http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/184149-4535-179.html
O'Neal rests, rebuilds body
Pacers' All-Star forward says he feels good after taking the summer to heal and bulk up.
Jermaine O'Neal, whose listed playing weight last season was 242 pounds, is pushing 260 at training camp.
By Sekou Smith
sekou.smith@indystar.com
October 6, 2004
What Jermaine O'Neal needed most after a four-year rise into the NBA's upper echelon was rest.
Rest from basketball, rest from the spotlight and rest from all the other trappings that come with being a 25-year-old superstar.
Strangely enough, it was O'Neal's aching body -- particularly his sore left knee -- that secured the down time he so desperately needed.
The Pacers' All-Star forward didn't go from the playoffs to his usual stint with USA Basketball, as he had the three previous summers.
Instead, he relaxed, reflected and then reshaped his body for training camp, which kicked off Tuesday at Conseco Fieldhouse. At 260 pounds, O'Neal is ready to carry the Pacers to places they've never been.
"I think rest I had in the summer will give me an opportunity to accomplish anything I want to accomplish this year, and that includes winning a championship and being MVP," said O'Neal, who finished third in the voting last season. "I feel great right now. I don't have to crawl my way through training camp. I'm happy. I'm definitely stronger and I feel like I'm quicker.
"And this is a big year for us. You can't win 61 games, get to the Eastern Conference finals and have a drop-off. You want to stay around 58 or 59 wins and stay in a position where you can compete for a championship again. And obviously, for us to do that, I have to come in play at a high level."
Pacers president Larry Bird expects no less.
"He's got to keep these guys together," Bird said of the increased leadership role O'Neal must assume this season. "You can talk all you want about all the guys here with a lot of talent. But when you boil it down, he and Ronnie (Artest) are the guys. And it has to be time for Jermaine to say, 'Hey, I'm the leader of this team.' He has to take over and lead by example."
After just one season with O'Neal, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he saw promising leadership traits, though it might not have been apparent to those outside of the organization.
"I really believe Jermaine has shown leadership in an understated way, and a lot of times it was done by example, which is very similar to how Larry did it when he played," said Carlisle, a teammate of Bird's in Boston in the 1980s. "There's no doubt in my mind Jermaine is at a point where he's willing to do whatever it takes to get this team and this franchise to a championship level."
Evidence of that can be found in O'Neal's offseason work and how wise he was in his attack while being mindful of his physical limitations.
Rather than rushing back to make up for what might have been had he and Jamaal Tinsley been healthy in the conference finals, O'Neal plotted his revival like the savvy veteran he has become.
"My knee took a long time to heal," O'Neal said. "I got cleared the first week of August, worked out for two weeks and then I went to Malibu and worked out with Reggie (Miller) and came down on somebody's foot and went back into the air cast for two weeks.
"But my trainer out in L.A. really worked around it. I had the air cast on and we still found a way to do bike races, elliptical machines and other stuff to help improve my speed, agility and quickness."
O'Neal found time to indulge his relentless work ethic in other ways, such as in the weight room.
And the results are tangible. Not only did he add weight, he's healthier than ever. In addition to his left leg, knee and ankle feeling fine, he enters camp without the chronic back pain that has plagued him the past three seasons.
"It's a multilevel process," O'Neal said. "I kept my weight up last year. I ate right and worked hard on my game all year. Hiring my chef helped.
"But strengthwise, I felt myself losing a little bit late in the season. That's why I felt like I had to go back and work on my strength. I'm as heavy as I've ever been right now, but I'm feeling a lot better about my size now. I'm comfortable this way because I know I've increased the strength in my base and I'm still quick."
All that said, O'Neal remains hesitant about taking the reigns on what others insist is "his" team.
His unyielding respect for Miller, who ranks O'Neal among the league's top four big men along with Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, won't allow him to break out completely.
"Until Reggie walks away, I don't want to step in front of him unless he comes and says, 'J.O., we've got to do this for this team,' " O'Neal said.
"I don't want to be disrespectful to Reggie because he's the face of not only this team but this city. So until he retires I've got to continue to do what I've been doing."
O'Neal rests, rebuilds body
Pacers' All-Star forward says he feels good after taking the summer to heal and bulk up.
Jermaine O'Neal, whose listed playing weight last season was 242 pounds, is pushing 260 at training camp.
By Sekou Smith
sekou.smith@indystar.com
October 6, 2004
What Jermaine O'Neal needed most after a four-year rise into the NBA's upper echelon was rest.
Rest from basketball, rest from the spotlight and rest from all the other trappings that come with being a 25-year-old superstar.
Strangely enough, it was O'Neal's aching body -- particularly his sore left knee -- that secured the down time he so desperately needed.
The Pacers' All-Star forward didn't go from the playoffs to his usual stint with USA Basketball, as he had the three previous summers.
Instead, he relaxed, reflected and then reshaped his body for training camp, which kicked off Tuesday at Conseco Fieldhouse. At 260 pounds, O'Neal is ready to carry the Pacers to places they've never been.
"I think rest I had in the summer will give me an opportunity to accomplish anything I want to accomplish this year, and that includes winning a championship and being MVP," said O'Neal, who finished third in the voting last season. "I feel great right now. I don't have to crawl my way through training camp. I'm happy. I'm definitely stronger and I feel like I'm quicker.
"And this is a big year for us. You can't win 61 games, get to the Eastern Conference finals and have a drop-off. You want to stay around 58 or 59 wins and stay in a position where you can compete for a championship again. And obviously, for us to do that, I have to come in play at a high level."
Pacers president Larry Bird expects no less.
"He's got to keep these guys together," Bird said of the increased leadership role O'Neal must assume this season. "You can talk all you want about all the guys here with a lot of talent. But when you boil it down, he and Ronnie (Artest) are the guys. And it has to be time for Jermaine to say, 'Hey, I'm the leader of this team.' He has to take over and lead by example."
After just one season with O'Neal, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he saw promising leadership traits, though it might not have been apparent to those outside of the organization.
"I really believe Jermaine has shown leadership in an understated way, and a lot of times it was done by example, which is very similar to how Larry did it when he played," said Carlisle, a teammate of Bird's in Boston in the 1980s. "There's no doubt in my mind Jermaine is at a point where he's willing to do whatever it takes to get this team and this franchise to a championship level."
Evidence of that can be found in O'Neal's offseason work and how wise he was in his attack while being mindful of his physical limitations.
Rather than rushing back to make up for what might have been had he and Jamaal Tinsley been healthy in the conference finals, O'Neal plotted his revival like the savvy veteran he has become.
"My knee took a long time to heal," O'Neal said. "I got cleared the first week of August, worked out for two weeks and then I went to Malibu and worked out with Reggie (Miller) and came down on somebody's foot and went back into the air cast for two weeks.
"But my trainer out in L.A. really worked around it. I had the air cast on and we still found a way to do bike races, elliptical machines and other stuff to help improve my speed, agility and quickness."
O'Neal found time to indulge his relentless work ethic in other ways, such as in the weight room.
And the results are tangible. Not only did he add weight, he's healthier than ever. In addition to his left leg, knee and ankle feeling fine, he enters camp without the chronic back pain that has plagued him the past three seasons.
"It's a multilevel process," O'Neal said. "I kept my weight up last year. I ate right and worked hard on my game all year. Hiring my chef helped.
"But strengthwise, I felt myself losing a little bit late in the season. That's why I felt like I had to go back and work on my strength. I'm as heavy as I've ever been right now, but I'm feeling a lot better about my size now. I'm comfortable this way because I know I've increased the strength in my base and I'm still quick."
All that said, O'Neal remains hesitant about taking the reigns on what others insist is "his" team.
His unyielding respect for Miller, who ranks O'Neal among the league's top four big men along with Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, won't allow him to break out completely.
"Until Reggie walks away, I don't want to step in front of him unless he comes and says, 'J.O., we've got to do this for this team,' " O'Neal said.
"I don't want to be disrespectful to Reggie because he's the face of not only this team but this city. So until he retires I've got to continue to do what I've been doing."
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