Shaquille O’Neal took just 9 shots from the floor last night in 21 minutes of work during Miami’s 112-106 loss to Portland, and after the Heat’s 4th consecutive loss, unloaded within earshot of the Miami Herald’s Michael Wallace.

‘If I’m taking 20 shots a game, and I’m only making two, then you can say my production is going down,” O’Neal said. “But I’m still shooting 60 or 65 percent from the field. So they’ve got to find better ways to get me the ball. It should be simple.”

Asked if he has expressed concerns with teammates or coach Pat Riley, O’Neal said, “I shouldn’t have to [expletive] communicate that.”

”I’m not a yeller — we already have enough yellers on this team,” O’Neal said. “I don’t want to sound like everybody else. I just try to keep a positive attitude with the guys. But it’s enough talking. We have to do.”

O’Neal believes that starts with better defense, going through him on offense and surrounding him with players capable of stepping up.

”You have to know what the makeup of the team is,” O’Neal said, hinting he needs more aggressive players on the court. ‘Guys should drive, they should cut. I’m a great passer from the post. Other guys have to take it personally if they’re fronting me and backing me. You have to say, `OK, they’re disrespecting me, so I’m going to get 40 on you tonight.’ ‘

The New York Post’s Peter Vescey on The Migrane Heard ‘Round The World :

Maybe Kidd was protesting the major loss of Ed Stefanski to the 76ers (Pat Riley and I want to know why the Nets didn’t get some form of compensation) and this was his way of nominating himself for the vacant GM gig.

Maybe Kidd simply was tinkering with the Nets’ roster by making himself unavailable. Hey, we all can’t be model disenfranchises like Camp Cablevision.

Upon further examination, I might’ve hit on something considering how many cronies of Kidd he placed on the Nets’ payroll; Alonzo Mourning and Rodney Rogers are the first two which come to mind.

A hundred and four percent of the Garden’s State’s politicians are jealous.

I guess what I’m saying is, if you want to find peace and harmony in Jersey, visit the McGreeveys.