By RaptorTalk

Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated wrote an excellent article on Jermaine O'Neal's determination to become a difference maker on the Toronto Raptors. Based on this report, it is clear that JO wants to elevate his game back to all-star levels.

Here are excerpts from this superbly written article:

                 

If Jermaine O'Neal can approach the form that made him a six-time All-Star, his trade to Toronto could prove to be the most significant offseason move in the East.  

O'Neal didn't come cheap: He has two years and $44.4 million remaining on his contract. But after missing an average of 29.5 games over the last four years, he has accumulated relatively low NBA mileage.

"This is a chance for Jermaine to really make a statement," says Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo, whose team's doctors examined O'Neal on July 8 and declared him healthy. "He is extremely motivated right now to answer any questions about his health, his attitude and who he is as a basketball player. I can't think of a better mental or emotional state to find a player in."

O'Neal was on the block because his career has been in decline since 2005. "I couldn't have dreamed in my worst nightmare that I wouldn't have won a championship by now and that the team we had would go into the dumps," he says.

As the Pacers suffered their second straight losing season, O'Neal's relationship with team president Larry Bird soured. Worried that he was losing his love for the game, O'Neal reached a resolution with the Pacers at the end of last season: It was time for him to go.

"I had the best conversation I've had with Larry in five years," says O'Neal. "It was really civil, really logical. ... I don't think that we hated each other. I just think so much had happened that it made the job difficult, and the only way for that team to move forward was to move me."
"You hate to [trade] your best player," says Bird. "But he was at the point where he thought a change of scenery would help him."

O'Neal returned to his Indianapolis mansion and packed his things. "We boxed up all of my stuff, and the clothes I didn't want we took to the Salvation Army," he says, which must have been a record day for the store's big-and-tall section. Then he headed to Vegas, his new offseason home, to dedicate himself to the hard work of reinvigorating his health as well as his career.

Before he could make this last stand, O'Neal first had to learn how to stand one-legged on a foam pad and catch a tennis ball -- a simple lesson in helping him regain the balance he had lost over the previous two seasons. Many stars with guaranteed eight-figure contracts might not have gone to such humbling lengths. Not only that, "Jermaine was bad at it," says Joe Abunassar, whose Impact Basketball training center in Las Vegas serves as an offseason camp for dozens of NBA stars. "Still he kept with it. We didn't touch a [basketball] for the first month, but he was here to work every day."

Since beginning his summer regimen on May 10 alongside scores of collegians who were preparing with Abunassar for the draft, O'Neal has strengthened his hamstrings and glutes to radically improve his jumping technique and take pressure off the left knee. (He plans to wear a brace next season to prevent hyperextensions, which can lead to painful bone bruises.) He has increased the strength of his torso and legs by doing crunches and balancing exercises while shedding 10 pounds to get down to his current weight of 260 -- no small thanks to nutritionist Tony Falce.

"Because he has type A blood, he stays away from red meat," says Falce. "No potatoes, no tomatoes, but he can have rice, egg whites, soybeans and broccoli."

In order to complement the 6-10 Bosh in Toronto, O'Neal will shift to center, where his knack for rebounding, drawing charges and altering shots -- he averaged at least two blocks in each of his eight seasons in Indiana -- will strengthen the Raptors' flimsy defense. At the other end O'Neal and Bosh are versatile enough to take turns playing high or low.

O'Neal's impending arrival has already prompted questions about whether Bosh, 24, should surrender his leadership of the Raptors. "I'm not brought in to be the new face of the team; I'm brought in to take the team to the next level," says O'Neal. "It's Chris's team, and I'm not coming in to step on his feet or [coach] Sam Mitchell's feet. But I'm not just trying to fit in, either. I'm trying to be dominant."

"People who want it to be easy are people who haven't succeeded in life," he says. "Now I'm in a position where I can play pain-free -- and I'm two months away from training camp. It's going to really be scary."

In a good way, he means.

The full article is available at www.si.com .