Sponsored by the man himself, Team Diesel looks to give Shaq yet another championship.
Shaquille O’Neal becomes the latest NBA player to form a team in the tournament, joining the likes of Chris Paul, who had a team in the past, and Jimmer Fredette and Taj Gibson, who have teams this year. While he won’t be playing, he’ll allow this team to be led by assistant coach Kyle Hines, a TBT hall of famer and once of the most illustrious basketball player of all time, and Shareef O’Neal, his son. This team looks to be a sleeper and one who can go the distance.
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Current Roster:
- BJ Johnson (Syracuse & La Salle)
- Chris Jones (North Texas & Angelo State)
- Greg Whittington (Georgetown)
- Isaiah Miles (St. Joseph’s)
- Jarell Eddie (Virginia Tech)
- Jehyve Floyd (Holy Cross)
- John Jenkins (Vanderbilt)
- Ronald March (Philander Smith)
- Shareef O’Neal (LSU)
- Stanton Kidd (Colorado State)
- Will Cherry (Montana)
- Xavier Hill-Mais (Oakland)
Coaching Staff:
- Dwight Thorne II (Head Coach)
- Kyle Hines (Asst. Coach)
- Mike Martin (GM)
- Mo Smith (GM)
- Reginald Hines (GM, Asst. Coach)
- Ronald Padgett (Asst. Coach)
Region: Louisville
All-time Record: 11-5
First Matchup: vs. Team DRC (July 20 at 3 p.m. on TBT Live)
Team MVP: Chris Jones
Chris Jones was phenomenal last year, especially in his former team, Jackson TN Underdawgs’ second match. He scored 25 points for his team and nearly willed them to the upset. At 6’2, he isn’t the biggest guy on the court, but he scores at a high level and has an extremely high basketball IQ. He only had one turnover in the two games, a bit of a rarity for a guard, but shows his control and confidence. If he can give Team Diesel a 20-point performance, this deep should have a lot of success.
Make-or-break Player: Shareef O’Neal
First of all, it’s so great to see O’Neal suiting up in the TBT and representing his pops. Shareef has had a roller coaster of a basketball career since starting college, but this is a great chance for him to showcase his skills and perhaps get an offer from a professional team. At 6’10, he’s tall and extremely athletic, and will be electric on the fastbreak. He’s very thin, and that might be an issue defensively, but he makes up for it with good shot blocking skills
O’Neal is the tallest player on the team by two inches, so they’ll rely on him to give them that advantage. He’s not going to be the leading scorer, and his box score numbers might not even look that great, but his presence and his ability to do the little things could be the difference maker for Team Diesel.
Team Outlook
Team Diesel gets the one seed in the tournament, which is a bit of a surprise, but they’ll certainly embrace it. They’ll start it off with a game against team DRC, a team representing a fellow athlete in Dominic Rodgers-Cromartie. Team DRC hasn’t won a game since 2019, and would like to change that this year. The big tests come on the other side of the bracket, where they would either have to face the ‘Ville, the hometown team and one of the favorites to win it all or Sideline Cancer, one of the most successful teams in TBT history which made the final in 2020.
Two other players to watch are Greg Whittington and Jarrell Eddie. Both averaged double digits in the tournament last year and responded to pressure well. Then they have Kyle Hines. Read below for his list of achievements.
2× Italian Second Division Cup Winner: (2009, 2010)
Italian Second Division Cup MVP: (2009)
German Supercup Winner: (2010)
German League All-Star Game MVP: (2011)
German Cup Winner: (2011)
German League Champion: (2011)
German League Finals MVP: (2011)
4× EuroLeague Champion: (2012, 2013, 2016, 2019)
Greek League Champion: (2012)
6× VTB League Champion: (2014–2019)
3× EuroLeague Best Defender: (2016, 2018, 2022)
3× LBA champion (2022, 2023, 2024)
2× Italian Cup winner (2021, 2022)
Italian Super Cup winner (2020)
2× LBA Best Defender (2021, 2022)
VTB United League Defensive Player of the Year: (2016)
EuroLeague 2010–20 All-Decade Team: (2020)
EuroLeague all-time leader in games played
Hines is a winner, and while his team lacked success in his TBT days at the end, he has the experience and maturity to lead his current team as well.
[…] a game, Team DRC will have to do it as an 8 seed. They take on another famous athlete’s team Team Diesel, which is run by Shaq. Then they can run into another athlete’s team in Team Fredette right […]