O’Neal: Second Half Will Be Different

Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t know exactly when the pain will subside, or when the doctors will declare him fit for basketball again. As it is, his strained right arch remains quite sore, and it appears his best hope to return is on Feb. 13, when the Lakers play in New Jersey.

What he does know is when he returns, things are going to change.

“I’m still upset about how the first half went,” O’Neal said. “I’m willing to let bygones be bygones and start all over. The second half is really when it counts. I’ll take these 10 days here. I’ll be able to do that.”

Two games from the All-Star break, the Lakers have floundered in the defense of their championship. Any thoughts of gaining momentum going into the break were made improbable when O’Neal injured his foot, and lost when Kobe Bryant’s sore shooting shoulder flared.

If the playoffs had begun Friday morning, the Lakers would not have had home-court advantage in even the first round of the playoffs.

So, O’Neal will take his rest, at least 10 more days of it, he said, and concentrate on what he can change--the second half of the season. The notion has allowed him to take an optimistic view of the injury and the coming idle days.

“I’m not really down on it,” O’Neal said. “Maybe this is like a wake-up call. I’ll just take my 10 days off and I’ll come back with the face, come back with it, kick . . ., take names.”

He doesn’t want to be alone in it, either.

“I’ll expect guys to be a little sharper and come ready to play,” he said.

O’Neal will receive daily treatment on his right foot and be reevaluated by Dr. Phillip Kwong on Wednesday. He is expected to sit out the next two games, then the All-Star game. He will attend the All-Star game in Washington.

There is no set date for his return, though it appears O’Neal would be disappointed if it came much later than Feb. 13. Laker management has resisted putting O’Neal on the injured list, because it would require a stay of at least five games. The assignment cannot be retroactive.

“We haven’t really talked about [a timetable],” O’Neal said. “Ten days will probably do me good. I haven’t had 10 days rest for a long time. I couldn’t even get 10 days rest this summer.

“Then I’ll come back with a vengeance.”

One thing he’s learned in a season that has brought numerous injuries: It’s tough being 28.

“I’m much older now,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t heal like I used to. I can’t perform without my wheels. My car don’t look good unless my rims are shiny. Right now my rims aren’t shiny.”

*

The calls came from near the ceiling at Staples Center.

The people there were asking for J.R. Rider. Shouting for him, actually.

At the end of a mercurial week, in the middle of a mercurial season, Rider entered in the second quarter. In three games on the road with O’Neal ailing and the Lakers desperately searching for offense and stability, Rider averaged 14 minutes and scored seven, two and two points.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson believes part of the problem was he didn’t start Rider in the second quarter Wednesday in Minnesota. Jackson shrugged.

“Small things upset J.R.,” Jackson said. “That might have disturbed him.”

Small things happen a lot.

Rider’s car had a flat tire Friday morning and he was very late for the Lakers’ shoot-around.

Jackson let it slide. Rider started the second quarter against Charlotte, a role with which he has become familiar. It seems to be their best chance of getting consistent minutes from Rider, who averaged 13.6 points in the seven games before the road trip, when the rest of the Laker shooters slumped.