For the sixth time in postseason franchise history the MiIAMI HEAT has won the first two games of a playoff series. Prior to this postseason, when the Heat has won the first two games of a playoff series, they have gone on to win the series all five times.

This is a record we would like to see again.

With the Heat struggling on the road as evident in Chicago it is becoming alarming to Heat fans that the NBA title is again slipping away. The series has been a difficult one especially for Shaq since he has not delivered the goods.

Being a second seeded team, the Heat is supposed to dismiss a seventh seed team quickly and decisively in five games not six or  seven.  With the Heat being extended by the Bulls they would have put out a lot of energy to dispatch of them. We must also remember that the Heat team is filled with veteran players. Shaq is 34 years, which is not really old by NBA standards but remember this is still considered a veteran team which has to be able to bounce back from defeats and setbacks and not fight amongst themselves.

I am sure you can remember when Shaq was a force of nature and the NBA didn’t care how many people he ran over on the way to the hoop; he was as great a center as we’d ever seen. Seems like it was only yesterday! These days, even a streamlined Shaq simply looks slow and old. Recently he whined about the way the refs were calling the games, and was promptly fined $25,000 by the league.

But jost of his fouls are either the result of his bullying tactics on offense or his lack of foot speed on defense. Antoine Walker, Shaq’s teammate said, “I think (the referees) have to understand he’s 315 pounds and he’s playing against smaller guys. And every little move or flop is not a foul.”

In two Heat losses, Shaq scored 26 points and barely played half of each game. Last Sunday, a couple of hours before Kobe saved the day for L.A., the Heat was trying to pull out a win, and coach Pat Riley didn’t even have Shaq on the floor at the end of the game.

We have to ask the question why was Shaq pulled at the end of the game?. If it is a tight game you need your best players on the floor. Is it because Coach Riley thinks that he would hinder the team more than he will help or he just wanted defenders on the floor? Shaq is still a premier center. He is also good for the NBA, which can still trade on his name and personality.

To take us to the ‘promised’ land Shaq has to stay out of foul trouble and take over the game when necessary.