Posted by Roland at February 7th, 2008

Steve Kerr appears to be a man intrigued by contrasts.

As general manager of the Phoenix Suns, Kerr has a garage filled with Ferraris to which he’s just added a Mack truck of a Diesel, rumbling menacingly and belching dark smoke.

Add Tex Winter to the list of top basketball people scratching their heads at the move.

“I saw it, I thought, ‘That ain’t gonna work,’” Winter admitted. “I don’t even know if Shaq’s ever gonna play another game.”

That’s how far O’Neal’s image has fallen this season after the Miami Heat has absorbed loss after loss and the Diesel has revealed a dramatic decline in his effectiveness, not to mention long absences due to nagging injuries.

“I’m surprised Kerr would do that,” Winter said of the Suns’ trading Shawn Marion this week for Shaq. “It’s a strange trade. Shaq sure misses a lot of games. He’s not a very good defensive rebounder, or offensive rebounder for that matter. He does rebound his own misses a lot.”

Did the Suns make the move because they were desperate to take advantage of a team that has run through impressive regular seasons only to fall short in the playoffs?

“I don’t know if they should be desperate,” Winter said. “They’re leading the division. They were playing pretty darn well with the people they had.”

Winter, the longtime assistant to Jackson who now serves as a Lakers consultant, acknowledged that he has always been critical of Shaq, mainly because he wanted more out of the big guy’s bountiful talent rather than just settling for the center throwing around his raw power.

When he was young and athletic, O’Neal declined to run with the Lakers and fought an impressive internal fight to make sure Phil Jackson’s team turned down fastbreak opportunities to wait for O’Neal to lumber up the floor to get in position in the half court.

The results spoke for themselves. Shaq’s power and Kobe Bryant’s athleticism drove L.A. to those three titles to open the new century. But O’Neal demanded $30 million a year from owner Jerry Buss in 2004, and when Buss wouldn’t pay it, O’Neal demanded a trade.

He later signed with the Miami Heat for $20 mil per season, a deal the Lakers likely would have taken if they had been offered it.

As it is, that figure is now the big gulp for the usually conservative Suns. Beyond this year, they will owe the Diesel two more seasons at $20 mil each.

Winter pointed out that Shaq held up fine during Miami’s dance to the championship in 2006.

“If he’s 100 percent, he’s a dominant center, no question about it,” Winter said.

And there’s no question that O’Neal has a pattern of struggling in the regular season only to gain interest and motivation in the playoffs. Kerr and the Suns are going to have to remake their running attack to use O’Neal, but they’re counting on a motivated and ready Shaq come playoff time.

If that’s how it plays out, Winter said, then Kerr will be seen as one smart opportunist.

 

TWIN TOWERS?

 

Meanwhile, each passing day brings more interest in the Lakers after their acquisition of center/forward Pau Gasol.

His presence has set Winter’s mind to spinning about the question of a Twin Towers approach once the Lakers promising young center, Andrew Bynum, returns from injury.

“Ir’a going to take Bynum a while to adjust after he gets back,” Winter predicted of Bynum’s projected return in March/April. “How he comes back remains to be seen. He’s young. He can recover quickly. But he’ll have to relearn how to be assertive. He’ll have to learn how to play with Gasol.”

The return date leaves the team little time for adjustments before the playoffs, so timing will be tight.

Winter is eager to see if Phil Jackson decides to use the two together on the floor. That, of course, will depend on Bynum’s health and adjustment.

“That’s probably what we should do,” Winter said.

The key to a Twin Towers alignment working for the Lakers is Gasol’s versatility, he added. “Gasol’s got that outside face-up game. Then he can put it on the floor and get to the basket. He plays a very easy game, very poised. That’s what I like about him. He doesn’t know too much about what we’re doing right now in the triangle offense. But you can put him in the post and get the ball to him and something happens. That hasn’t happened for us in a long time, so it’s a welcomed sight.”

Winter said he remains fascinated by the combination of Bryant and Gasol. “I’m interested in seeing how Kobe reacts to having a second scorer capable of what Gasol is capable of doing. That six points Kobe scored in (New Jersey) was interesting. He had injured his hand. But he was still really effective in the game. And he seems delighted. Gasol’s presence is certainly going to make it easier for Kobe to do what he does.”

Meanwhile, Winter softened his comments a bit about forward Lamar Odom. “Lamar’s stats look good,” he said. “He has a double-double just about every game. I just want him to do more. He’s got size, he can do so many things. He’s just struggling getting it together.”

 

Roland Lazenby is the author of The Show; The Inside Story Of The Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers In The Words Of Those Who Lived It.