Shaq Goes Down For A Bit

Posted by Iroquois Plisken

Perhaps Stan was a shade hasty in proclaiming the Cavs the team to beat. At least for a couple of months, Shaquille O'Neal will be sidelined with a bent up thumb. If you weren't watching the Cavs/Celts tilt last week, Glen Davis (whom I refuse to address by nickname; it is just as irritating now as it was when he was at LSU) fouled Shaq kinda hard on the way up and came down on his shooting hand. A Celtics player playing rough and having the foul downplayed? Why, this has never happened! Surely, just an oversight by the ref; he must have been new. To be fair to Davis, it wasn't deliberate or anything, just some good old fashioned hard contact that should have drawn a foul. It wasn't like he threw someone into the scorer's table.

Nevertheless, this is rough for the Cavaliers. Antawn Jamison has not shown a lot of expediency getting acquainted with his new team, and the Cavalier's favorite lineup (as opposed to best?) is now missing its enforcer. The awkward chemistry issues will be present yet again when (if?) Shaq returns to the Cavs. You would think it wouldn't take long to adjust into the lineup for Cleveland because Jamison played with a C who was a steady defensive presence and had cranked up the offense for the season (Brendan Haywood), which sounds like the renewed Shaquille O'Neal this season, but it's not like LeBron James was Caron Butler or anything. Tawn could always do what the rest of the team does and just watch James play.

Cleveland doesn't appear to be in any danger of losing the top spot in the East either. As of now, they are 6 games ahead of Orlando for the top spot, and nearly 10 ahead of both Atlanta and Boston. Where this could get interesting is the overall playoff seeding, which determines HCA in the Finals. As of now, Cleveland only holds a 1 game lead over the Lake Show for the top seed in the playoffs, which seems especially vulnerable right now. However, the LAL have a fairly tough schedule until March 22nd (the first day that Cleveland can resign Zydrunas Ilgauskas), with 6 road games, the only tough one being @ Orlando this upcoming Sunday. Nevertheless, road games are always kind of a crapshoot and you never know.

Fortunately, Cleveland's schedule up until the 22nd features only two Cs they should really have trouble with: Tim Duncan (on the 8th) and Kendrick Perkins (on the 14th). They also might have trouble with Brook Lopez (NJN) later this week, but it's the Nets. Because they possess such considerable depth at PF , they should be able to withstand any challenge at PF (notably, Chicago with the resurgent Taj Gibson and Indiana, with Troy Murphy). Cleveland will also have Shaq ready for the Lakers and Orlando, as they only face Orlando once before the playoffs. If everything stays as it is, Orlando (as the 2 seed) would not see Cleveland again until the East Finals and the Lakers the NBA Finals. That's the good news.

The Ilgauskas buyout was (in hindsight) timed perfectly, not that there is any implication of collusion. The Shaq surgery has the potential to be a boon for the Cavs because of the rest his knees will get. Those Clevelanders who want LBJ to stay at home should be counting their lucky stars (for now) because this could be a blessing in disguise in King James' quest for coronation.