At Least Ostertag Has No Illusions

Compare the stats, the All-Star game appearances and the paychecks, and the one analytical given in this series was that the 00 on his jersey might as stand for “Overmatched Ostertag.”

Greg Ostertag vs. Shaquille O’Neal? Bambi vs. Godzilla. Motor home vs. freight train. Role player vs. superstar on a roll. Hey, even his teammates didn’t try to mask the contrast.

Even after the Jazz’s 93-77 victory over the Lakers on Sunday at the Delta Center, keyed in part by Ostertag’s sticky defense on O’Neal and early, shocking display of offense, Karl Malone snarled when Ostertag’s performance was mentioned.

“I’m not going to get too satisfied, and he better not get too satisfied, either,” Malone said of Ostertag, who had eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots while helping to hold O’Neal to a playoff-low 17 points.

“This is just one game, and I’m pretty sure after what happened tonight, Shaq’s going to come out in Game 2 and try to take over. It’s not time for Greg to slack off and let things get to his head.”

Why the continued crackdown on Ostertag?

The 7-foot-2, second-year Utah center averaged two points and five rebounds against the Clippers and Lorenzen Wright a series ago, which is not normally the way to win the mental edge heading into a Shaq sighting--or avoid the anger of the Jazz fans who worry that his spot is the glaring weakness for a team desperate to finally capture a title.

“I deserved it,” Ostertag said of the heat he took during and after the Clipper series. “I didn’t play worth a damn in the Clipper series. But you know what, that’s the crap I’ve taken all year.

“Nobody expects me to do anything good for this team. I mean, you read the magazines, and they give us a D grade at the center position.

“But I think I’ve done a good job for this team this year. I play defense, I’ve blocked some shots, I’ve played big for us inside. But people don’t really want to see it.”

Benefiting from quick double-team help by his teammates whenever O’Neal touched the ball, Ostertag survived the bumps and spins well enough to keep the Laker center from dominating the game.

O’Neal, looking particularly wearied by the Lakers’ one-day turnaround after the Portland series, made only six of his 16 shot attempts. Ostertag tossed in a bonus by sinking a 15-foot jumper in the early going, and adding two more offensive-rebound putbacks by halftime.

But that didn’t mean Ostertag wasn’t bruised by the effort.

“How strong is Shaquille O’Neal? Let me go get a chain, tie you to the bumper of my truck and put it in reverse--that’s how strong he is,” Ostertag said.

“He wants to dunk you with it every time he goes up. When he bangs into you with his shoulder, it hurts sometimes. It kind of takes the breath out of you. I don’t know if I surprised him or not, but I just tried to play to the best of my ability. When it was me on him, one on one, I just tried to stay big and make him shoot it over the top of me.

“I’m not going to stop him. But we’ve got to limit him, you know, keep him under 42 or something.”

And, like Malone, Ostertag said he knew that O’Neal will almost certainly come charging into Game 2 Tuesday. The warning lights, Ostertag said, are already flashing.

“All I know is I’m going to play the same way,” Ostertag said. “If he shows up with more energy, I’ve got to step up my game too.

“If I don’t, he’s going to tear this place apart. If I let this get to my head, he’s going to kill us.”