@brownindian said:

I have no idea why Mike Brown is trying to feed the ball low into Shaq who's only shooting 36% from inside 5'. We don't need his offense. But there's a very good reason, and maybe the only reason Shaq was brought in. He's probably the only center in the NBA that's strong enough to play Dwight Howard one on one and prevent him from backing down and getting easy dunks, or when the double team help comes, kicking the ball out to a wide open Pietkus or Lewis for an easy three. Exhibit "A" of that would be what just happened to the Atlanta Hawks (who are lacking in that regard), or "B" the primary reason the Cavs lost to Orlando in the playoffs. Z got destroyed by Howard, now Z's just an extra big body we can trot out there to get Howard in foul trouble.

And should the Cavs make it to the Finals against the Lakers, Shaq will come in mighty handy guarding Bynum, allowing Z to matchup against Gasol- they're essentially the same player.