Shaquille O'Neal - The original 'Superman'

The Big Shaqtus, Shaqnifique, The Big Shamrock, Shaqtastic, Shaq Attack, Shaq-Fu, The Big Diesel.

Whatever nickname he chose to be known as, Shaquille O'Neal will always be known as one of the best players to ever set foot in the NBA. 7ft 1in tall, 300lb (even more at times), Shaq would bully his way through the toughest of defenses and dunk the ball like you weren't there. At times his power could be scary - many rims were bent, buckled, pulled off. The man even brought down a whole basketball hoop on his own. How a man so big and heavy could jump so high defied the laws of physics. When he took to the air, players practically pushed each other to get out of his way. His special "Black Tornado" move left defenders bamboozled, high and dry trying to defend thin air as he spun his way past and dunked before his man had a chance to count to 3.

In 19 seasons, Shaq played with 6 teams, winning 4 titles, 3 NBA Finals MVP awards and the 2000-01 NBA MVP award along with 15 All-Star game appearances. 5th on the All-time scoring list with 28,596 points, he led the league in Shooting % (shots made out of shots attempted) for 10 seasons, breaking the previous, 40+ year-old record of 9. His stats speak for themselves. Shaq was one of just a few players to average over 20pts and 10 rebounds for his career (23 and 11).

If he was playing for your team, there was no other man in the world you would rather have the ball near the basket. His dunking madness allowed him to finish his career with 58% of his shots made, a testament to his under-the-basket style.

Winner of 3 NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and up and coming star Kobe Bryant, Shaq became the undisputed face of the post-Michael Jordan NBA. After a long and embarrassing feud with Bryant, Shaq was forced out of the Lakers' door and signed with the Miami Heat. Angry at the Lakers' attempt to replace him with Vlade Divac, an inadequate center at the best of times, Shaq teamed up with Dwyane Wade to deliver a title to Miami and stick his finger up to his old team.

He never quite hit the same heights again after this championship year as he moved across the league to Pheonix, Cleveland and finally ending the journey in Boston. But what he lost on the court he made up for with his larger-than-life personality off the court.

Some of his antics will be long remembered; throwing parties in various cities where he would be working the mic, dancing with whoever turned up. He released 4 rap albums and had 2 reality TV shows, further spreading his name across the entertainment world. His 2009 All-Star entrance will go down as one of the most memorable - and ridiculous - in history.

His retirement is probably a few seasons overdue, but it doesn't make the sadness any less. Shaq was by far the most dominant player since MJ, perhaps one of the most dominant ever given his defensive presence. He earns a spot in my Top 10 All-time players for his incredible career. Thanks for it all, Dr. Shaq.

The keys to a still-young series.

The Chicago Bulls lead the Miami Heat 1-0 in their Eastern Conference Finals match-up.

A lot of experts and pundits alike picked the Heat to win this series and seemed to be writing off the Bulls' chances before the opening tip. Now, these same people are having to revise their opinions quite drastically after Chicago dished out a 21-point battering on a flat-looking Heat squad.

The Bulls certainly played their best ball of this post-season following on from a high performance in Game 6 of the previous series. However, they won't play quite as well again in this series one would expect as the Bulls' bench brought Chicago an incredible advantage for Game 1.

You could also expect that Lebron James and Dwyane Wade will not combine for only 33 points again in this series, they will both go on to have a huge game themselves that could provide the scoring needed to overcome a smothering Bulls' defense. It's not even like Miami shot poorly (47%), even shooting better than the home team's 43%. It was the rebounding that killed the Heat in this one. Out-rebounded 45-33 in the game, 19-6 on the offensive end. Though rebounding was a major issue for the Heat in the season-series between this pair: 131-99 Bulls in 3 games.

Keys to the Series:

Miami:
1. Limit the Bulls rebounding. Rebounding was the killer in this game and it has been all season against Chicago. Their rebounders need to do a better job of getting themselves between the ball and Bulls' players crashing the boards. Easier said than done, but the Heat went small in Game 1 as Ilgauskas and Dampier weren't even in uniform. Expect at least one of them to be activated for Wednesday night.

2. Get into the paint. Chicago also did a good little number on Wade and James as they struggled to get into the lane for easy points and had to settle for contested jump-shots. Bosh was left alone by his defender and Miami did do a good job of finding him inside.


3. Move the ball. Wade and Lebron tend to play a lot of isolated, 1-vs-1 plays that rely on themselves only. This plays right into the hands of a Bulls defense built on stopping this sort of play. Miami had very few assists and this contributed to their downfall. If they can move the ball more they can move the Bulls out of that defensive shell around the paint, opening up space for Lebron and Wade to get into the paint.

Chicago:
1. Limit Turnovers/fast-break points. If the Bulls hadn't committed 8 first-half turnovers, this game would have been a non-contest at half time. The Heat's offense is unstoppable in the open court, they scored their first 4 points on fast-break dunks that looked to set the tone for a long night for Bulls' fans.


2. If you're name is Rose, get to the rim. Derrick Rose took a lot more jump shots than viewers are used to seeing. He needs to do a better job of getting into the paint. When he gets into the paint, the defense collapses around him and this opens up the outside shooters the Bulls have enough of to be dangerous. Another plus of this defensive collapse is that the Bulls can crash the boards so much easier. Rose also attempted just 6 free-throws although this was a game-high. (Wade and James had 4 each).


3. Get more from Boozer. Boozer may have had a good game on first viewing. 14 points though is not his real level. Luol Deng won't be going off for 21 points every game so Boozer's offense becomes that much more important especially considering the Chicago bench won't be scoring just as much again either.

I still stick by my prediction of the Bulls in 7 as the Heat have enough talent to win at least their home games. I think the Bulls team-oriented style will beat the Heat's individual-oriented style: when James and Wade don't get their points the Heat have very few alternatives to ask to make up the difference.