As O'Neal grows so do his minutes

Consistency is a two-way street in the NBA. Consistently good 
performances generally lead to consistently adequate playing time. 
And vice versa.

When it comes to being a consistent NBA center, Jermaine O'Neal seems 
to have turned a corner. He may have found the on-ramp to a long and 
successful career.

O'Neal is getting to play every night, and he is feeling better about 
his play.

"I was always waiting for a chance to do the things I know I can do," 
O'Neal said as the Trail Blazers prepared to play the Utah Jazz today 
at the Rose Garden. "I'm really comfortable with everything out there 
now." O'Neal has played in 14 consecutive games, averaging 13.4 
minutes. His longest streak in three-plus seasons came between last 
March 5 to April 3, when he appeared in 18 consecutive games. But he 
averaged only 9.1 minutes during that run, and he was averaging 9.5 
through 41 games this season.

"There is big difference between knowing you're going to play and not 
knowing," O'Neal said.

O'Neal said he knows coach Mike Dunleavy is going to give him a 
chance, unless he doesn't do a good job rebounding and on defense.
"Me and Mike are pretty much on the same page now," O'Neal said. 
"Early in the season, I don't think we were. I don't know if it was 
lack of communication or what. I like coaches to talk to me a lot. 
Right now, we talk. He's even calling some plays for me."

O'Neal said he thinks his duties will grow during the last three 
years of the four-year, $24 million contract he signed last summer.

"Rebounding and defense are what I'm here to do the most right now," 
he said. "I feel like if you leave me on somebody one-on-one, I'm 
going to hold my own defensively. Shaquille (O'Neal) is the only guy 
I have trouble guarding.

"And I can get points off rebounds. In fact, (assistant coach Tim) 
Grgurich has been on me about not getting enough defensive rebounds," 
said O'Neal, who in the last 14 games has had 31 rebounds on offense 
and 27 on defense.

"Eventually, when guys start retiring and my role increases, scoring 
will be one of the things I'd like to do the most. I have a lot of 
tools I haven't been able to use because we have so much talent on 
this team. I'm guessing that once Arvydas (Sabonis) retires, they'll 
probably move me right into the '5' spot. Down the road, I can be a 
huge problem for a lot of centers. Going into my eighth year, I'll be 
24, and I will have learned so much."

Veteran Joe Kleine, who backs up Sabonis, O'Neal, Brian Grant and 
Rasheed Wallace -- all of whom can play center -- said O'Neal "could 
have a very bright future, but it's his call. If he continues to work 
and even works a little harder, he obviously can play center or power 
forward, and he will play."

O'Neal said he plans to work a lot on his game during the off- season.
"I'll play in one of the summer leagues, and I'll have a really 
intense workout schedule," he said. "I know the coaches will be 
looking for more from me next season, offensively and defensively, 
and I'll have to be ready to play more minutes."

In the meantime, "Jermaine could be a huge part of us winning a 
championship," Kleine said. "But he might not realize that. He might 
not realize that there is no comparison between being on a 
championship team versus scoring 20 points and playing 40 minutes on 
a bad team. He hasn't been on a bad team. He has to listen to the 
right people -- the people who will push him to get better, instead 
of the yes people that all of us have, the people saying the coaches 
are messing you over, management is messing you over."

Despite a groin injury that has bothered him all season, O'Neal's 
contributions have gone up -- from 3.1 points a game in the first 41 
games to 6.3 in the last 14, and from 2.2 rebounds to 4.1. At the 
free-throw line, he went 15 of 31 in the first 41 games and has made 
26 of 32 in the last 14 games. "My teammates have been supportive," 
O'Neal said. "Even when I was struggling, (Scottie Pippen) would say, 
'We expect 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) from you.' And when I go in 
for (Sabonis), he always tells me what he wants from me. He'll say 
something like, 'Six rebounds, six points and three blocks.' "

You can reach Steve Brandon at 503-221-8166 or at 
stevebrandon@news.oregonian.com.