by Charley Rosen

Updated: April 10, 2008, 11:43 PM EST 432 comments

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Well, I guess it's time for me to eat my words: On the basis of the Suns' whomping of the Spurs (in San Antonio, no less), Shaq has been effectively integrated into Phoenix's game plan.

Shaq helped the Suns steamroll the Spurs in the fourth quarter. (Eric Gay / Associated Press)

It's also true, however, that Shaq had a decidedly mediocre first half. Missing a pair of easies, committing several dumb fouls, fumbling two catchable passes, permitting Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to shoot uncontested short- and mid-range jumpers (which all missed), and scoring only one bucket on a dive-cut, an assist-pass from Steve Nash, and a dunker.

But then the Suns tweaked their strategy at the start of the third quarter — force-feeding the ball into Shaq on the left box and letting him attack Oberto's straight-up defense. In the space of three minutes, Shaq dropped a pair of baby hooks and one of his patented turnaround jumpies. Despite this mini-rampage, the Spurs were reluctant to double Shaq because Boris Diaw (5-11), Leandro Barbosa (6-9), Grant Hill (4-6) and Amare Stoudemire (8-13) were all shooting bull's-eyes.

On defense, Shaq bodied Tim Duncan into a rash of misses. And if Shaq was credited with only one block, he did manage five intimidations.

Shaq had to be called to the bench after picking up his fourth foul when he blatantly strong-armed Oberto in the battle of the boards. And when he returned to the action in the fourth quarter, the Spurs tried a different tactic to try and contain the big fellow — having Oberto front him and then bringing TD to help from the weak-side.

But Shaq was simply too powerful to be hindered by extra hands and bodies so close to the hoop. He either blasted his way through the gathered defenders to score a layup, or was fouled in the process.

In his 24-plus minutes of daylight, Shaq was 7-9, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 5 turnovers (mostly offensive fouls), and 16 points.

If the Suns' defense (particularly their 2-3 zone) was too quick for the Spurs to penetrate with any regularity, the home team continued to be plagued with poor shooting, hitting only 42.0 percent overall and a meager 2-9 from long distance.

Manu Ginobili struggled to notch 10 points on 3-12 shooting. TD needed 21 shots to score 23 points. And after a gala first half, Tony Parker had difficulty shaking free of the Suns' collapsing defense — 9-17, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 20 points.

The Suns demonstrated that they are deeper (six players in double-digit scoring to the Spurs' three), quicker, younger, and also they appeared to be much hungrier.

It's evident that, while the Spurs are showing their age and lack of team-wide athleticism, the Suns are peaking at exactly the right time.

In other words, with a relatively spry Shaq perfectly plugged into their revised program, the Suns can go big, medium or small, and still maintain furious pressure at both ends of the court. If its key players can stay healthy, Phoenix has as good a chance as anybody else of being the last team standing (make that running) after the dust has settled in the Western Conference playoffs.

Straight Shooting

Here's my annual Hall of Fame rant.

Pat Riley certainly deserves to be inducted, as does Adrian Dantley.

Hakeem Olajuwon, of course, is one of the greatest players and greatest human beings who ever graced the NBA. It was Hakeem, remember, who first introduced a line of low-cost sneakers.

I am always dubious about owners and other executives gaining admittance into the HOF, so I'll pass on commenting about William Davidson.

And while I'll readily admit that Patrick Ewing had HOF career numbers, I do have some reservations about his being "immortalized." To whit:

Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon will enter the Hall of Fame together. (Nathaniel S. Butler / Getty Images)

As soon as he escaped from John Thompson's clutches, Ewing disdained playing defense and totally concentrated on scoring.

His selfishness with the Knicks was legendary, as was his incomprehension of any of the game's more subtle nuances.

Diehard Knick fans still remember all the clunkers he shot in the clutch.

One afternoon after a game day shootaround, Ewing was chauffeured to a hospital where he was scheduled to visit a ward housing children with terminal diseases. Ewing always resisted extracurricular activities (except for his well-publicized adulterous dalliance with one of the Knicks dancers), and he groused all the way to the hospital. When he finally got there, the poor kids were all aglow at his presence. But Ewing cut his visit short. And when a few of these tragic children begged him for an autograph, Ewing refused, saying, "I never sign autographs on game days."

When a journeyman player criticized Ewing for not playing any defense and for not practicing hard enough, the player was cut the next day.

And when Don Nelson shifted the focus of the Knicks offense away from Ewing, Nellie was also a goner.

It's understood that character flaws do not automatically disqualify anybody from being honored in Springfield — there are, after all, several time-honored inductees who were in cahoots with gamblers both as collegians and in the NBA (but that's another story), some were druggies and some were alcoholics. Nevertheless, even as Ewing is being canonized by an adoring media, his clay feet should also be noted.

As for Dick Vitale, a.k.a. The Mouth That Roared, a.k.a. The Shill That Shrilled ... his induction only proves how much the game has been sullied by hype.

And what about Dennis Johnson? Not including him is a travesty.

To say nothing about the continued and unjustified exclusion of Tex Winter, who has more championship rings than all of the other inducted players-cum-coaches combined.

Vox Populi

Hey, Charley, I'm a big fan! Do you think that players from the '50s through the '70s would even make a D-league team? I don't. If a slob like Jerome James played in those years we would never have heard of Russell and Wilt. OUCH! — Victor, Puerto Rico

Here's your chance to fire back at Charley Rosen. Submit it below and Charley may just respond. Subject: Comment/Question: Name:  Email:  Hometown:

I hope you're still a fan after you read my answer.

Here's an all-star team from the old days — a team, not just a collection of stellar players.

At center, Wilt, Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

At power forward, Dave DeBusschere, Nate Thurmond, Kevin McHale and Willis Reed.

At small forward, Julius Erving, John Havlicek and Gus Johnson

At guard, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, and Oscar Robertson.

These guys would win 70-plus games and cruise to an NBA championship.

Contrary to popular opinion, the current players aren't necessarily the best ever, and the game wasn't co-invented by MJ and Magic.

Travels with Charley

The joke used to be that the only guy who could contain Michael Jordan was Dean Smith — only because at UNC he limited MJ's playing time and shot opportunities.

When Bill Cartwright asked for the ball, he really wanted it. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

But the reality is the only guy who ever successfully faced down Jordan was Bill Cartwright. Here's how it happened:

When Cartwright joined the Bulls in 1988 (traded from the Knicks for Charles Oakley) he was renowned for his defense (especially against Patrick Ewing — but that's also another story), along with his aching back, his poor rebounding skills, his inability to pass, and his rapidly diminishing ability to score. Among his peers, Cartwright was likewise celebrated for his ferocious competitive nature and his selective brutality in the low post.

In those days, Phil Jackson's version of Tex Winter's triangle offense was usually initiated by a pass into Cartwright — whose bulk and ability to seal a defender made him a reliable target. However, MJ had no confidence (and rightly so) in "Medical Bill's" passwork, so he pointedly ignored both his coaches' instruction and Cartwright's hulking presence.

Time and again, Jordan would look to move the ball elsewhere, even if Cartwright was unguarded. Until, finally, Cartwright took the situation in hand.

One day before a practice session, Cartwright approached Jordan to say something like this: "If you don't pass me the ball when you're supposed to, then I'm going to kick your butt. Plain and simple. This isn't a threat. It's a warning."

Not even His Airness wanted to mess with Cartwright. So, incoming passes from MJ became the norm, and the Bulls went on to win three championships with Cartwright at the hub of the offense.