talking about how much better his toe feels and how much it clearly limited him last season. That's all well and good, but shouldn't his toe feel better after five months' rest? And how do we know the same problem won't resurface? And how much will he be able to play without risk of hurting it again?

Reality is no one -- including the Daddy -- will know how ready his size 22s are for the night-in, night-out pounding of NBA action until February, when he is in some semblance of game shape and has endured three games in four nights a few times. Maybe he'll be refreshed by the time off and the pain's absence. Maybe his appetite has been whetted by the Kings suggesting he didn't win his third ring but stole it, courtesy of NBA officials. Maybe the lessons he learned in utilizing his teammates with limited mobility will make him more unstoppable than ever if his quickness and agility are back to full strength.

Based on what the Lakers have done so far, he will have to be. This time last year, there was still hope that Samaki Walker or Stan Medvedenko could evolve into a serviceable option at power forward to make up for the absence of Horace Grant. But Walker has been an unmitigated disaster and Medvedenko is looking more like Greg Foster every day.

It is, of course, very early. Both Shawn and Shaq could revert to form. But for the first time, there's reason to at least wonder if that will indeed happen.

[Base Line Guy]

I'm not worried about the Lakers. The Kings will be the biggest test!

BLG

[Nash13]

<< I'm not worried about the Lakers. >>



They Lakers don't scare me. I feel that if we were to play the Lakers in the playoffs, we would sweep them, or come close.