Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 11, 1991 TAG: 9102110054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
In Arabic, Shaquille means "Little One." That's a misnomer for a 7-foot-1, 290-pound Tiger.
His middle name, Rasban, means "Warrior." That's a lot more accurate.
"Shaquille O'Neal will be a very rich young man," said Brad Greenberg, player personnel director for the Portland Trail Blazers.
The great big men flash to mind. Wilt. Russell, Kareem. Walton. And in today's NBA, Ewing, Olajuwon and Mister Robinson.
But none of them - none - were as accomplished, as gifted, at 18 years, 11 months, as LSU's man-mountain.
Before we anoint O'Neal as the greatest - he positively will be the richest - it is necessary to dissect Duke's rollicking 88-70 demolition of Louisiana State on Sunday before a national TV audience and the usual Cameron Indoor Stadium crazies.
When O'Neal got his fourth foul midway in the second half, the Cameron kids yelled in unison, "1-2-3-4, Shaq can't play this game no more."
In fact, Shaq hadn't played his game all afternoon. Duke's defense, its strategy and a fired-up Christian Laettner saw to that.
While O'Neal was held to a very quiet 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, all well below his average, the 6-11 Laettner wound up with 24 points and 11 rebounds as Duke made it 64 straight wins here against non-ACC opponents.
Laettner shot over The Shaq, drove past him, and once faked him out with a nifty head-bob and lefty finger roll.
"He's a hell of a player. A real good player," said O'Neal of Laettner, a 20-year-old junior.
"This was a good lesson for Shaq," said LSU coach Dale Brown, who was a walking testimonial for Duke after the sound whipping. "He went up against a guy who was a little more veteran than he was."
With Grant Hill sidelined the last half with a hip pointer, and backup big man Crawford Palmer in foul difficulty, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski went to a spread offense that featured Laettner near midcourt.
O'Neal, who looks even larger than his listed numbers, was pulled away from the basket and made ineffective. "I don't play real good guard defense," he said.
Laettner, whose own stock with the pros likely soared - "he's better than [Danny] Ferry," said one pro scout - was ready for his opponent.
"He never said anything negative," Laettner said. "He just went out and did his job. But I've been through this before and I will be again. I was ready for it."
While O'Neal, who has been personally tutored by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton, plays in a league that doesn't have another decent big man, Laettner has played head-to-head against the best.
He ticked them off. "Mutombo and Mourning at Georgetown; Dale Davis and Elden Campbell at Clemson; UNLV; the [North] Carolina big men. That's why it was so much fun today. I look forward to these games."
Despite his off-day - "I don't worry about it; I'll just play hard the next time," Shaq said - O'Neal's future is assured.
"If he came out now, he'd get between $40 and $50 million for seven years," said Portland scout Keith Drum.
O'Neal's serviceman father is a self-professed education fanatic, and he's said his son will stay in school four years.
But the lure of the big bucks and the battering O'Neal takes from cheap-shot artists in the Southeastern Conference may change some minds in a couple of months.
If it does, and O'Neal turns pro, it will make the lottery pick more exciting than ever before.
"He's the next great basketball player," said Krzyzewski.
"He's a franchise," Drum echoed. "There haven't been many of them."
But, and this was evident Sunday, he's still a kid with a lot to learn. Until he joins the play-for-pay circuit, O'Neal's progress may be limited because Brown is not one of the great floor coaches.
It will be hard to mess with the Shaq, however. He's mature and pleasant, seemingly in control of his surroundings despite his loose-cannon coach.
"I don't know if he can shoot," Greenberg said. "All I've seen him do is dunk. But, physically, he's the whole package. There's never been anybody his age that good."
Never.
by CNB