[vincesanity82]

With the Heat's losing streak at a ridiculous 16 consecutive games, it's time for some drastic measures, and that appears to be exactly what Pat Riley is considering. Tired of having his one healthy star player continually riding the pine with foul trouble, Riley is considering benching Shaq if he can't keep himself on the floor:

Riley said O'Neal must share the blame for averaging just 11.3 points and 10 field-goal attempts in 29.7 minutes per game. Twice already this season O'Neal has mentioned not getting enough shots.

"He's got to stay on the court," Riley said. "He's averaging 5.5 (actually 5.3) fouls per game. He's forever always on the bench at some time when we need him on the court.

"I'm going to probably get to the point when he gets a couple of fouls on him I'm not going to play him. Like if he gets three, or if he has four fouls, I might (not) play him."

Riley Threatens to Bench Shaq - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

[Lefty Noob]

Trouble in paradise, eh? Well, Shaq has to realize he's not the big dog on that team anymore - Wade is.

[ThePundit]

Shaq must be quivering in his boots. It's almost time for Pat Riley to back to to the front office for "medical" reasons, then have a sucker assistant coach turn the team around like Stan Van Gundy did, then Pat can step back in.

[azrael492]

He is not used to playing this early in the season. He doesn't get serious until about Feb. Everything will be OK once Wade is there to carry the team again.