Full-court coverage of the Diesel, who's on a mission

WHO: Shaquille O'Neal

	Facing questions about whether he can carry Miami in Dwyane Wade's absence, Shaquille O'Neal said, "I really get motivated when I have doubters." AP

WASHINGTON -- He looked like his old self: Thin by his enormous standards, as happy as ever and surprisingly confident. One way or another, the game always circles back to Shaquille O'Neal, as if returning from orbit around its biggest center.

"I'm still here to accomplish my mission,'' he said from the edge of the Verizon Center court after the Miami Heat's Wednesday morning shootaround. "My mission is to just win. At first I was all about stats [referring to his early years in Orlando], but once I started winning? That became my new mission.''

The Heat were preparing for a crucial game that night in Washington against the Southeast-leading Wizards. My theory was that the injury to Dwyane Wade -- a separated shoulder that will sideline him for at least a month if he rehabs, or the entire season if he chooses surgery -- was going to make O'Neal more relevant.

"But it's going to be harder to win without him,'' he said.

"Doesn't that make it more fun?'' I asked.

"It kind of does,'' he agreed.

This is the latter half of O'Neal's 15th NBA season. Think of all the daily practices, the tons of weight lifted and so many games that he can't begin to remember them all. At his age he requires new challenges to defeat the boredom. Now that young Mr. Wade is incapable of leading the defending champions, everyone will naturally begin to question whether O'Neal, who turns 35 Tuesday, is too old to carry a team. He could hear the questions coming before they were asked. The questions make him happy.

"I really get motivated when I have doubters,'' he said. "I've been having doubters my whole career, and it's propelled me to be lucky to say that I've won four [titles]. And so now I'm just working on five, and hopefully it won't take that long to get five. And when I get five, I'll just start working on getting six.''

Everyone else was wondering if his team would be capable of making the playoffs. Shaq was talking about winning two more rings. He was right where he wanted to be.

WHAT: His left knee

Of course, the No. 1 issue this week has been the pending decision on Wade's left shoulder -- to operate or not, that is the question -- but that should not be the only joint of emphasis. Don't forget the vulnerability of O'Neal's left knee. He underwent cartilage surgery in November and was sidelined for two months, and the knee is still bothering him.

"It's healed and healthy, but every now and then I feel that twinge,'' he admitted. "I'm not really that confident to make that extra, extra move yet. I'm still kind of weak. I've been trying to get over it, but I had surgery. Ain't like I sprained it; I had surgery. But hopefully I can keep playing and it will get stronger, and I'll have the confidence to make that move.

"That's why I've been shooting a lot of jump hooks and trying to BS play,'' he said, referring to his lack of dominating moves since his return in January. "I haven't really had that power that I've had [in the past].''