Shaq proves he's still got it

MIAMI — Even at 35, The Big Aging One still has it.

Just ask the Jazz, who had fits dealing with Shaquille O'Neal in their 88-86 loss to Miami on Tuesday.

"Shaq is still a player that can have a tremendous impact on the game, no matter how you play him," said guard Derek Fisher, O'Neal's longtime teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers. "If you don't double-team him, he can dominate the interior. If you do double-team him, he's a great passer."

"He's still dominant, there's no question," forward Matt Harpring added. "You've got to focus on him, and when you do sometimes it leaves other guys open."

O'Neal finished with three assists, nine rebounds and 12 points on tidy 6-of-12 shooting Tuesday — reminding everyone from Utah of what they knew coming in.

"He's so good and so patient inside," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.

"There's no way anybody's gonna stop him, so we had to try to give help," Sloan added. "Shaquille O'Neal is not gonna be stopped. Everybody knows that. I've never seen him really stopped since I've been in the league. If he makes his mind up to go, he can go."

No wonder veteran guard Fisher, who knows Shaq as well as anyone from Utah, was still shaking his head Tuesday.

"I commend any guy that stands in there and plays against him The Big Fellow," Fisher said. "He's a lot to play against, so I'm pretty fortunate I'm a foot smaller than he is — because I wouldn't enjoy doing that much myself."

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE: After starting forward Andrei Kirilenko played just 17 minutes Tuesday, a Miami-area reporter asked Sloan if he was trying to send a message.

Sloan bristled at the suggestion, saying he doesn't use games for that purpose. And then the Jazz coach delivered his message.

"I've got to do a better job getting him to play better, and that's just part of it. I don't know how to do that," Sloan said. "I can't do anything about him running the floor and that sort of thing.

"He's got to be able to do that, and keep himself involved. And if he's got shots, I don't have a problem with him taking shots. It has to be within some of what we're trying to do in the offense. I mean, I don't feel like I can give him the ball and let him play 1-on-1."

ALUMNI UPDATE: According to Probasketballnews.com, team officials announced ex-Jazz center and 2005 second-round draft choice Robert Whaley has left the minor-league ABA's Tri-Cit