Shaq Generating Shaq-Sized Buzz, Expectations in Cleveland

CLEVELAND -- The lights go down at Quicken Loans Arena and "XL'' flashes on the video board. Could this be a tribute to the arrival of a certain extra-large guy?

Well, not exactly.

"I'm 3XL myself,'' said center Shaquille O'Neal.

The "XL'' during the Cleveland Cavaliers' pregame introductions Tuesday night actually stands for a Roman numeral. The Cavaliers are in their 40th season.

But an argument easily can be made this is the most exciting season in the team's four decades thanks to the acquisition of the extra-large guy. OK, triple-extra-large guy.

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"It's ramped up even more,'' Cavaliers television analyst Austin Carr said of the excitement in Cleveland. "You could see the city was down a little bit after what happened at the end of last season (the Cavaliers were upset by Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals). But all of a sudden, Shaq comes along (in a June 25 trade from Phoenix), and it's back up to sky high now.''

Carr, the No. 1 pick in the 1971 draft by Cleveland and who has his number retired by the team, has been with the Cavaliers in some capacity for nearly their entire history. There's been mostly misery, but now a pair of fellow top draft picks have expectations higher than ever.

O'Neal, the No. 1 selection in 1992, has been paired with forward LeBron James, the top pick in 2003 and the reigning NBA MVP. The duo was unveiled in Cleveland's first preseason game Tuesday, a 92-87 win over Charlotte.

"It was fun,'' O'Neal said. "These games you want to finally play.''

O'Neal and James played only the first half as Cavaliers coach Mike Brown turned matters over to the scrubs after intermission. But there were glimpses of what the two can do together.

James threw a nice alley-oop to O'Neal for a layup and another one for what would have been a dunk had O'Neal not been fouled. And, with James serving as a decoy, O'Neal threw a nifty no-look pass to Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao that might have been his best play of the night had Varejao been ready instead of fumbling the ball.

"Me and Shaq definitely played pretty well together,'' James said. "It shouldn't be hard for the both of us. We know how to play basketball and we want to win.''

In 16 minutes, O'Neal totaled six points, three rebounds and a block. In 15 minutes, James scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

"I'm still learning the offense and learning how to play with everybody,'' O'Neal said. "But when it's time to open the season [Oct. 27 at home against Boston], I'll be ready and we will be ready to go.''

Cleveland fans can't wait. They were disappointed after the Cavaliers, despite an NBA-best record of 66-16, had trouble with Magic center Dwight Howard and were surprisingly eliminated from the playoffs. But then arrived what many believe is Cleveland's final piece.

"Yeah, I think so,'' said Cavaliers guard Mo Williams, who played in the All-Star Game last February alongside East teammate James while O'Neal represented the West. "Obviously last year, we had a very good team. I think we did a lot of things good. I think this year (the Cavaliers brought in) a big man down low, somebody that can command a double team.''

The thinking in Cleveland's camp is teams are welcome to try to double team both James and O'Neal. That would leave one man against three Cavaliers, an even more unfavorable scenario for foes.

No wonder James was downright giddy when he first heard the Cavaliers would be acquiring O'Neal.

"How could you not be [excited]?'' James said. "He's already a Hall of Famer, an NBA champion. The fact that a guy like that would want to come here and play alongside me, I'm grateful for the fact we were able to bring him in.''

Nothing, though, is a certainty. Even Brown admits that.

It remains to be seen how O'Neal, 37, will mesh with the Cavaliers, who weren't exactly a lottery team with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the previous starting center who has gone to the bench. How much might O'Neal, listed at 7-foot-1, 325 pounds, slow the team down when it wants to run?

"It's still real early,'' Brown said. "So obviously, being as big as he is, you wonder at times if you can do the same things.''

Nevertheless, Brown said he sometimes must "pinch myself'' as a reminder he really has Shaq on his side.

"I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world,'' Brown said.

Another Brown didn't disagree. Charlotte coach Larry Brown believes the big fellow, who averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds last season, has a lot left.

"He's still a special player,'' said Larry Brown. "And LeBron's gotten better every second he's been in the league. ... To get a quality player who's been special his whole career without giving up anything, it's phenomenal.''

Well, just as Peter Minuit did fork over trinkets in his 1626 purchase of Manhattan, the Cavaliers had to throw in something to make the deal work. They gave up Ben Wallace, who had his contract bought out by the money-cutting Suns, and Sasha Pavlovic, who was waived due to his contract being partially guaranteed.

So the Shaq show has arrived in Cleveland. O'Neal got an impressive ovation during introductions considering it was a preseason game and the crowd was much smaller than the announced figure of 20,403.

"I understand it's still preseason,'' said O'Neal, letting it be known Tuesday offered merely a dress rehearsal. "I know the first [regular-season] game is going to be rocking. Everybody is going to be really into it.''

Perhaps the Cavaliers will want to put "3XL'' on the video board for that one.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com.