He hasn't worked with Shaquille O'Neal in a year, but that doesn't keep Ed Palubinskas, the self-proclaimed greatest shooter alive, from assuming the improvement is his handiwork.
"What I teach," Palubinskas says, "is not readily available."
Palubinskas, you may recall, is the former Utah prep coach who specializes in the fine art of free-throw shooting. The man claims to have once made 598 in a row. He recently worked his craft on the L.A. Sparks' Lisa Leslie, a career 73-percent shooter, who was making 96 percent of her shots after three days of instruction. (She is making 81 percent of her shots in the WNBA this season.)
Before the 2000-2001 season, he was hired to improve O'Neal's dreadful numbers. Palubinskas allowed that his reputation was on the line. If you ask him, that 10 in a row Shaq made in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals last week was all his doing. Same for the 11-15 performance in Game 7. But Wednesday in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Shaq was as unpredictable as a twister. He made five of his first six, missed two, made one, missed one, made one, missed two. You get the idea. He finished the night 12-21 from the line.
Not exactly the numbers Jeff Hornacek would put up, but by Shaq's standards, not bad.
"Thing is that now he never hits the front of the rim. Everyone knows he has a very good chance to make the shot. He never shoots 38 percent or 35 percent. They know there's a very high probability it's going in," continues Palubinskas.
Or at least some probability.
If you haven't been following this story, it can be summarized by saying that the world's most dominant player has a flaw. Throughout his career, O'Neal has been unstoppable down low. The catch was that all anyone had to do was foul him. A monster on the inside, he became a pussycat once he went to the line. Shots flew from his hands at the most embarrassing angles.
Enter Palubinskas, a former Louisiana State and Ricks College star, who claims he can turn the average 70 percent shooter in to a 95 percent shooter. All it takes it the right coaching.
The improvement wasn't so dramatic for O'Neal, but he had further to go than most. As Palubinskas puts it, Shaq presents "a very, very difficult case."
The year Palubinskas worked directly with O'Neal (2000-2001), the Laker center's percentage actually dropped a point, from 52 to 51. Fine, said the shooting guru, he was breaking Shaq down to the basics and building him back.
This season the Lakers and O'Neal didn't retain Palubinskas. O'Neal is a multimillionaire who isn't interested in shooting 95 percent from the line. He's fine with any improvement. Fortified with Palubinskas' principles, he was up to better than 55 percent this year, the best since his rookie season.
O'Neal has become increasingly adept in the playoffs. He made 64 percent of his tries through the conference finals. He made an unprecedented 24 of 32, a downright respectable 75 percent, in the two games prior to the Finals.
Still, it's never a sure thing with Shaq. He holds the ball on the fingertips as if tossing an apple in the garbage. The trajectory remains flat. Palubinskas says the handling of the ball that way is his idea; O'Neal's hands are so large he needs to keep the ball well out on the fingertips. The odd trajectory is due to Shaq's size and an old wrist injury that prevents flexibility.
Whatever the reasons, there seems to be a considerable attitude change when O'Neal is at the line. They still foul him late in games, but he makes enough to keep them nervous. "They'll (other teams) give up soon, stop fouling stupidly," says Palubinskas. "Now he's not (just) a 50 percent shooter anymore."
Now he's Shaquille O'Neal, marksman extraordinaire.
Or at least marksman mediocre.
When you've been where Shaq's been, that's more than enough.
E-MAIL: rock@desnews.com