St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 45

nf0 50CTl8l99gor ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1997 -rnr a V. Hlf tt-Al. I I A 1 Ax Photos by Wayne Crosslin of the Post-Dispatch and The Associated Press The Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal tries to score on Maurice Taylor of the Clippers (left photo), and the Lakers' Robert Horry guards Brent Barry. LA's Shaq Attack Shakes Up Kiel NO SWOOSHES, PLEASE Shaquille O'NEAL put tape over the Nike logo on his team warmup suit because the Los Angeles Lakers center is under contract with rival Reebok.

"Shaq issued a symbolic statement of loyalty to the companies that are his marketing partners," said O'Neal's agent, LEONARD ARMATO. Armato said his client taped over the swoosh "once or twice during practices and media events," but would not violate NBA rules on team logos. During games, the logo question is not an issue because the Nike swoosh does not appear on his team's jerseys or shorts. play in the third period, O'Neal sat down. His 28 points were two above his preseason average.

He shot 9 for 14 from the field and 10 of 14 from the foul line, normally his problem area. He packed all of that, plus his theatrical touches, in just 29 of the 48 minutes. "When you're up by 34, you can be a little more loose," O'Neal said. "They were having a good time, and I was having a good time." With just over five minutes to play, the crowd chanted, "We Want Shaq!" Lakers coach Del Harris was not moved. "They got to see Shaq a fair amount of time," Harris said, "and he was good.

And a lot of these people wanted to get a look at Kobe Bryant, and he was on the court for a lot of minutes." Bryant, 19, is the 6-7 prodigy who bounded last year from Lower Merion (Pa.) High to the NBA. He had nine points, often spectacular, and three assists, often even more spectacular, in 24 minutes. "We have the youngest team in the league," Harris said. "We're the only team with nobody 30 years old. Our average NBA experience is three years." Age is the only thing average about O'Neal.

At 25, he fits right into the profile of the Lakers' average (25.3 years). By Tom Wheatley 01 the Post-Dispatch Staff Shaquille O'Neal made 17,398 new friends Friday night at Kiel Center. "Thank you," said the solemn man-child with the Superman tattoo. "I want to thank the fans from St. Looie for coming out and supporting us.

"Can I say that St. Looie? Good. They were very hospitable. I'm looking forward to coming back." The fans no doubt will be waiting. They paid top dollar to see O'Neal and his Los Angeles Lakers jam the ball down the throats of the Los Angeles Clippers.

And Shaq Co. obliged. He came. He dunked. He conquered, as the Lakers roughed up their crosstown rivals 116-85 in a National Basketball Association exhibition Friday night at Kiel Center.

O'Neal led all scorers with 28 points and countless ovations. The damage wasn't too grisly at half-time. O-Neal had 11 points, with a single dunk just before intermission, giving the Lakers a 48-34 lead. O'Neal was most impressive to that point with his passing. He had two slick assists and would have had a couple more if his teammates had cooperated by making good on his passes.

At 7-foot-1 and 315 mobile pounds, O'Neal is not campaigning for a new job at point guard. "No, I just want to come out this year and play a little more team ball," he said. "I know teams are going to come out and double-team me. "So it's my job to get all my guys involved not just come down every time and throw it to Shaq, throw it to Shaq, throw it to Shaq." That plan throw it to Shaq worked well enough in the third quarter. He ran off 15 points, rattling dunks and rattling free throws as the crowd howled in approval.

This would not have been a fair fight on a good night. And this was not a good night for the Clippers (1-4). They were playing their fifth exhibition in six days in five buildings in three states. They also played without two starters guard James Robinson (foot injury) and rebounding forward Loy Vaught (back spasms). The Clippers had all three of their centers in uniform.

They threw all three at Shaq, and he threw them right back. Clippers centers combined for 16 points 14 by Keith Closs, most of them after Shaq sat down and five rebounds. The Clipper centers also totaled 10 fouls, most of them defending O'Neal. The first matchup was Shaq vs. Vrank.

Stojko Vrankovic, a. 7-2, 260-pound import from Croatia, had the best luck mainly because he kept fouling whenever O'Neal had the ball in the low box. The next victim was Closs, an agile rookie from Central Connecticut State. At 7-3 and a spindly 212 pounds, it would have taken two of him taped together to bulk up enough to hold the fort on O'Neal. The third challenger was another rookie, Nate Huffman.

The 7-1, 235-pounder from Central Michigan tried to muscle up with O'Neil, and the results had the fans hopping out of their seats in a three-minute Shaq Attack. O'Neal opened the sequence with a quick-step move and finger roll over Huffman. Next came a hang-glider dunk down the lane, with Huffman lost by the free-throw line. Then came a thunderclap to finish a fast break. O'Neal punctuated the run with a fan favorite, a rump-bump on Huffman followed by a throw-down.

After throwing a no-look pass on a fast break that came up empty, O'Neal moved back inside. Huffman stopped the onslaught with an arm tackle that O'Neal could not break. He lined in both free throws for an 81-49 lead. With just under three minutes to.