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for those who don't know, Shaq made some comments about Dwight Howard the other day, and they kind of got into a war of words. you can read everything thathappened prior to this in this thread:
http://niketalk.com/topic/157324
well after yesterday's game, Van Gundy made a comment about Shaq flopping against Dwight, and that just set Shaq off:
http://niketalk.com/topic/157324
well after yesterday's game, Van Gundy made a comment about Shaq flopping against Dwight, and that just set Shaq off:
[h1]O'Neal reacts strongly to Van Gundy flop comment[/h1]
By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer 38 minutes ago
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MIAMI (AP)-Shaquille O'Neal flopped against Orlando center Dwight Howard. Now he's standing up to Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.
Responding to Van Gundy's reaction about O'Neal's tactics against Howard on Tuesday night, the Phoenix center lashed out at his former coach with the Miami Heat, calling him "a master of panic" and "a frontrunner."
"One thing I really despise is a frontrunner," O'Neal said before the Suns played the Heat, Shaq's first time back in Miami since last season's trade. "I know for a fact he's a master of panic and when it gets time for his team to go into the postseason and do certain things, he will let them down because of his panic. I've been there before. I've played for him."
O'Neal was guarding Howard with about 4 minutes left in the third quarter Tuesday night. Howard made a spin move, O'Neal fell to the court in an effort to get an offensive foul called, and the Magic center easily dunked with two hands.
Afterward, Van Gundy said he was "shocked, seriously shocked and very disappointed because he knows what it's like. Let's stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that."
O'Neal, who typically does not talk before Suns games, didn't hold back when asked for his reaction. He played for Van Gundy in Miami for parts of two seasons and openly complained about coaching decisions in the 2005 Eastern Conference finals, when the Heat lost Game 7 at home to the Detroit Pistons.
"Flopping is playing like that your whole career," O'Neal said. "I was trying to take a charge, trying to get a call. Yeah, it probably was a flop, but flopping is wrong. Flopping would describe his coaching."
[h1]Shaq blasts Van Gundy[/h1]
Don't get in a war of words with Shaquille O'Neal. He's undefeated in verbal warfare.
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy took at a shot at O'Neal after the Magic's Tuesday night win against the Suns, criticizing O'Neal for "flopping." O'Neal had gone to the floor while defending Dwight Howard on one play and admitted after the game that it was a flop, "like everyone else does to me."
But O'Neal unleashed on Van Gundy before tonight's game in Miami. He rarely speaks before games but did so to a group of reporters and then again to the Republic to send his message tonight.
First, here's what Van Gundy said, ""I was shocked, seriously, shocked. And very disappointed cause he knows what it's like. Lets stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that tonight."
Now, here is O'Neal with some more profane moments retracted:
"He (Howard) came with the same old, stale Patrick Ewing move so I tried to stand there and take the charge. The new rules say if you come through, you fall. But as I fell, I realized that it was a flop and it reminded me of Coach Van Gundy's whole coaching career. The one thing I despise is a frontrunner. First of all, none of his players like him. When it gets tough, he will become the master of panic like he did before and he will quit like he did before. The one thing I despise is frontrunners. Yeah, he's got a young team playing good but don't be a frontrunner. Him and his brother and even the legend on the bench ain't done what I've done in my whole career. So flopping would be the wrong choice of words."
"I just tried to take a charge. The (expletive) rules say you can't stand there and get hit. You've got to fall. The (expletive) got the same old stinking move that Patrick Ewing has been doing his whole career. I went down, got up and didn't complain. I see him and Stan complaining the whole game because they've got to. Remember, I've done more than him, his brother and Patrick Ewing."
"Stan Van Gundy reminds me of a broke navigational system. He knows everything about everything but ain't never been nowhere. Think about that. If I'm right here and I type in the address of where you're going, I know where it's at but I'm not going there."
"When a bum says some (stuff) about it and I respond, you can (expletive) cancel that cuz I know how he is in real life. We'll see when the playoffs start and he (expletive) panics and quits like he did when he was here (in Miami). And you (expletive) print it just like that. Do I look soft to you like you can say something and I'm not going to say something?"
"Notice they didn't play me straight up. We'll see how far they go cuz I know Stan. I said this a long time ago but I was actually talking about him: 'When the general panics, the troops will panic. Like in business, when the head panics and takes out all his stock, what happens?"
"All the players hate him. The players don't even like him. I hate frontrunners. I really do. I don't like any frontrunners. There's a pecking order involved. I've been there six times."
"I ain't going to let no bum like him rip me and not say anything back. You can cancel that (expletive) all the way. Usually, I let (expletive) go. Not that. Not him. Hell no."
"The rules say when a guy goes through your chest you've got to fall to get the call. It was a flop. You've watched me play for 17 years. I don't play like that."
"I'm not going to sit around and let nobodies take a shot at me and he is a nobody to me. And if he thinks he can get in a little press conference and take shots at me like I'm not going to (say) something back, he's got another thing coming."
