Topic: Daily Mail: Herd's Shaq working his way back

[ZackUSAF82]

by Chuck McGill
Daily Mail sports writer

 HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- This calendar year hasn't been kind to Shaquille Johnson.

At the mid-point of his sophomore basketball season at Marshall, Johnson simultaneously lost his jump shot and battled tendinitis in his knees.

He also dislocated his left thumb, which he could have paired with those nagging knee ailments to justify his shaky shot.

"I don't want to blame my play on my injuries," he said. "I had a few injuries and I was banged up, but that's no excuse to play bad."

His shooting slump ran parallel to the Herd's five-game losing streak in January, which included a gut-wrenching, 3-point loss at home to Memphis. He missed two free throws - what could have been the game-tying and go-ahead points - with nine seconds left against the Tigers.

Johnson had dislocated his thumb the day before, but played anyway.

Link: http://dailymail.com/Sports/MUSports/201006301877

[Taft#1]

I attribute all of Shaqs problems to his injuries . You could tell that something just happened all of a sudden . He went from being the Herds most consistent player to the most questionable . I have no doubt he will be back 100%.

[svherd]

Agreed. We need him 100% by December and for him to have a solid year. He's our best defender.

[The Right Stuff]

From mid season on it seemed like the chemistry on our team went into the dumpster.  It really seemed to effect Shaq the most of any of our players.

TRS
MU 71

[HerdHead]

Last year's coaching staff (mind you, I do not place great trust in anything they have said) said Kane is our best defender.

Get eligible, Mr. Kane!!

[Marshallguy04]

I sorta thought Haymon was our best defender...that guy could move up and down the court and never give an inch to the offense.
...or maybe he was just the most athletic guy on the court...

Can't help but cheer for Shaq to make a full recovery. Looks like he's wanting to emerge as a leader and I think he can/will. Hope he sees the hardwood soon!

[svherd]

Shaq consistently guarded the other teams top scorer for the most part. If it was a a guard or small forward, Shaq was on him.