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Heat adjusts to O'Neal's singular skills
The moment that mattered most came before the opening tip of the Heat's 85-75 exhibition loss to the Houston Rockets. It came in the locker room, beneath the stands of the Toyota Center.
"Watching him put on that uniform, it makes official the start of a new era," Heat guard Eddie Jones said. "Now, it hits home."
"It's all different now," guard Dwyane Wade said. "Now we get to establish a new Miami Heat team." First, though, must come the chemistry lesson. Typical of a preseason opener, this one was ragged, particularly as O'Neal's teammates worked to adapt to the unique skills of the game's most dominant big man. At one stage in the first quarter, O'Neal was 3 of 4 from the field -- with the rest of his teammates a combined 1 of 13. Through it all, through aggressive if erratic play from Wade, heartening play from power forward Malik Allen and ragged defensive play from small forward Rasual Butler, the Heat began its transition to something bigger. "It went cool," O'Neal said. "Everyone's out there learning each other. We're going to be fine. It's going to be a fun journey." Closing with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and seven rebounds in 22 foul-filled minutes, O'Neal did not overstate his debut. "I think the real effect will hit me when we play our first game in Miami," he said, with the Heat's lone home exhibition Oct. 18 against Atlanta. "I think the real effect will hit me when we get into the crib." Heat coach Stan Van Gundy went with familiarity in deciding Sunday's starting lineup, with Butler at small forward and Udonis Haslem at power forward, joining O'Neal, Wade and Jones. "I basically went with our most experienced guy at every position other than the center," he said, "and, obviously, Shaquille's going to start. We put four guys around him that I think know our system best right now." By halftime, Van Gundy already had shifted the approach, with Butler benched for the start of the third period and point guard Damon Jones inserted into the lineup, shifting Jones to small forward and Wade to shooting guard. Later, with 5:43 to play in the third quarter, 18-year-old rookie guard Dorell Wright made his NBA debut. The experimentation figures to continue when the Heat plays its second exhibition, Friday in Tampa against the Magic. By then, Van Gundy hopes to have a full roster. He had 14 players available Sunday, with veteran forward Christian Laettner sidelined by lingering back spasms and reserve point guard Keyon Dooling out with a strained right calf. After its uneven start, the Heat settled down, with O'Neal settling into a more aggressive defensive style than he experienced with the Lakers. O'Neal said he plans to work through Van Gundy's react-and-recover defensive approach -- for now. "I think I'm better at being closer to the basket," he said. "Whenever you string a guy like me out, it gives teams an opportunity to have free will at the basket. "I'll do whatever he says and hopefully it'll all work out. And if it doesn't work out, then we'll go to a Plan B." While O'Neal wouldn't go as far as to offer up Sunday's meeting as a preview of the NBA Finals, he said he is impressed with the Rockets. "I think they're going to be the best team in the West, because they're got a nice strong experienced starting five," he said, citing Jim Jackson and Juwan Howard in addition to prized offseason acquisition Tracy McGrady and center Yao Ming. McGrady, the NBA's two-time defending scoring champion while with the Magic, closed with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting in 18 first-half minutes. For his part, Van Gundy urged perspective about an outing that came after only five days of training camp. "We're not exactly a well-oiled machine right now," he said. He added with a grin, "It gives us stuff we can yell at 'em about next week." |
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