Shaq’s out so Dwight should be the choice, for now.

After both Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal got into some sort of a squabble this 2010 NBA basketball season about who is the real Superman in this league, we figured to compare both guys since both we’re drafted by the Orlando Magic to the NBA as the no.1 overall draft pick.

From the time when Dwight Howard was drafted first overall by the Orlando Magic, the comparisons to Shaquille O’Neal began as O’Neal was also selected 1st overall by the Magic. Howard has long been considered the next great ‘big man’ to enter the NBA, and many feel that given the changes in style of play in the league over the last few years, he may be one of the last of his kind.

Howard uses more of a combination of speed and strength to dominate the offensive paint, compared to Shaquille O’Neal who had better post moves that gave him the illusion of being quick. Shaq has brute force, plus some good footwork. One can assume that’s one of the secrets that let O’Neal to stay in the league this long. Even with declining athleticism, he still has the weight and strength behind him, and still has the footwork

The comparisons between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal are moving beyond their playing style too.

Both Howard and Shaq led the league in rebounds. Howard leads the league in dunks for the Orlando Magic this year while O’Neal did the same thing during the 94-95 season. Both players are entertainers and comedians off the court but have shown they mean business on the court. Howard and Shaq also both love to dance, for crying out loud.

Shaq has always been referred to as ”Superman,” but after Howard donned the cape in a slam dunk contest two years ago, that ”Superman” moniker started to tag Howard.

And in case you didn’t know, Howard has recently been…

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If they do, then you can bet your ass the Knicks will be the team to beat next season.

After getting the services of multi - time All - Star Tracy McGrady this 2010 NBA basketball season from a three team trade with the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings, the New York Knicks were able to clear enough salary-cap space for the Knicks to possibly sign two maximum-salary free agents this summer.

That’s right, the New York Knicks could recruit LeBron James by giving him the option of choosing which other free agent he wants from the likes of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki.

However, getting LeBron James out of Cleveland won’t be easy since the Cavs, who own the league’s best record, bolstered their lineup with the addition of former Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. If Cleveland advances to its second NBA Finals stint in four years with LeBron, the odds of him leaving his home state figure to be diminished.

Sorry Knicks fans.

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If they are, then this 13-game winning streak they have is just the tip of the iceberg.

With the second half of the 2010 NBA basketball season underway, the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming in with the best record in the league at 43-11, riding a league - best 13-game winning streak heading to their date with the Denver Nuggets this Thursday.

With all kinds of momentum going for the Cleveland Cavaliers right now, it seems they are not satisfied just yet. Rumors are claiming that the Cavaliers are going after Amar’e Stoudemire. And if these guys manage to sign a talent like Stoudemire to complement the already formidable tandem of LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, you can just imagine what the Cavs can accomplish from here.

If the Cavs do trade for Amar’e Stoudemire, that would be their fourth major trade in two years. Yep, you read it, their FOURTH ONE.

Why have they been trading a lot the last few years? Well, they want to keep LeBron James in Cleveland and surrounding the hottest commodity in the league right now with all kinds of talent that might give this team its first championship in franchise history has been their top priority ever since they drafted James out of high school.

According to the rumors, the deal is on the table but…

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Apparently, the only dude who still thinks so is none other than Shaquille O’Neal himself.

With the 2010 NBA basketball season closing in on its final stretch for the postseason, the last thing you want is a seven-foot, 300-pound monster like Shaquille O’Neal after you. Well, Dwight Howard got Shaq’s attention, all thanks to this stupid little nickname that lets the rest of the league call you Superman.

You read it, Shaquille O’Neal hates the fact that the rest of the league has been calling Dwight Howard ”Superman.” Shaq feels Howard stole the moniker from him and he still feels he should be the only guy who can carry the name even at this point of his career.

Shaq made his displeasure towards Howard and his new nickname public after his Cleveland Cavaliers beat Howard’s Orlando Magic just before the All-Star break. Shaq even remarked, ”Superman my ass,” after the game, clearly trying to instigate something with Orlando’s big man.

Shaq hates Howard so much that the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t lost a game to the Orlando Magic this season. There’s something about playing against Howard that brings the best out of Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq claims he finds it offensive every time people compare him to Howard. After beating Orlando again a few days ago, Shaq remarked, ”You tell me who the real Superman is.”

As for Dwight Howard, he could care less about the ”Superman” nickname…

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For those who might have missed it, check out the comments to yesterday’s post in which I talked about that forthcoming article by Kyle Siler on the “Social and Psychological Challenges of Poker” in the Journal of Gambling Studies. In the comments you’ll see Kevmath pointing us to that Time magazine piece that also discusses the study. And Andy Bloch — who I’m gonna go ahead and suggest is probably better equipped to judge these things than I am — came by to offer some thoughts as well.

One of the ideas that comes up near the end of Siler’s piece has to do with the special psychological pressures that arise when a player moves up in stakes. All of us who have played the game know about these pressures. Any sort of change from one’s “normal” game — be it a change in stakes or an attempt to try a different game — usually brings with it some measure of uncertainty, and some of us are better equipped than others to handle those differences (e.g., in opponents’ skill levels, in opponents’ strategies, in the hands/odds/play of other games, etc.).

In fact, this phenomenon — basically of finding it difficult to perform well when outside of one’s comfort zone — occurred to me more than once yesterday.

Was thinking about it last night while watching my UNC Tarheels get blasted by the Clemson Tigers in a game at Clemson. The Heels looked miserable from the start, turning the ball over every other possession and falling behind by 20 within the first nine minutes. UNC finally got it together midway through the first half and managed to play the Tigers evenly for the rest of the night, which meant they ended the game on the losing side of a 83-64 final.

Carolina has a few seniors, but those guys don’t have a ton of experience, and much of the roster is filled out by freshmen and sophomores. While they are undefeated at home (11-0), they are now only 1-4 when not playing in the Dean Dome. Clearly having to leave Chapel Hill and get out of their comfort zone has negatively affected the young team thus far, as that poor start last night well showed.

Earlier in the day I’d been thinking about the same idea while reading Jay Greenspan’s book Hunting Fish (2006), loaned to me a little while ago by Special K. I’ve only just started the book, which, as the subtitle announces, is a chronicle of Greenspan’s “cross-country search for America’s worst poker players.” The book is organized into 18 chapters, each of which focuses on a particular stop on Greenspan’s journey through various casinos, underground clubs, and home games. So far so good.

Greenspan has to deal with a couple of different varieties of uncertainty as he travels from game to game. For one, his goal is to build his bankroll and move up in stakes, and already at the beginning of the book he’s starting to express self-doubt about whether or not he’ll eventually discover he cannot psychologically handle the pressure of moving up. “I understood that for me there would be a limit,” he writes, “a level at which I would say, I simply can’t play this high. The stakes are too much for me.”

Of course, Greenspan also has to deal with the uncertainty of playing in unfamiliar environs with unfamiliar opponents. Like UNC last night, he’s going to be the away team every single night, and so will have to get accustomed to dealing with unknowns and adapting accordingly.

There was one other instance yesterday when this phenomenon occurred to me — when I sat down for a short online session of my usual pot-limit Omaha game. When away from the tables, I almost always think about playing a different game. And sometimes I think about playing at higher stakes than the usual $25 buy-in games where I am most comfortable. But somehow, after I’ve logged in and opened up the lobby to find a game, I always go back to what’s familiar.

I know playing other games or higher stakes will challenge me as a player, thereby helping me to improve. But I also know that by sticking with my usual game/stakes my familiarity there serves me well, too, as my experience tends to give me an edge — sometimes modest, sometimes significant — over my opponents. I don’t always win, but I usually know what the hell is going on. Thus do I minimize (somewhat) the “social and psychological challenges” game provides.

Challenges are necessary, though. And paradoxical. We desire them, but shun them, too. We fear uncertainty, and perhaps a lot of times even consciously avoid situations in which we are confronted by uncertainty. But we know that a life without uncertainty isn’t desirable either.

Of that I’m certain.

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