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Yao posts up the Mavericks' Raef Lafrentz Tuesday night in Dallas. Yao finished with only 6 points in 22 minutes of action as the Rockets were beat 107-86.

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After playing an incredible game just four days prior against the LA Lakers, the Rockets have been given a dosage of reality since then. As great as last Friday's victory was, the Rockets must be coming back down to earth realizing they are not as good as they thought they were. After losing to the Spurs on Monday afternoon, the Rockets got spanked Tuesday night against the Mavericks in Dallas 107-86. It was the typical guard-dominated play with hardly any passing whatsoever. The Rockets had a season-low 8 assists, the 4th lowest in franchise history, and an incredible 26 turnovers. Once again, the opposing team's TV analysts rightly ridiculed the Rockets offensive philosophy, and for good reason. Former NBA great and Maverick analyst Derek Harper had the following to say in this game: "I don't think the Rockets are going to make a lot of noise in the playoffs until they trust Yao a little bit. I think you have to go inside to a guy who has Yao's skills opposed to your point guard and your two-guard taking the bulk of the offense." See other quotes from Harper in the Detailed Yao Analysis below. Rudy realization? For the first time, Rudy T. finally said some things that gave us hope that he might be acknowledging his team's offensive troubles (no pun intended) that everyone has been talking about for weeks. "Poor decisions. That was the game right there. Our decisions were bad. I got more passes coming to me (while standing out of bounds next to the bench). I had a couple right on the numbers. (The Mavericks) still do things when they switch sometimes which makes you really have to execute. We played hard, we just didn't play smart. Our decision-making wasn't bad, it was really horrible." "We talked about it at halftime. Some guys got it, some didn't. We were trying to do too much with a possession. "We did a pretty damn good job defensively and rebounding. We were just horrible on making decisions. We wanted that quick, `Get out of my way, I'm going in there.' They know we got good first-option players. We just have to move the ball to the next guy." Now let's hope we soon see some of the changes we have been waiting for since the season began. The Yao Report Yao scored only 6 points on 2-for-6 shooting, and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Yao was also blocked three times by Raef Lafrentz. But before Yao's critics start blabbering about how Yao is overrated, they should know that Raef was the #2 shot blocker in the league last year, and before joining Dallas was in the top five each of the previous three seasons. Good shot blockers don't become bad shot blockers just because a guy they are defending is a few inches taller. Yao has been missing shots he was making with regularity just a couple of weeks ago. His schedule may have finally caught up with him. As a result, Rudy said he is going to give Yao a rest for the next two games and let him "recharge his batteries." [incorrectly reported as two 'games' earlier, which I thought was odd and unprecedented. My bad--I'll take the hit for that one]. Get ready for the original Yao critics to come out of the woodwork and have a field day with that decision by saying Yao is hitting the "rookie wall."

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Detailed Yao Analysis
vs. Dallas Mavericks 1/21/03

1st quarter - Yao starts the game.
11:22	Free Throws	On a screen-and-roll, Mobley passes the ball to Yao in the middle of the lane while Yao is moving toward the basket, and he goes up for the shot but is fouled hard from behind by Dirk Nowitzki. Great pass by Mobley, and soft hands by Yao to catch the pass. Yao makes both free throws. Rockets tie the score at 2-2.
10:02		From the left edge of the lane, James Posey puts a shot off the glass, but it misses and bounces high off the rim. Yao tips the ball high to himself, comes down with it in front of the rim, then GOES UP STRONG FOR A ONE-HANDED THROW DOWN! Yao put alot of snap into that dunk, like he was mad at someone! Maybe he was expressing his frustration about the previous night's game against the Spurs, or perhaps his teammates told him to jam the ball when in doubt. Whatever it is, we like it!
7:43		From his favorite spot on the left side, Yao dribbles twice into the lane with Raef Lafrentz guarding him, jump stops into the middle of the lane and falls away for a jumper, but Lafrentz gets a piece of it. It looks like Yao's jump stop was higher than when he elevated for this jump shot, and probably underestimated Lafrentz's shot blocking ability (#2 in the league last year).
3:05		Yao checks out of the game for Terrence Morris (surprisingly not Kelvin Cato). Yao is 1-for-3 from the field.
2nd quarter
7:14		Yao checks back into the game.
2:21		Francis drives into the lane, draws a crowd, then passes to the top of the key to Maurice Taylor. Taylor sees Yao down low and bounces a carefully placed pass to Yao. Yao receives the pass, turns and lays the ball into the basket for the deuce. Yao is 2-for-5 from the floor. The Rockets trail 36-57, and have completely ignored Yao to this point and instead have settled on one-on-one play (the usual). That was only the 2nd assist for the Rockets, compared to the Mavericks' 17. Dallas TV analyst Derek Harper states, "That's where I would go (into Yao) if I were the Houston Rockets."
Halftime - The Rockets trail 40-59. Yao has 6 points and 3 rebounds. The team has 14 turnovers compared to only three for the Mavericks.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
9:52		From his favorite spot on the left side, Yao pump fakes on Lafrentz to get him up in the air. Yao then takes it to the hole and goes up for a layup using his right hand, but Lafrentz recovers and blocks Yao's shot in front of the rim. It doesn't matter, though, because James Posey picks up the loose ball and lays it in. Derek Harper, "I still feel like Houston, before they are going to be a solid team, they are going to have to go to that big guy Yao Ming. Even though he got it blocked, it was an awesome offensive move."
5:48		Yao checks out of the game for Cato, but does not return because this game is a blow-out for the most part. Rudy would rather rest Yao instead.