Joanne C. Gerstner
The Detroit News
Changes all around...
The trade of Shaquille O'Neal from the Eastern Conference to the West could have more ripple affects beyond the immediate. Teams in the East, including the Pistons have been engineering their rosters to cope with playoff clashes with O'Neal.
Players such as Dale Davis and Elden Campbell have been brought on board as "Shaq insurance", namely, good for fouls on him during the playoffs.
Pistons coach Flip Saunders was asked if there are any dominant centers left in the East to plan for.
"You still have (Dwight) Howard to look at, now he's kind of the center that's evolving as maybe one of the most dominant in the league," Saunders said. "Let's put it this way: you're no longer going to have to carry three or four big guys to waste fouls. Before you'd have them to waste fouls on Shaq. Now you won't have to do that anymore."
