Tag: Miami

Maxwell has harsh assessment of Shaq’s eroding physical skills

Boston analyst Cedric Maxwell didn’t have much good to say about Shaquille O’Neal’s return to the lineup in Game 3 of the Celtics’ playoff series with Miami.

O’Neal has been hobbled with an injured calf since he was hurt in early April. And when he returned to action Saturday, the 39-year-old Neal hobbled like he was too heavy and too old, according to Maxwell. O’Neal produced two points, an assist and a steal in eight plodding minutes.

“He looks bad. If he was a horse, they would take him out right now and he’d be glue tomorrow,” Maxwell said on . “He can’t run and physically he’s limping on that leg. Here’s a tremendous athlete who’s played all his career and has not had these kind of problems. 

“At the end of the day if you have a bald spot on one of your tires your car isn’t going to run right. And that’s a bald spot on the tire for him. Essentially, he looks like he’s got one of those walking boots on when you break your toe.”  

Yes, that’s the same Cedric Maxwell who used to wave the towel for everything Boston back in the day.

Now, he’s too busy snapping it on O’Neal’s hobbling and heavy frame as the Celtics prepare for Monday’s game against the Heat.

Pop unmoved by tales of Rondo’s heroism

Much of the basketball-watching public was willing to cast Rajon Rajon’s return from a dislocated elbow in Boston’s Game 3 victory over Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals last week as his “Willis Reed moment.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, however, wasn’t one of them.

As the playoffs have progressed, Popovich — who had  star guard Manu Ginobili dealing with an elbow injury in the Spurs’ first-round ouster against Memphis — has been unmoved by the tall tales of Rondo’s heroism.

“It’s really been hard to watch the playoffs and have them make Rondo out like Willis Reed,” Popovich said Thursday, in wide-ranging interview with the Express-News. “It’s like, Manu couldn’t even play the first game (against Memphis), and we  probably shouldn’t have played him again. He went out there and worked through it, and you didn’t hear any of that kind of crap.”

Ginobili sprained his right elbow in the Spurs’ regular-season finale at Phoenix and was limited throughout the Memphis series, a turn of events Popovich believes played a prime role in the Spurs’ early ouster.  Ginobili averaged 20.6 points in five games against the Grizzlies.

“If Manu ain’t heathy, historically, we go nowhere,” Popovich said.  ”When he was hurt against Dallas (in 2009), they beat us. Last year, we  beat them in the first round, because Manu was healthy. Manu was half-assed one year against the Lakers (in 2008), or they don’t win three (Western Conference titles) in a row. His health is huge for us.”

Rondo was injured in the third quarter of Boston’s 97-81 victory over Miami on May 8, but returned to dish out 11 assists and score a pair of baskets in the fourth quarter. The Heat went on to win the series in five games.

Popovich says Ginobili should have  received similar kudos for laboring through a similar situation.

“It’s like Rondo is the next coming of Willis Reed, the thing he did and the character he showed,” Popovich said. “Maybe he did show character and  he was tough and all that, but it is no different than what  Manu did. That just kind of angers me on a selfish level, so to speak.”

Does this really feel like the conference finals to Spurs Nation?

The Eastern Conference Finals started Sunday night with Miami and Chicago battling in a tightly contested defensive battle.

Dallas and Oklahoma City will kick off their Western Conference finals Tuesday night.

And for whatever reason, something seems to be missing.

Maybe it’s merely a changing of the guard.

But for only the second time since 1999, the conference finals won’t be including either the Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics.

We’re being treated to new teams and new stars. Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant obviously are two of the most important pieces in the future of the NBA. “The Heatles” command attention after their celebrated grouping over the season.

But without Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and their iconic teams these playoff series appear to be a little stale from those in the past.

It will be interesting to watch how the television ratings play out for the remaining games.

Is Spurs Nation making these upcoming games appointment television over the next several weeks?

Or is it reacting with a collective yawn without their favorite heroes and villains playing in the upcoming games that will culminate the NBA season?