Heat Coach Pat Riley is talking about adding extra bulk to give C Shaquille O’Neal a real workout at team practices.
Riley’s idea? Sumo wrestlers.
“We’re going to bring them in and have them lean on him and lean on him and we’re not going to let him just back them in, “Riley said. “And then he’s going to have to take 100 jump hooks and 100 turnaround jumpers.”
In Riley’s eyes, there isn’t much difference between sumo wrestling and the way teams defend his 7-foot-1, 340-pound center. Matches between sumo wrestlers typically last 10 to 15 seconds, with two massive men pushing and shoving, trying to knock the other from a circular area. Defending Shaq is essentially the same concept.
“The only ways for teams to keep Shaquille from getting good position is to hold him and to grab him, “Miami C Alonzo Mourning said.
Opposing post players often keep at least one arm and often both — plus elbows — in his back, using every bit of leverage they can muster from their 260-pound bodies to keep him away from the basket. If O’Neal defended in a similar fashion, bodies would fly and he’d spend most games entirely sidelined with foul trouble.
However, O’Neal probably won’t be facing anyone bigger than him anytime soon. At a recent major tournament in Japan, the average weight of a sumo was 341 pounds.
Meantime, with 18 points on Sunday, O’Neal passed Charles Barkley and moved into 15th place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 23,767 points.
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