DISQUS

The messagingboard on the Chronicle is unbelievable. The 4th game in the season, already are people calling Yao soft and asking him to go.

They are a little late, they should have done that after the Dallas game *SARKASM*

I was impressed by Marc Gasol. He did a god job pushing Yao out of the box, forcing him taking some low percentage hooks. Yao will improve as the season goes.

2nd unit ofense was non-existent, the so-called motion offense a li'l bit stalled, especially once the ball reached tracy :p.
Well, one done, 81 games + playoffs to go!

John,
are you prepared for Ike?
Hope you are safe! 'm waiting for your stories about it :)

Thanks! Looks like Austin (where I live) is going to escape. But I'm hosting Houstonians at my home who evacuated. -- John

Houston is a problem.

To tp:
What are you rambling about? Yao was being interviewed about his CNT experience, in which way did the interview diminish his passion for the Rockets? It's the same in every sport, especially in the highly profesional world of soccer: You play for your club as your profession, but national team is a matter of heart.

It was frustrating to see how CNT's guard looked confused with the ball, not knowing how to crack Lithuanias defense, while Yao dries out in the paint. 1.3 billion people, there should be some good guards to find, no?

Why it is, is the problem in the training?

On these Titan interviews Yao sounds very confident, bordering arrogant - not that it is a bad thing. Just different than the Rockets Yao we read in the Chronicle:) I know that we should take those interviews with a grain of salt, but it seems that in China he acts a little different, assuming the position as an elder statesman. And his game analysis are head on! John, since you have meet him personally, what is your opinion? Is the real Yao more the one in China or the one in Houston? Just curious :)

Good question. I think he's both. I think everyone takes on slightly different personalities when they are in a country where they have spent less time in their lives, although I think Yao has gotten more comfortable in Houston as a leader, calling out his team when it deserves to be reprimanded, including himself. I believe as time goes on, the 'Houston Yao' will bOne more and more like the 'China Yao.'

The funny thing is, the CNT is the opposite of the stereotype of asian athletes - they are supposed to be smaller but quickier then their european/american/african counterparts. In other words: good guard, weak big man.

In the CNT they have a terrific inside presence (WZZ, Yi, Yao) and forgettable guards, dunno why. Anyone could explain the crappiness of CNT's backcourt? Something wrong in the training at the youth level?

Anyway, Yi looks much more fired up then in the previous games, Yao must have given him a prep talk or he has kicked his behind - or both :)

A difficult game for me, being a big Yao-fan living in Germany.
So happy for Yao, so sad for Dirk and Germany :)

Anyway, it seems Yao has expanded his outside repertoire with another three!
I hope Yao can bring this swagger to the Rockets!

I hope Dirk get traded out of Dallas, so I can enjoy the Rockets wipping Dallas more, haha.

Yao has earned the right to pick only the important tournaments. I say, only WC and olympics - if he wants to.

Dirk, who have played for germany every summer until now, also realized the tax on his body because of the lack of regeneration time in summer, and plans to sit the next summer (and Euro Championship) out.

I went to school in germany, and as a kid, I got involved in several playground fights because my classmates were teasing me as 'slatch eye' in an insulting way.

That said, I think the Spaniards didn´t want to insult - they were just ignorant to what could insult other people, which is bad enough in our global world. Ignorance is not an excuse, especially in the olympics.

I do see some similarities with Shaq´s cing cang cong incident in Yaos rookie year - the people getting upset were chinese living overseas, while the chinese back in china didn´t really understand what the fuss was all about, as we can see from Yaos reaction a that time.

I think that as oversea asians we are more sensible to this kind of stuff because we can relate to the racist treatment that we went trough, while the people back in asia didn´t experience insults similar to Shaq´s words or the Spaniards photo - that explains the absence of uproar in china over this incident. The Spaniards should make a sincere apologize, everybody should learn from it, and we should move on. That´s my opinion.

BTW, I´m asian but not chinese, living in europe.

John,
What I see from Yaos statement is, that he is really embracing his leadership role at the Rockets. Previously, he in the CNT and the Yao at the Rokets were like two different characters-he was very diplomatic and carefull talking about the Rockets in comparison to calling things out at the CNT. But now, he is starting to talk in a similar way about the Rockets as when he is talking about the CNT.

For me, this is a good thing. I know from myself that it is not easy for Asians to directly assume leadership roles (as like calling things out openly) in the western culture - not because of lack of ability, but because we are carefull not to do the wrong thing. It takes awhile to put down the reserveness, but it seems Yao has gotten over it.

I have a dream…
That is, Papaloukas to the Rockets. Seriously, I want to see him in the NBA, why hasn’t it happened already? And I want to see him in a Rockets jersey. A 6′7″ PG, strong and fast, amazing court vision. Better than Kidd?

Y'all have made my day! YEAAHHHH!!!!
Hopefully Shane stays, but from a realistic standpoint he will go because he plays the same position (defensive specialist but less offensive threat).

But let's see, maybe the core stas intact, that would be so great!

Is that book approved by the chinese gov? The title sounds pretty liberal to me:)

Since it was translated into Chinese, the chances are good it was approved by the government. -- John

oh, silly mommy.....haven't you heard, three is the new two!

My oldest was a dream . We pattend ourselves on the back heartily and got a bit of an ego regarding our parenting. Then, along came child number two and we got our just desserts.

Funny thing is, even though it hasn't been easy, in the end he's just as sweet as the first.

well said Pat.

What I see from the reel is a bunch of threepoints and fastbreaks. Would love to see some slashing or jumpers off the dribble. If he can create his own shoot, that would be something.

Long live the spirit of the streak! If they play like this they can beat ANY team. If they can bring it constantly then watch out.

Go Utah! Go home packing, that's it.:)

I still feel it's not over yet. But John's analysis is dead on, couldn't agree more. It should have been 3-1 for us, well.

Anyway, now it's back to Houston! Somehow I feel another game 7 is in the air.

Let's see how this series plays out, and hopefully Morey can make the right conclusions and act on it.

Go Rockets!

Wendy, thanks for the compliment. I think Morey will make the right conclusions. That's why I think he'll try to do what I mentioned, if possible, and Leslie Alexander has proven for many years he's willing to take chances to do whatever it takes to win. Great example is JVG. The guy won 50+ games last year, but he wasn't good enough, so they got rid of him. -- John

Spicebarb,
sadly, TMac's rep IS on the line - whether it be justified or not, is another matter. On the 22-streak (oh you beautiful days), he kind of disappeared on the most important games: Lakers and Celtics. And 0-for-24thquartersinarow doesn't really help is cause. Of course, without TMac there wouldn't have been a 22-streak at all. But I miss that killer instinct from him on a constant basis. Like, before the NO game on the streak, when the third spot was up to grabs, he was fired up and delivered! If the fire is on every night, with his talent, he would be better than Kobe.

Anyway. I don't give up on him yet, or on the Rockets as a whole. It ain't over 'till it's over. Let's become the upset-Rockets!

I loved it when Yao told the bench that he will take over the duty of guarding West! He is growing more and more into the leadership role.

I still think that, on paper, the Rockets are better than NO. If only the others made their shots, and coach RA adjusted properly... before the game I was giddy thinking about a Brooks - CP3 matchup. Didn´t happen :p

Anyway, babysteps folks... dunno how to think about the Spurs game *sigh*

This Rockets are driving me nuts:) You never now what you get from them, hahaha, but I loved it when they play great.

BTW, John... This whole Magic-Talk thing led me to do some soulsearching - am I a Rockets Fan or a Yao Fan? As for now, I am both, if Yao doesn't play I still want the Rockets to kick butts. However, I asked myself, what will happend if Yao really change team, so unreal it sounds like?

I guess, my heart will follow Yao, although the Rockets will still have a soft spot in my heart. I hope this will never happen though.

How about you John, ever contemplate this (scary) possibility? This site is named Yaomania.com after all, not rocketsmania.com ...

Just curious :)

And since it's Christmas... thank's for all the work you have done this 5(?) years, your site is one that I visit everyday, my wife teases me always about this, haha. Except if the Rockets lose or play bad - than I'll need some time first before I'm ready to read some objective game review.

BTW... Bill Simmons keeps saying that Yao is a rich man's Rik Smit :p All offense but li'l defense, especially one-on-one. How ya think, since Simmons is usually quite objective, as long its not about his Celtics. My opinion is, in the right system, Yao plays a great defense, but one-on-one, I don't know...

Have a nice holiday for you and family, hopefully the Rockets can give us more smiles!

Hi Wendy, great questions. I just don't ever see the Rockets trading Yao. I think he'll be a Rocket for life unless the Rockets become so bad closer to the end of his career, they do him a favor and trade him to a contender, similar to how Minnesota traded Kevin Garnett to Boston this off-season. But when that happens, or if for some reason he no longer became a Rocket, I would still watch Yao and try to keep YaoMania.com going. But it's hard to say since I'm also a Rockets fan. I might try to do both -- like start a Rocketsmania.com as well as YaoMania.

Regarding the Rik Smits comparison, that's pretty extreme by Simmons to make that comparison. I don't recall Smits having much of a low-post offense at all, whereas that's where Yao scores most of his points. The main thing they have in common is that Yao can also hit a jump shot and is an accurate shooter. I think Yao's defense is also better than Smits, as well as his passing. I'd have to be shown video of how Smits played to remember, but the fact his game isn't all that memorable tells me something.

Thanks for visiting the site every day, and for the holiday wishes. You have a nice holiday, too!

John

Remember when I said that I wasn´t worried, ahead of the Warriors game?
Now I am :p And I am p.i.s.s.e.d. o.f.f.

I hope Yao can take the same leadership that he did on the CNT, remember him swearing at his CNT teammates, calling them out on the court?

He should start doing it to his Rockets teammates, why is he still too reserved? Because they are americans? Big guy, you are the star and the leader! Call T-Mac out if necessary, yell at his face during the game, it will wake everyone up!

Come on John,
you just don´t want to jynx the winningstreak, don´t you? :)

Anyway, if someone like you, who was the biggest apostle for the trading away of Francis back then (I agreed with you, btw, and I was horrified when they brought him back), now calling for Franchise minutes, that´s really something. Hopefully the positive trend continues.

BTW, Bill Simmons criticized Yao´s defense pretty harsh in his ESPN West Coast Preview, how do you think?

Francis seems to have matured and been humbled over the past few years, which is exactly what he needed to calm down and not force things. So I can handle the "new" Francis because he also hasn't been a distraction while being relegated to the bench, which also shows his maturity. He's also better than Alston, so he's the best option at PG. With that said, I am still concerned if he becomes a starter he will get a big head and revert back to his old ways.

I'll have to read Simmons' story about Yao's defense again to remind myself of what he said. -- John.