YaoMingMania.com

Yao blocks the shot of Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Rockets went on to lose another game against the Cavaliers, the team with the worst record in the NBA.

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There isn't any excuse for this one. The Rockets lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the worst team in the league, 105-102. To give up 105 points to the Cavaliers is inexcusable when they only average 90 points per game. With Cleveland's record now mirroring an infamous paper form (10-40), this might have been the Rockets' way to remind everyone during the All-Star break it's a good time to start working on your taxes. In some ways, it's fitting punishment for the Rockets to go into the break with the dark cloud of losing to the Cavs hanging over their heads. If that doesn't inspire them to play better against weaker teams, I don't know what will. Same old story The entire game was filled with Rocket miscues, forced shots, missed free throws, a stupid technical foul, and whatever else you want to think of. The Rocks were totally out of it with just about 5 minutes left in the game, but then they made a run to make it close. They actually had a chance to win it with less than 10 seconds remaining when Francis saw Yao streaking down the court and tried to make a heroic, yet low-percentage, pass. But Francis short-armed it and it was intercepted. Game over. It was Francis' 6th turnover of the game. Now Steve goes to Atlanta for the All-Star game with an even heavier monkey on his back. Although he has all the physical talent in the world, the Lakers are hunting down the Rockets for the final playoff spot (now 2 games back). Francis now faces the possibility of having played four years in the NBA with no playoffs on his resume. It will be interesting to see how much of a break the national media gives to Francis during the next few days as his track record goes under the spotlight in Atlanta. 12 and counting This game typified the entire Rockets season by the way they have choked against so many bad teams in the league. In our estimation, this loss is the 12th for the Rockets against teams they should have beaten. The Rockets are an underachieving 26-22 instead of having 35-38 wins under their belt. At this rate, they will be passed up by the L.A. Lakers for that final playoff spot in just a couple of weeks. Along with that, there will be alot of soul searching, and hopefully some drastic changes. If this were a real business, someone would have lost their job a long time ago. Someone with authority should do something to instill confidence among Houston fans that this team isn't just going to continue winging it and attempting to conquer its demons through trial-and-error. Please, someone hire a sports psychologist for this team, or something! Thank you, Yao For Yao Ming fans out there, he performed especially well in the clutch by making some important shots, free throws, and passes (see Detailed Yao Analysis below). It's still perplexing that Yao wasn't given the ball to shoot more. He only got to shoot the ball 8 times against Cleveland (made 4). In the two blowout victories last week against good teams, he shot the ball 12 times and they won. Go figure. Yao is the beacon of sanity in this sea of Rocket mayhem. For all the frustration Rocket fans may have, you can appreciate the intelligence and maturity of Yao when he plays. Thank God he's here, because watching these games without him would have been an extremely frustrating endeavor. What's up with that? If you saw the Cleveland game on television, you might have noticed a bunch of wahoos from Cleveland who seemed to mock those Yao fans who have painted their chests with Y-A-O at previous Rocket games. These guys decided to paint on their chests Y-A-O-M-I-N-G-W-H-O-? None of them were Asian. Don't these guys have something else better to do with their time than poke fun at those Yao fans who have previously painted their chests with pride? New and improved discussion forum Okay, now that I've had a chance to vent, it's your turn. We've created a NEW discussion forum at http://www.YaoMingMania.com/forum that will replace the Yahoo! board we've been using since this site's inception. Here are some of the advantages of this new forum over the Yahoo board: No ads! Better monitoring of objectionable postings, including an improved ability to mask out and/or eliminate profanity A committed volunteer who will have these better monitoring tools at his disposal Rather than have one big message board where all the messages are mixed in with each other, we have created multiple forums based on different topics you might want to comment on Ability to leave private messages for other members, which can notify them of your message through email Much, much more! We'll continue to keep the Yahoo! board live for a little while longer so that everyone will have enough time to move over to the new board and register themselves. Off to Atlanta I'm on my way to Atlanta to cover the attention Yao will receive by the All-Star game media and fans, and overall to see how much of an Asian influence is present at the festivities. I'll be taking my digital camera, so look for special reports starting this Saturday.

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Detailed Yao Analysis
vs. Cleveland Cavaliers 2/5/03

1st quarter - Yao starts the game.
9:43		From the baseline, Darius Miles throws a pass to Cleveland's 7'3" center Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the middle of the lane. Ilgauskas takes one step toward the rim and goes up for the slam, but Eddie Griffin and Yao are there to block it at the rim! Yao gets full credit for the block.
6:57		Miles goes up for a tough shot from the left baseline at the rim, but once again Griffin and Yao are there to intimidate and block it! It looks like Griffin got more of the ball than Yao did, but the official scorekeeper decided to give the block to Yao.
2:44		Cato replaces Yao. Yao is 0-for-2 from the field.
2nd quarter - The Rockets rest Yao at the start of the quarter with Kelvin Cato playing in his place.
3:29		Yao checks into the game for Cato. The Rockets trail 40-43.
:43		From the left side just outside the middle of the lane, Yao gets the ball and dribbles twice into the lane, then launches a LONG sweeping hook shot with his right hand AND HITS IT! What a tough shot from such a distance! That's Yao's first points of the game, and he's now 1-for-3.
Halftime - The Rockets trail 45-54. Cleveland's Jumaine Jones hit three 3-pointers in a row to help put the Cavs up by 9 points.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
10:49		Guarded by Ilgauskas, Yao sets up on the left edge of the lane, then dribbles once into the lane and jumps high into the air and lofts a shot toward the rim. It hits the front of the rim, then hits the back of the rim, bounces around a couple of times and drops in! Nice soft shooter's touch! The Rockets trail 49-56. Yao has 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting.
10:19	Free Throws	On the right edge of the lane, Yao is guarded by Ilgauskas again. He fakes one way, then spins the other way toward the baseline and is pushed by Ilgauskas and is fouled. Yao goes to the line and makes both free throws. Yao now has 6 points.
9:26		From the left edge of the lane, Yao puts up a leaning shot toward the rim, but he is fouled by Ilgauskas once again. Yao goes to the line and misses the first one, misses the second one, but because of a Cleveland lane violation, he gets another chance to shoot the second free throw, and ends up making it. Yao is 3-for-4 from the line with 7 points. The Rockets trail 52-60.
7:42	Steal, Assist	Yao is fronting Cleveland's center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. An entry pass is thrown into 'Z,' but Yao is able to pick it off because of his great defensive position. Yao then throws a pass to Cuttino, who takes it all the way up the court for the jam! This is one of the few times we've seen Yao front another player, and very rarely do we see Yao get a steal like this one. The Rockets trail 54-64.
1:35		Guarded by Diop along the left baseline, Yao makes a spin move toward the baseline and dribbles past Diop. Yao then stops underneath the rim, fakes a shot, then turns away from the rim and puts up a jump hook--COUNT IT! This is the same play that Yao has made in the past that reminds everyone of Hakeem. Rockets trail 69-79.
4th quarter - Cato starts the quarter. Rockets trail 71-81.
5:07		Yao checks into the game for Cato. The Rockets trail 87-96.
4:03		After Cuttino Mobley hits a rainbow 3-pointer to bring the Rockets closer at 90-98, the Rockets make a stop at the defensive end of the floor. The Rockets bring it down the court and dump the ball to Yao where he establishes position on the left side just outside the lane. Guarded by Ilgauskas, Yao dribbles once and gets into the middle of the lane as four Cavaliers collapse on him. Yao jumps up in the middle of the lane, puts up a shot, and he's fouled! Yao makes the penalty free throw to close the deficit to 5, the smallest it has been in quite some time. Yao has 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting and is 4-of-5 from the line.
2:29	Free Throws	Yao is fouled on a rebound. He goes to the line and hits two very important free throws to close the deficit to 95-100.
1:37	Assist	Francis has the ball on the left wing, and the Rockets are trying to post up Maurice Taylor, who has been hot all night long. Taylor is double-teamed, so Yao comes over to the free throw line to receive the pass from Francis. Once Yao receives the ball he immediately bounces a perfect lead pass between two Cavaliers to Taylor who goes in for the uncontested jam! What a beauty of a pass by Yao!! The Rockets trail 99-100.
:37.8	Great pass	With the Rockets needing a bucket to tie the score, Yao gets the ball down low and is double-teamed. He adeptly sees James Posey cutting down the middle of the lane and Yao delivers a perfect pass to him, and J.P. is fouled as he goes in for the driving layup. BUT POSEY MISSES THE FIRST FREE THROW, and makes the second. The Rockets go on to lose 105-102. Yao finishes with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 6-of-7 from the line.