Against Suns, Shaq to Be Feeling Even More Heat

And the moral of that story is . . .

No, the Phil Jackson Five didn’t prevail over the Sacramento Kings by dint of the superior sophistication of its fans, or the divine right of Laker teams.

Despite comments to the contrary, these aren’t cultural competitions in which everyone has a civic duty to demean the opposing team, city and fans. Hopefully, we all like where we live, which should be good enough.

After all, this is Southern California. We have the beach, the mountains, the weather (plus traffic, smog and astronomic housing prices). Do we have to run down Sacramento, Phoenix or Portland to feel good about being here?

No, this was about basketball and, in the Lakers’ case, trying to win a championship with a team built around a dominating center.

Basketball has always been about big men and the bigger the better, but the 1980s saw a new vogue, the theory that multipurpose, position-transcending players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan had turned the big lugs into dinosaurs who were now irrelevant.

After all, Magic’s Lakers won five titles in the decade, Bird’s Celtics won three. Jordan’s Bulls won six in the ‘90s. Of course, this overlooked a lot: Magic had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bird had Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Jordan had . . . Luc Longley?

OK, maybe there was something to it. The ‘80s had witnessed something else: the rise of team defense, with coordinated schemes based on double-teaming, overplaying and taking away an offense’s first option.

A dominating center is still a wonderful thing to have, but one like Shaquille O’Neal--”the last true post player,” as he calls himself, accurately--now has a problem too.

He’s at the heart of the defense, where it can help out and cover up easiest. It’s harder with post players like Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon or Tim Duncan, who can give ground when they feel double-teams coming and move back to shoot. But opponents know where to find O’Neal--12 feet and in--and can cut him down to size any time they feel like making the commitment and daring others--A.C. Green, Robert Horry, Ron Harper--to beat them.

This triggers the accompanying posturing and jockeying. The Lakers say O’Neal is being maimed. The opponent says he’s leaving tire tracks on their chests.

The Lakers say the opponent has five guys clinging to O’Neal like Christmas ornaments. The opponent sees an NBA/NBC plot in any illegal defense call.

In the end, O’Neal has to stay cool, which he’s great at, and make some free throws, which he isn’t, having missed 26 of his last 38. His teammates have to know that while he may carry them some nights, there will be others when they have to step up fast.

The Suns are better defensively than Sacramento, but who isn’t? Nor can they be counted on to expire at the city limits, like the Kings, for whom an away game is like a day in the sun for a vampire.

Phoenix is different than Los Angeles too. It’s sandier and hotter and Sun fans are, of course, more boisterous, but that’s not the Lakers’ problem. It’s the Suns’ 12 players, all carrying maps with arrows pointing at O’Neal.

PLAYOFFS 2000: SECOND ROUND

All in all, it was a great first round, even if it lasted a month or so.

Both No. 8-seeded teams (Sacramento, Milwaukee) took No. 1-seeded teams (Indiana, Lakers) to a fifth game, as did one No. 7, Seattle against No. 2 Utah.

This helped make up for two injury-plagued series with Miami getting a walkover against Detroit, which lost Grant Hill, and San Antonio, without Duncan, succumbing to Phoenix, which got Jason Kidd back for only Game 4.

Here’s how the next round looks:

* Lakers vs. Suns--The Lakers are jubilant any time they play a team without a 7-foot threat (sorry, Longley) or two to throw at O’Neal. The Suns are happy any time they don’t have to face O’Neal. The Suns are tougher and defend better than people think and won’t go easily, but go they will.

* Portland vs. Utah--This isn’t the Trail Blazers’ worst nightmare, either. They’ve been off for five days while Utah’s elders had to play until Friday to beat the zany SuperSonics, board a plane Saturday and play today. This looks like last season when Utah escaped the Kings in a five-game first-round series and fell meekly--to the Trail Blazers--in the second. It also looks like Portland-Los Angeles in the West finals . . . and the Lakers’ toughest test.

* Indiana vs. Philadelphia--Larry Brown’s new team (the 76ers, in case you lost track) meets one of his old ones . . . again. Last season, the Pacers swept the 76ers, 4-0, but this is an uneasy Indiana team, upset about rebuilding moves, and it doesn’t defend any more, as the Bucks just showed. The 76ers used to have the Flight Brothers (Allen Iverson and Larry Hughes). Now they feature the Chip Fracture Brothers (Iverson, Eric Snow) and they lost the opener by 17. But the 76ers could still spring the upset.

* Miami vs. New York--Ugh. The matchup basketball purists and fans of scores in the 90s hoped never to see again is back for the fourth spring in a row. The Knicks upset the Heat in the first round the last two and look capable of sending the Heat home again. Miami’s Tim Hardaway is expected back, but he was a pale imitation of himself before getting hurt. Patrick Ewing, who was bigger, used to outplay Alonzo Mourning, his surrogate little brother from Georgetown. Now, however, Ewing is 37 and Mourning averaged 22 to his 15 in their meetings last season. But the Knicks have superior size and numbers and just need Ewing to keep it close.

FACES AND FIGURES

Hold them close, I’ll think of something: Miami’s Pat Riley, who likes to turn to himself and his past adventures for inspiration in moments of duress, has sequestered his team in a local hotel, away from distractions like families and friends. “During the playoffs, you don’t want your players to be people,” Riley said. “Some of my guys don’t agree. They’d rather be home in Miami. But this is the important thing in their life right now. If winning a world championship is not meaningful like that, go play at the YMCA.” . . . OK, what are they supposed to be, if not people? For entertainment, bonding and testosterone- stirring, Riley took his players to see the movie “U-571.” Said Rear Admiral Riles: “It’s about a group of men who are highly professional, who really know their jobs and who have to deal with a very intense, conflicting situation.” . . . In other words, if the Knicks see a submarine next to the Miami bench, they shouldn’t be surprised. . . .

Jordan’s interview of Lenny Wilkens was strictly a courtesy. Jordan didn’t think much of Wilkens when the Bulls were plowing his Cleveland teams under each spring. Moreover, Jordan is an inner-circle guy. One old friend, Darrell Walker, is expected to keep the coaching job on a permanent basis, while another, Warrior assistant Rod Higgins, is expected to join the Wizard front office. . . . Not that they still haven’t worked the kinks out but: Jordan attended the last night of the recent pre-draft camp at Phoenix and signed autographs for several of the players. However, the Wizards alone had no one there the rest of the week. . . .

With Duncan and Hill expected to stay where they are, at least for another season, Eddie Jones goes to the top of the free-agent list--and it still sounds as though he’s leaving. He didn’t ride the charter home after the Hornets’ season ended in Philadelphia. Asked if he had anything nice to say about Charlotte, he said, “I don’t know. I don’t know. I can’t answer that. It depends on what a person likes. A quiet city. I mean, you’ve got a city with good people. And you have some fans. That’s about it.” . . .

Butch Carter, parting shots: The Raptors announced their embattled coach will no longer answer phone calls from reporters, and all interview requests must go through the public relations department. Carter told a Toronto radio station Marcus Camby’s charge he was a “liar” was part of a plot (but, presumably, not the same plot Riley was talking about.) Carter thinks former Raptor GM Isiah Thomas is still intriguing against him. . . . Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady backed Butch Carter, but McGrady, this summer’s other plum free agent, is thought to be on his way out of town. Meanwhile, Raptor veterans think Butch Carter sold out to the kids. Doug Christie, asked point-blank if Carter cost them the series: ‘No question. It was difficult with everything going on to focus on basketball. I don’t think I remember anything about the series on the court.” . . . How bad was it? Even Commissioner David Stern suggested the coach lost it. “There’s a certain kind of pressure and publicity that comes from being in the playoff spotlight that you just don’t know about or understand until you’ve experienced it,” Stern said. “ . . . It gets to be a kind of deal where you sense the moon is full 24 hours a day and almost anything goes and anything can happen. It reminds me of the old days when Phil Jackson was coaching Chicago and Pat Riley was coaching New York. By the time the playoffs were one game old, one coach had us fixing the series with the officials and one with the networks. Utterly bizarre. Well, welcome, Toronto, to the NBA playoffs. It’s nice to have you.”