Each week, ESPN analyst Dr. Jack Ramsay delves into his mailbag and answers questions from users. Here is his latest installment. Send your e-mails by clicking on the file to the right!

	Shaquille O'Neal averaged 25.2 points and 11.8 rebounds against the Kings this season.

I love Shaquille O'Neal, appreciate his dominant skills and love to see him towering over his competition. Lately, he's been talking about people (Vlade Divac) playing defense on him legitimately and not FLOPPING, although that is one of the only defenses a man can do alone against the "Daddy" and should be closely monitored for it's validity. I wonder will the referees also take notice of the somewhat frequent Mutumbo-esque and Cartwright-ish, drop-step elbows Shaq delivers that the Kings sometimes complain about.
Vino Redmond
Chicago, Ill.

Dear Vino,
Shaq takes some punishment and gives some of the same. Some defenders resort to "flopping" when Shaq turns to shoot. Sometimes it's called, sometimes it isn't. If Shaq clears out a defender with his elbow before he shoots, that's a foul that should be called. If he doesn't extend his elbow but makes some contact in his normal shooting motion, that's legal. Officials watch hours of tape in order to be consistent in these calls. Shaq has excellent footwork, is extremely agile and has good shooting techniques in the basket area. He also has a strength advantage on everybody. It's a tough call for officials, but overall, they do a good job.

What do you think are the top three things the Sacramento Kings need to do to beat the hated Lakers? Go Kings!
Joel Solomon
El Dorado Hills, Calif.

Dear Joel,
First, the Kings need an up-tempo pace to the game. Overall in the regular season the Kings averaged 104 points per game. Against the Lakers, they averaged 93 -- never scoring 100 points in any game. They need to rebound, push the ball up court and attack. They need CWebb to board and Bibby at his best. Second, they must "limit" Shaq's touches in the basket area ... and minimize his ball receptions in the paint. That means staying ahead of him downcourt in transition and beating him to his spot ... and perhaps doubling him (front and rear) before he gets the ball. That responsibility is mostly on Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard, with weakside help from Chris Webber. Third: Hold Kobe Bryant to normal numbers in points, assists and rebounds. "Normal" for Kobe is very good, of course ... like 25 points, six rebounds, six assists. Keep him under reasonable containment -- especially down the stretch. This is the job of Doug Christie and Hidayet Turkoglu. It's as simple as that in theory, Joel. But it's more difficult in reality.

Is it just me or did it seem like the Los Angeles Lakers weren't on their A-game against the Spurs (except for Kobe in the fourth quarter) and they still beat them and the MVP in five games? Why is this?
James L. Dunbar Jr.
Detroit, Mich.

Dear James,
The Lakes haven't shown their A-Game on offense yet in the playoffs; but their defense has been solid. They lead all playoff teams in field-goal percentage allowed ... well under 40 percent. That's what's winning for them right now. The offense has been sluggish. Shaq's physical problems have contributed to that, but more than anything is the fact that the Lakers play a ball-control game and get few fastbreaks. So they seldom blow games open with quick bursts up the floor. The half-court triangle offense focuses on scoring from the post, but generates jump shots from the perimeter while allowing Bryant drives to the basket. This slow-down offense enables good teams to stay in the game. If the Lakers shoot better from the perimeter, they'll still control tempo, and their margin of victory will increase.

Kobe Bryant seems very determined to win. Does his determination remind you of MJ's determination?
Greg
Melbourne, Australia

Dear Greg,
The comparison of Kobe to Michael Jordan has been made by many, many others, Greg. Kobe does play with an MJ kind of determination. Like Michael, Kobe has acquired a knack for late-game heroics -- whether it's with a driving layup, a made jumper, an assist to a teammate, an offensive putback, or a defensive stop ... he finds a way for his team to win. It's nice to watch the development of this mature, not yet 24-year-old. Some basketball people that I respect feel that Kobe is more advanced than Michael was at a comparable age. High praise, indeed!

I love your commentary. After seeing the Kings beat the Mavs, I think Mike Bibby has been a big addition for the Kings. Is he enough to help them get over the top against the Lakers?
Robert
Madison, Wis.

Dear Robert,
Bibby was terrific against the Mavs. He rose to the occasion when the game was on the line and got the job done. It was inspirational. However, the Lakers won't be so accommodating. There will be no unopposed layups and no quick bursts up the floor for easy hoops. The Lakers defend! They'll keep the pace of the game where they want it. That's not good news for Bibby and his team.

Do you think that the New Jersey Nets' perimeter defense, with Jason Kidd, can stifle Boston's 3-point game?
Scott T.
Coral Springs, Fla.

Dear Scott,
This will be an interesting series. The respective coaches, Byron Scott and Jim O'Brien, turned in outstanding jobs and have firmly established themselves among the top coaches in the league in a relatively brief time.

The Celts beat the Nets three out of four in the regular season -- twice in New Jersey. Paul Pierce averaged 34 points a game against them. Jason Kidd averaged a near triple-double against Boston. So both teams have significant defensive jobs to do in containing the opposing star player. These are very good defensive teams and appear to be playing at the top of their games at this point in the season.

The Celts have better point distribution now, are getting more penetrations from Kenny Anderson, aren't relying as much on 3-point shooting as they did in the regular season and have Antoine Walker as an inside threat. The Nets can score in half-court sets in a variety of ways when Kidd's uptempo game stalls -- with Kenyon Martin post-ups, Keith Van Horn, rookie Richard Jefferson, Lucious Harris and Kerry Kittles slashing to the hoop or shooting from the edges, and centers Todd MacCulloch and Jason Collins scoring at the hoop when least expected. It should be quite a series ... I'm picking the Celts in a close one.

Why is it that the national media seems to completely ignore the Boston Celtics? It seems all of the other series in the East got more attention (except perhaps for the Raptors-Pistons) and what little attention the Celtics have gotten is usually directed at their opponents. Iverson this, Stackhouse that. When does it end?
Jared Smith
Durham, N.H.

Dear Jared,
Most of the media attention in the early rounds of the playoffs was on the Western Conference because the teams with the best records were there. In the East, Allen Iverson was last year's MVP and his team went to the NBA Finals, so the Sixers' games were about the star, his coach and a team that was trying to get back to last year's performance level. But that's over. Now that the conference finals are upon us, you'll see more attention to the competing teams and their star players. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker have shared the spotlight on many occasions. Jason Kidd gets his share of the glitter. You'll hear all you want to about the Nets and Celts before this series is over ... and it promises to be a good one.

What do the Dallas Mavericks need to do in the offseason, if anything? Get rid of Nick Van Exel (awful shot choices) for some muscle in the post? Do you think shipping Michael Finley (their toughest guy) would be a mistake? Or can they add Raef Lafrenz and make a bid for Rasheed Wallace?
Jon Yovel
New York, N.Y.

Dear Jon,
I don't think the Mavs need different personnel. They need to improve their team defense. It was that part of their game that cost them the Sacramento series. The Mavs allowed too many uncontested drives to the basket, and Mike Bibby, Bobby Jackson and Doug Christie had huge games. From what I hear, the Mavs intend to sign LaFrentz and Wang ZhiZhi (both free agents), but an additional "banger" type never hurts. I wouldn't move Finley by any means. Van Exel has never been a consistent shooter, but I thought he helped make the Mavs a more difficult team to defend. But the bottom line is for them to defend better. They were the Allas Mavs this season ... no D.

Being a New Orleans native, I am exicted about the Hornets relocating to my hometown. However, the lack of a corporate base and a low median family income in the New Orleans area leave me skeptical about the long-term success of the team in New Orleans. Do you honestly feel that the NBA can survive in the Big Easy? Was this a good move for the NBA?
Jay
Houston, Texas

Dear Jay,
I was disappointed that the Hornets left Charlotte because the team was so well-received there. But the future looks pretty good for the new setting in New Orleans. The Hornets have solid backing from the corporate community there and have sold enough season tickets for the NBA's relocation committee to recommend the move. One advantage this team has over the Jazz franchise that began its aborted existence in the Big Easy is that this is a winning team. The Jazz was an expansion team which failed to reach .500 in any of its five seasons there. These Hornets, but for the injuries that plagued them at the end of the season, might well have represented the East in the NBA Finals. They have one of the league's brightest young stars in Baron Davis; a solid nucleus of veteran players (Elden Campbell, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn and David Wesley); and two blossoming, young big men (Jamaal Magloire and Lee Nailon). Paul Silas is an established, respected coach. I think the franchise will get off the ground well there.

I was wondering why the NBA never kept a stat of how many points a player allowed while guarding during a game. I know that it would be pretty impossible with the zone rules now, but I would be very interested to know which players get 20 points a game but get burned for 30 points by the player he is guarding.
Raffi
Los Angeles, Calif.

Dear Raffi,
There are NBA players known primarily as scorers who don't make much of a defensive effort. But individual defensive responsibility such as you suggest would be difficult to determine because of the switching and rotating that occurs in the normal flow of play. For example, Dallas often switched on every screen that involved the ball, so that the first defender covered his matchup only to the point of the screen. When there's a lot of screening going on, one offensive player might be defended by three or four players on a single possession.

Then there's the defensive philosophy used by many teams whereby a defender forces the man with the ball to the baseline and counts on weakside help to stop that player's progress to the basket. If the first defender does his job in forcing his man to the baseline, and the weakside help isn't there, it would be unfair to assess a penalty against the matchup defender.

Coaches have assistants keep a ton of such stats so that they know who is doing his defensive job properly, but they keep that information in-house. It would be very hard for the league to keep that data since stats keepers aren't aware of all teams' defensive theories. It's an interesting thought, Raffi.