Shaq Trashes Teammates

Saturday, December 21<br>
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<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Shaq: 'When I make my guys mad, they usually respond'</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>
<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/1221/1480751.html">ESPN.com news services</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
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The Big Silence is finally speaking again. And Shaquille O'Neal's teammates might actually be glad to hear what he's saying now.<br>
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After freezing out the media for two weeks, O'Neal told the Los Angeles Times that he had been harsh with his public comments earlier regarding his teammates simply as a motivational tool.<br>
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"When I make my guys mad, they usually respond," O'Neal told The Times before the Lakers fell Friday night in overtime to the 76ers, a game in which O'Neal fouled out.<br>
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The Lakers are 10-18 and sitting dead last in the Pacific Division. And O'Neal admitted the three-time defending NBA champions aren't pleased.<br>
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"Am I bothered? Yeah, I'm bothered," O'Neal told the Times. "That's why I haven't talked to you guys.... I'm a little bit concerned. As we go along, I'll be able to tell."<br>
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O'Neal also said his foot was still hurting a little bit, but added, "I'll never say nothing."<br>
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As for his possibly damaging earlier remarks about his teammates, O'Neal said they'd get over it.<br>
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"I never jump ship on my guys," O'Neal said. "We win together and lose together."<br>
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<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>"I'll never say nothing."<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
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<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/image/emoticons_classic/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> Ain't that the TRUTH! Glad to know he got his money's worth at LSU........ <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/image/emoticons_classic/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub61.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=blondie@sanantoniospurs62937>Blondie</A>  <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://homepage.eircom.net/~bray/em/orose.gif " BORDER=0> at: 12/21/02 11:51:12 pm<br></i>

I remember reading a Shaq quote just before he returned to playing. It was something like, "You'll know when I'm back. The whole world will know -- when you feel the wrath of the Diesel." Let's see, 7-9 record since Shaq came back.... you might say the other Lakers have been the only ones to suffer much from that wrath.<br>
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And now, for more kicking the Lakers when they're down, here's a quote I enjoyed from one of today's <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>LA Times</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> articles:<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Day 53 of the Lakers Held Hostage by Themselves....<br>
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It's getting scary out here. Whenever the Lakers go into a new town, the other team bows down beforehand, praising their name forever, but what they really mean is: We can't be that lucky that these prima donnas are going to lie down for us too, can we?<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
<!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://a1022.g.akamai.net/f/1022/8158/5m/images.latimes.com/media/photo/2002-12/5901677.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub61.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=oiboyz>oiboyz</A> at: 12/22/02 9:39:55 pm<br></i>

That is pricelss Miss O - that's exactly the type of stuff we LOVE to read<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>They may need to close out the season by going 34-20 (.630) to get the eighth seed or 40-14 (.741) to get home court in the first round.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
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It may seem incredible, by as pointed out by <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://pub97.ezboard.com/fspursdominionfrm1.showMessage?topicID=876.topic">Cleve of Spurs Dominion in this thread,</a><!--EZCODE LINK END-->the Lakers must win at least 60-63% of their remaining games just to hope they get the <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>8th seed</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> in this year WC playoffs. I don't think anyone realizes how hard it is for a team to win over 60% of their games. The Lakers must go on a run soon or they minus will hang it up and enter the Lebron James crap shoot.<br>
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Mark my words they will be there when it counts and they will call this one the greatest of the four championships.<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :nuke --><img src=http://www.myezboard.com/projects/ezboard/ezboard_userimages/nuke.gif ALT=":nuke"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.sahoops.net/"><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQDqBOQUv96Q*aAyXJvhC4PpiqY5aClJPVxG2NkCtZhZohfA18sp9cB0Mm2RXo3eDH31HP7*AzJAdc6m90L45YCEuPWDr1AM8aLtyvld1AI/SAmikeyp.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></a><!--EZCODE LINK END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--> </p><i></i>