First the Free Throws and Now All This?

After Shaquille O’Neal’s latest brawl, what will we hear from him until the Lakers play the Rockets again? “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna get him! Nobody can stop me. I’ll get my 30, no matter what they do to me.”

No you won’t, Shaq. Not while you are sitting in the locker room.

JON ROE

Los Angeles

*

I’m tired of watching the weaker NBA teams like Dallas foul Shaq away from the ball, early in the game. I understand that, toward the end of the game, this type of strategy is necessary, but in the second quarter? I’m not paying hundreds of dollars for tickets, concessions and souvenirs, and 12 bucks for parking at Staples, to see a game slowed to a crawl by 150 foul shots.

TOM TUCHSCHER

West Los Angeles

*

Memo to Phil Jackson and Shaquille O’Neal:

Here’s a solution to the “strategy” employed by other teams to stop Shaq: Make your free throws!

ROBERT LU

Temple City

*

Last Saturday, the Trail Blazers dominated the Lakers, 97-82. The Lakers shot 50% from the foul line and the Trail Blazers shot 95%. Reverse these percentages and the Lakers win, 97-88.

P.J. GENDELL

Beverly Hills