COAST TO COAST

We win as a team, just not often

Miami Coach Pat Riley backed Dwyane Wade for zinging Shaquille O’Neal (“If somebody’s not getting it done, I can’t be the only voice to always reprimand,”) then yanked O’Neal 58 seconds into a game in New Jersey.

Guess who’s gunning for O’Neal?

Right, the media!

“You’re barking up that tree, the obvious, academic tree,” Riley told the Heat reporters. “We’re 2-8 and it’s not his fault. . . . Everything I read is directed at him.”

He’s right. Who’s the team president and coach who gave O’Neal a five-year extension through 2010, signed Antoine Walker and traded for Jason Williams?

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Throwback

Then there was Chicago Coach Scott Skiles, who apologized for skewering forward Tyrus Thomas (“We ask him to sprint the floor. To my knowledge, in his career, he hasn’t done it one time. Not one time.”) without saying the media misquoted him, made him say it, or has it in for Thomas.

“It’s hard when you say something and you’re quoted accurately to back up and say, ‘I didn’t mean it that way,’ but that’s honestly the case,” Skiles said.

“I had a little something else going on, got distracted, and I was way too harsh.”

If Skiles goes 41-41, he’s my coach of the year.

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Where did we go wrong? Oh yeah

The 76ers, who were 10-29 when they traded Allen Iverson before their dramatic late-season push that dropped them to No. 12 in the draft, are now wondering what they did.

Andre Iguodala just zinged Coach Maurice Cheeks (“We’re just not getting a lot out of practice”) but denied there was any rift.

OK, Cheeks just needed a little help, that was all. Iguodala still likes him.

Meanwhile General Manager Billy King denied a rumor about sending Andre Miller to Miami, even if Miller is 31, will be a free agent after next season, and doesn’t fit in a rebuilding program.

Since King got Miller for Iverson, he may not want to acknowledge that mistake, either -- at least before the trade deadline.

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Positioning himself

After 12 low-maintenance seasons, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan was upset at being listed at center on the All-Star ballot, which meant no chance at starting with the heavy Asian vote for Yao Ming.

After talks between the Spurs, Duncan’s agent, Lon Babby, league officials and media members who selected the candidates, Duncan was returned to forward.

Actually, Duncan has always been a center. He played center at Wake Forest, jumps center and lines up, whether in the high or low post, as a center, which sounds like a center.

Now to see how far Duncan is prepared to go with six West forwards averaging more than his 18.2 points.

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Finally, someone wants to be traded here!

New Jersey’s Jason Kidd, who openly rooted for a trade to the Lakers last season, was sending up more distress signals when the Nets’ losing streak reached six games with Vince Carter out, while averaging 81 points.

“Right now there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and healthy, we’re the same team,” Kidd said.

The Nets have since won two in a row and Kidd is no likelier to be traded than Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers will have to keep it together if they all get mentioned in trade proposals.

-- Mark Heisler