Heat Waiting for Warmer Weather to Set Fire

by The DugOut | January 12, 2007 at 03:49 pm

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The DugOut agrees with this article to a point, and the point is
that the Eastern Conference is not very good. So, yeah, the Heat with
Shaq will probably be in the Eastern Finals. And the big man always
likes to save it for the end game. However, the Heat will either win
and win big at the end of the season for their final time or be knocked
out, never to return until Wade resembles Kobe in a few short years.

Also, Shaq -- who rejoined his team Thursday but, according to the Heat, isn't expected to return to action tonight against the host Warriors -- will be ready for the second-half surge.

He does this almost every year: sloughs through (or nurses an injury) the first part of the season, turns it up in the second half and is ready to go for the playoffs. Remember, Shaq played only 59 games last season, only 13 in the first two months.

Some might say he's too old to turn it on again. While that might be true, the Heat doesn't need Shaq to be dominant, especially with the way center Alonzo Mourning's been playing (averaging 9.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 blocks in 23.6 minutes). Shaq just needs to be a presence. At 7-foot-1, 325 pounds, that's not hard to do.