Miami
Shaquille O'Neal doesn't have any true competition but of all the contenders for the title out there Yao Ming is at the top of the list. Each meeting between the two has been historic and meaningful for both players, and last year's playoff series was a thriller. The two will meet only twice this upcoming season. What will make it even more special is that those meetings will represent a battle of the Van Gundy brothers as well.
Is that why Shaq wanted to go to the Eastern Conference? To mitigate the number of times he matches up with Yao Ming? Nah. He probably just wanted to start in the All-Star game for a change. How many consecutive years has it been now that Yao has received more votes than Shaq? The big fella wants to start and in the Eastern Conference he will be a shoo-in, not just because of the lower competition, but because Miami Heat fans, unlike Laker fans, will actually turn out and vote.
Brother coaching against each other always makes for a more interesting matchup because it virtually eliminates the slight problems that can come with poor coaching. With two brothers on the benches, you know you are truly watching the battle of talent and will in what both would consider correct basketball. All ten players know all the plays that might be called. It transforms the game into one about execution and hustle instead of just being able to fool the opponents with what plays you're going to run. It makes it more of a playoff game than a regular season game.
Sunday, January 30 and Tuesday, March 22 will exemplify the term "epic." The January matchup is a home game for the Heat and will be broadcast nationally on ABC. The March matchup is the only Heat game in the Toyota Center all year and will be broadcast on TNT.
After that, the only way the two titans and the two brothers will meet is in the Finals.
TEAM NOTES
The Heat have released the complete 2004-2005 regular season schedule.
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Tom Robinson ofThe Virginia Pilotwrites: Michael Jordan had his tenth-of-a-percent. Alonzo Mourning has his “miracle” — the only circumstance, he says, that would allow him to entertain a return to the NBA. His miracle “is my doctor giving me his blessing to consider playing again,” says Mourning, eight months removed from receiving a kidney from his second cousin... Lately, though, the buzz is that Mourning, 34, twice the NBA’s defensive player of the year, wants back in. Not necessarily with his last team, the New Jersey Nets. They’re dumping salary and reportedly plan to erase his after this season.“They’ve already said they don’t want me back,” says Mourning, who joined the Nets last year from the Miami Heat for four seasons at about $5.5 million per, guaranteed... He had his transplant Dec. 19. Eight months later, Mourning runs. He lifts weights. He plays pickup basketball — and a little softball and golf for charity, as he did locally the past few days. He knows, though, the danger that lies within his still-chiseled body.
Larry Stewart ofThe LA Timeswrites: Trivia time: What was the lowest-scoring game in NBA history before the use of a shot clock, and what was the lowest-scoring game since then?... Trivia answer: The Fort Wayne (Ind.) Pistons defeated the Minneapolis Lakers, 19-18, in 1950, outscoring the Lakers, 3-1, in the fourth quarter of the all-time low-scoring game. In the record-low game with a shot clock, Boston defeated the Milwaukee Hawks in 1955, 62-57. Second on the list is a 65-56 Charlotte Hornet victory over the Miami Heat in 2000.
Paul Angilly ofThe Middletown Presswrites: FIRST SHAQ HEAT CARD: As soon as Topps heard that the Miami Heat was closing in on a deal to bring Shaquille O’Neal back to Florida, it was in its graphics room making some big changes. Topps recently announced that Shaq’s first card featuring him in his all-new black Miami Heat threads will be included in the upcoming 2004-05 Topps basketball set being released on Aug. 16.And best of all, the card will be personally autographed by Shaq himself.The card will be randomly inserted into packs. Shaq’s non-autographed card will feature him as a Laker.