On the Court With... Shaquille O'Neal Read online

  Everyone who watched Shaquille play in his senior year was impressed. He wasn't just good; he was great, regularly scoring more than 30 points a game. Some people were already saying that Shaquille was as good as many centers in the NBA. All he lacked was experience.

  In professional basketball, the center is perhaps the most important player on the team. Yet at the same time, “true” centers are rare. Although there are many tall players in the NBA, very few are as big and strong as Shaquille or know how to play close to the basket. Those who do often don't have very good basketball skills.

  Shaquille was becoming a very special player, someone with size, strength, and ability. He knew how to pass the ball and put it on the floor and dribble when he had to. He had what other players call “soft hands,” the ability to catch the ball and shoot it smoothly. In many ways, he reminded fans of some of the greatest centers in basketball history, such as Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain, like Shaquille, was big and strong and talented. In many games he led his team in scoring, rebounds, blocked shots, and assists (passes to another player that lead to a score). He once scored 100 points in a single game in the NBA and averaged more than 50 points a game for an entire season! People looked at Shaquille and thought he could be the same kind of player.

  Nothing he did in his senior year at Cole made them think differently. Graduation of some veteran players forced Coach Madura to change Cole's offense from a fast-break style to a half-court game designed to get the ball to Shaquille. But that didn't mean Shaquille had to shoot the ball every time he touched it.

  In one game Shaquille demonstrated just how much he meant to the team and how versatile he had become. In a game against Sweeney High School, he was covered like a blanket. That didn't bother Shaquille. When he did get the ball, he didn't try to force a shot but passed off to his teammates. On defense he dominated, soaring into the air over and over again, blocking shots, pulling down rebounds, and helping out his teammates.

  Shaquille scored only 4 points in the game, but he blocked more than 20 shots. The Cougars won by 37 points!

  Midway through the season, Shaquille exploded in a game against Lampasas High School. He poured in 47 points to break the school single-game scoring record held by Coach More.

  Every time Cole played, the gyms were packed to capacity as fans all over San Antonio turned out to see him play. Most wanted to see him dunk the ball. While it is legal to dunk during a game in high school, it is not allowed during pregame practice. But crowds became so big and so vocal that the referees often stayed in the locker room until just before the game so Shaquille could dunk the ball a few times and make the crowd happy.

  Once again Cole made it through the regular season undefeated. This time they were determined to win the state championship. They roared through the tournament to reach the finals against Clarksville High School. Just like Liberty Hills only one year earlier, Clarksville tried everything to get Shaquille in foul trouble. The strategy almost worked.

  At the start of the fourth quarter, Cole led comfortably, 53–44. Shaquille already had 30 points. Then he was whistled for his fourth foul. Coach Madura pulled him from the game and hoped his team could hold on.

  But now Clarksville stormed back. Cole couldn't score, and with only five minutes remaining in the game their lead was down to one point, 54–53.

  On the Cougar bench, Coach Madura looked at Shaquille.

  “If I put you back in, can you stay away from your fifth foul?” he screamed above the noise of the crowd.

  Shaquille set his jaw and looked at his coach. “Yes, Coach,” he said. “I can.”

  “Get in there,” yelled Madura. He knew he was taking a chance. If Shaquille picked up a quick foul, Clarksville would have the advantage in the game's final minutes. But if he waited any longer to put Shaquille back in the game, it might be too late.

  Shaquille tossed off his warm-up jacket and jogged onto the court. The crowd roared its approval. Shaquille knew he had to play smart. But at the same time, he knew he had to score.

  Cole moved the ball upcourt as Shaquille tried to get in position near the basket. But instead of forcing his way in close and taking a chance on committing a foul, he stopped a step short, eight or ten feet from the hoop. He put up his hand and called for a pass.

  A teammate lofted the ball over the defense. Shaquille went up and came down with the pass. The defense scrambled to block Shaquille's path to the basket. For most of the game, he had driven hard to the hoop for dunks.

  But now Shaquille had another plan. Instead of driving to the basket, he spun quickly, jumped, and fired up a soft jumper. Clarksville didn't have time to react.

  Swish! Cole now led 56–53!

  Shaquille wasn't finished. The next time down the court, he got the ball again. Instead of shooting, he faked a shot, drew the defense toward him, and then threw a sweet pass to a teammate for a layup. When Clarksville tried to respond, Shaquille intercepted a pass and started the fast break, leading to another two points for Cole.

  Clarksville was becoming desperate. They raced down the court and hurriedly threw up a shot.

  Up, up, up went Shaquille, his arm reaching for the ball at the top of its arc.

  Slam! He rejected the shot to a teammate. He was quickly fouled and sank the two foul shots. Moments later, the game ended. Cole had won, 68–60. They were state champs!

  Shaquille had never been happier in his entire life. This, too, was a feeling he wanted to remember.

  Chapter Three: 1989–92

  Big Man on Campus

  Shaquille could hardly wait to begin college. But he still had a little basketball to play before leaving for LSU.

  After the high school season ended, Shaquille was invited to play in several national tournaments for the best high school players in the country. If there was any doubt whether Shaquille was ready for college basketball, Shaquille's performances proved that he was. At both the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic and the McDonald's All American Game, Shaquille was a star. The McDonald's game was broadcast on television, and fans all over the country got their first look at Shaquille. From his performance, some college basketball observers believed that LSU had a chance to win the national championship in the 1989–90 season. And Shaquille hadn't even started school yet!

  Expectations were high when he arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to begin his collegiate career. But no one's expectations were higher than those of Shaquille himself. As important as basketball was to him, his education was equally important. His father had made sure he understood that.

  Whenever anyone talked about Shaquille's potential to play professionally, Phil Harrison quickly turned the conversation to Shaquille's potential as a human being, saying, “Money is materialistic. What Shaquille needs is spiritualistic. We want him to get a good education so he doesn't need basketball.”

  Shaquille understood that his basketball career could end in an instant because of an injury or some other unforeseen accident. If that happened, he would need his education to succeed in life.

  Fortunately, he brought good study habits with him to LSU. While many of his freshman classmates spent their first few months in college running around and partying, Shaquille tended to stay in his dorm room, doing his work, listening to music, and playing video games for fun. Despite the fact that he was nearly seven feet tall and rapidly approaching 300 pounds, he was still only seventeen years old. He wasn't old enough to get into the nightclubs and discos that ringed the LSU campus.

  The whole campus was excited for basketball season to begin. Most of the preseason polls predicted that LSU would be one of the four or five best teams in the country. Some already had LSU ranked as high as number two.

  Shaquille was a big reason for that, but not the only one. The previous season LSU guard Chris Jackson had been one of the top scorers in the country. In several games he scored more than 50 points. His specialty was the three-pointer, the long jump shot from more than eighteen feet away from the basket. When he
got hot, he was almost unstoppable.

  And although Shaquille was expected to provide LSU with rebounding and scoring from inside, he would have some help. Another first-year player, Stanley Roberts, was almost as big as Shaquille. He had been the best big man in high school when Shaquille was a junior at Cole, but Roberts had to sit out his first season at LSU because of Proposition 48. He'd since proved that he could do collegiate work and was now eligible to play. Potentially, LSU had three of the best players in the country.

  Coach Brown knew that his toughest task would be to make sure his team played together. If they did, LSU had a good chance to meet the high expectations everyone had for them. But if they didn't, Brown knew that LSU Tiger fans would quickly become impatient.

  Brown made his first important decision in practice before the start of the season. He decided that he would play Shaquille and Roberts at the same time in what was referred to as a “Twin Towers” lineup rather than have the two share the center position. Roberts, who was two years older than Shaquille, was the more experienced and polished player. Brown felt that playing with Roberts would help Shaquille's game.

  Tiger fans got their first look at Shaquille in the annual preseason intrasquad game. Nearly 12,000 fans turned out to watch the glorified scrimmage.

  While the fans were thrilled with the contest, a high-scoring game in which the two teams combined for more than 200 points, Coach Brown wasn't quite so happy. “We were rusty,” he said afterward. “Our execution wasn't as good as it should have been.”

  Although Shaquille scored almost 30 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots, neither team seemed very interested in playing defense and players on each squad played more one-on-one basketball than they did team basketball. However, it was early in the season. There was time to improve.

  LSU began the regular season in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), a tourney that included some of the best teams in the country. The Tigers were the highest-ranked team in the tournament and were favored to win. They opened up against Southern Mississippi. LSU was expected to win big.

  But everyone seemed to have forgotten that even the best high school players need some time to adjust to the rigors of college basketball. For Shaquille, foul trouble again proved to be his greatest obstacle.

  Although he'd learned to stay out of foul trouble in high school, collegiate basketball was a whole different game. Referees allowed more contact, but Shaquille had a hard time figuring out just how much more. He was quickly slapped with three fouls in the first seven and a half minutes of the game. Brown had to put him on the bench.

  Although LSU hung on to win, 91–80, Brown wasn't pleased with his team, and Shaquille was disappointed in himself.

  “I got frustrated,” he admitted later in regard to his foul trouble, “but it won't happen again.” He finished with only 10 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

  But despite his determination to improve, Shaquille continued to struggle. The Tigers lost their next game in the tournament to Kansas as Shaquille again got in early foul trouble.

  Brown realized he had to make a change. His decision to have Roberts and O'Neal both in the starting lineup didn't seem to be working. The Tigers weren't passing the ball very much, as every player on the court seemed to be trying to make sure he got his share of scoring opportunities. Shaquille wasn't the problem, but Brown decided to temporarily remove him from the starting lineup.

  Shaquille was disappointed, but he understood. The object was to win. And Brown told him that he planned to play him nearly as much as if he were a starter. He just wanted his team to get into a good tempo at the start of the game and for Shaquille to avoid picking up quick fouls.

  The strategy worked. Coming off the bench helped Shaquille settle down, and he began to play much better. Despite all the work he had done with Coach More in high school, Shaquille was having some trouble adjusting to playing against players his own size. If he wasn't in position to dunk the ball, he had a hard time getting off his shot. He still had a lot to learn about playing center.

  Once the Tigers began regular-season play in the Southeast Conference (SEC), it became clear that although they were a very good team, they weren't a great team. Experienced, disciplined teams gave them trouble. Some people thought that Chris Jackson shot too much and that when Shaquille and Stanley Roberts were both on the court at the same time, each let up a little and didn't play his best.

  Still, there were times when Shaquille dominated and gave Tiger fans a glimpse of the future. One game against Loyola Marymount was particularly memorable.

  Paced by the nation's leading scorer, Hank Gathers, Loyola was the highest-scoring team in the country. They loved to run and shoot the three-pointer. Their whole offense was built around taking as many shots as fast as possible. It wasn't a league game, so Coach Brown let his players play with a little more freedom than usual. The result was one of the most remarkable games in the history of college basketball.

  For forty minutes of regulation play plus five minutes of overtime, the two teams went at each other at a furious pace. The shooters from both teams were hot, but at halftime LSU led, 72–58.

  Loyola came roaring back in the second half. As they did, Shaquille showed that he was beginning to adjust to the college game. He noticed that LSU's outside shooters were all hot, so he focused on rebounding and defense, particularly when Hank Gathers drove into the paint to try to score. Early in the game Gathers had had some success against Shaquille. When he drove to the basket, Shaquille would go out to meet him. But Gathers was too quick for him and was able to slash by for some easy baskets.

  Late in the game, that began to change. As Shaquille recalled later, “I watched some tapes last night. Instead of pushing out and going after him, I just stayed back and put my arms up when he got the ball. I started getting some rebounds and blocking shots after that.”

  That was an understatement. As LSU hung on to win by the incredible score of 148–141, Shaquille blocked 12 shots, pulled down 24 rebounds, and chipped in 20 points.

  Unfortunately, such heroic efforts by Shaquille and his teammates were not the norm in Shaquille's freshman season. Although the Tigers finished the regular season a respectable 22–7, they lost in the first round of the SEC tournament. They managed to win their first game in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, but then lost to SEC rival Georgia Tech in the second round. Their season was over.

  Although Shaquille was disappointed with his team's record, his freshman year in college was a success. He averaged only 13 points a game for the Tigers on the basketball court, but off the court he maintained a solid 3.0 grade average, a B. He had learned a lot about himself as both a basketball player and a person and was already looking forward to his sophomore year.

  That summer Shaquille got a job doing construction work in Baton Rouge to earn some extra money. And after working all day in the hot sun, he would play basketball for two or three hours and work out with weights, focusing on his calf muscles to improve his leaping ability.

  When LSU began practice for the 1991–92 season, the change in Shaquille was dramatic. He was huge, almost 300 pounds of solid muscle. His biceps and forearms bulged and his legs were like tree trunks. His vertical leap had improved dramatically. From a standing start, Shaquille could jump up and touch a spot on the backboard twelve and a half feet off the ground. As Coach Brown said later, “I've never coached an athlete who's improved so much from one year to the next.”

  LSU needed every bit of improvement Shaquille could muster, for they were a different team. Rather than a team of stars, they were a team of role players with one star — Shaquille. Chris Jackson had decided to turn professional and had been drafted by the NBA. Stanley Roberts had left school as well and was playing professionally in Spain. Shaquille was expected to pick up the slack. In recognition of that, Coach Brown named Shaquille as one of two team captains. The message was clear: it was Shaquille's team. They would go j
ust as far as he could take them. Brown told him, “You have to be the man.”

  Coach Brown even changed the team's offensive strategy to take advantage of Shaquille's remarkable improvement. Instead of trying to run the fast break at every opportunity, Brown installed a half-court game. The object was to get the ball to Shaquille. Shaquille's success at either getting the ball into the basket or passing to an open teammate would determine just how far the Tigers would go in the season.

  The Tigers got off to a quick start. O'Neal rapidly adjusted to his new role — scoring, rebounding, and blocking shots at will. LSU quickly racked up a series of wins against overmatched opponents. Then, just a few weeks before the start of league play, they faced the Arizona Wildcats, who were ranked number one in some polls. The deep and experienced Wildcats featured the best frontcourt in the country. The game, which was televised nationally, would provide a dramatic measure of just how much Shaquille had improved.

  From the opening tip-off, he dominated both ends of the court. After he blocked a few of their shots early in the game, the Wildcats almost gave up on taking the ball to the basket. And on offense Shaquille was unstoppable. Arizona was powerless when he decided to take the ball to the basket. When he found his path blocked, he passed with pinpoint accuracy to his wide-open teammates. On offense and defense, he pulled down almost every rebound.

  In one memorable play Shaquille got the ball down low and the Arizona defense was slow to react. He faked one way, then spun quickly, lifted the ball with both hands, and powered toward the basket.

  For a moment, Shaquille seemed suspended in the air, a giant who had suddenly grown even larger.

  He thundered the ball ferociously through the basket. As Arizona forward Sean Rooks cowered beneath him, Shaq hung on the rim so he wouldn't land on his opponent's back. The image accurately reflected what was becoming obvious to everyone who saw him play. Shaquille was head and shoulders above every other big man in college basketball.