Sit Shaq

My fellow Heatians,

Before you burn me at the stake, hear me out. The Heat have a 2-0 lead over a very inconfident Wizards team. Game 3 is tonight in Washington, sure, but I think the Heat have more than enough to win this series without Shaq.

Let's face it, Shaq is not healthy and was mostly unproductive in Game 2. He played 37 minutes and was 6-11 from the field and 4-8 from the free throw line. Solid all around for Shaq and pretty much typical in terms of efficiency for Shaq.

The problem though is that he dropped a lot of passes and his timing was oh so very off. His patented tornado spin to the hoop, finishing with a thundering dunk, was more like a yo-yo spiraling out of control. Entangling everyone around him.

I propose that Shaq sits. We need Shaq to beat the elite teams, not the Wizards. And more importantly, we will need a healthy Shaq against the anticipated Pistons (if they escape to meet us in the next round).

Again, the Heat can beat the Wizards without Shaq. And they most certainly can with Zo and Doleac getting the lion's share of minutes at the center position. Ironically, Zo is healthy and Shaq is not. Let's use Zo passion on the defensive end to fuel us this round. We may not win in 4, but most likely in 5 or even 6.

There are other things to consider. Shaq was labored intensley for positioning on both offense and defense. He had to battle for offensive position and for rebounds. In fact, Shaq had only 7 rebounds in those 37 minutes while Zo had 3 in 8 minutes. Of course, Zo had 4 fouls, too - which is a concern. But it cannot be overlooked that Zo's interior defense changes the way the Wizards approach the game offensively. Just ask Gilby Arenas - who saw himself get blocked three times by Zo in Game 1. Shaq, as big as he is, is vulnerable to being driven on and attacked in the paint. And as thin as the Wizards' frontcourt is (remember, no Kwame Brown) this could be an opportunity for the Heat to flex its muscle while resting Shaq. Sharpening guys like Doleac and Zo some more and getting contributions from Laettner and Haslem.

The Wizards are a perimeter team and rely on those players to score in order to win. They run the infamous 'Princeton offense' which doesn't dictate the Heat using the Big Bowling Ball to bludgeon them to death. Just have the perimeter defenders step up and out on Hughes, Arenas and Jamison and filter them towars Zo and his shot blocking artistry. That can be another formula to win.

Stan Van Gundy cited the Heat's poor free throw shooting and turnovers as keys to keeping the Wizards in game 2. None of those things instantly improve by sitting Shaq, and in fact, my argument is not made with stats in mind. Just concern as we head forward in the playoffs where it will become even more imperative that we have a healthy Shaq.

Actually, my argument is made regarding stats - the most important of all - wins. And a healthy Shaq in the future increases those stats and pushes us further towards the ultimate goal.