Yao grabs one of 14 rebounds Friday night at Golden State. He also scored 30 points in leading the Rockets to a 100-93 victory, thanks to help from his teammates’ outside shooting. Click here for more photos from the game from sina.com.

by John

FRIDAY, 4/7/06 – Despite a disappointing season that had so much promise at the beginning, the Golden State Warriors drew to their game Friday night against the Rockets over 19,000 fans, many who came to see Yao make his second visit to one of the most highly anticipated NBA games of the season for the large Asian-American coningent in the Bay Area.

Yao didn’t disappoint, showing he is almost unstoppable on his way to 30 points on 12-of-22 shooting, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Rockets also managed to finally make some clutch plays down the stretch – something they couldn’t do against pathetic Portland on Wednesday night – and pull out a 100-93 victory in Oakland to break a 3-game losing streak.

It didn’t matter, though, in the Rockets’ miniscule playoff chances. They were eliminated from the race after Sacramento also won on Friday night. Too little, too late.

But it was nice to see a glimpse of how the Rockets’ offense is supposed to work when Yao gets support from his outside shooters.

Late in the fourth quarter with the Rockets down 96-91, Yao got the ball down low in the paint, but then kicked it out to a wide-open Rafer Alston behind the three-point line, and Alston nailed it for the lead. Then the next time down the court, Yao got the ball deep in the paint again, threw another perfect strike to Luther Head standing behind the arc, and bingo! Luther drilled it to put the Rockets up 96-91 with 1:49 remaining, and that was basically the ballgame.

It wasn’t all peachy about 45 minutes earlier when Jeff Van Gundy pulled all five of his starters in the third quarter after they had blown a 10-point halftime lead. When asked about it after the game, JVG replied, “It was pathetic effort by all five of them (the starters). We played three very good quarters. It was unfortunate that it was marred by an irresponsible third quarter.”

That move must have been a wake-up call for the starters, who ended up outscoring the Warriors 27-17 in the fourth quarter, thanks to 8 points by Yao and 11 points by Alston. Even though Alston finished strong and scored 16 points and dished 9 assists for the game, the big star of this game (if you look past Yao, who you now expect to have a big game all the time) was Luther Head.

Luther showed once again that he could be a very good starting shooting guard for the Rockets next season, scoring 26 points on an incredible 8-of-9 from the field, and get this: 6-of-7 from three-point land! On top of that, he grabbed 8 boards and had 3 rebounds.

So although the Rockets lost the scoring punch of Mike James this season, they MAY have made up a lot of that void with Luther in the long run. Talk about lucky – I don’t think anyone thought he would show this kind of potential so early in his career.

Honorable mention goes out to Juwan Howard, who scored 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and Stromile Swift, who scored 8 points, including two dunks that were jaw-dropping. His second dunk was a reverse dunk from underneath the basket after a quick spin move around Troy Murphy on the baseline. I had to replay it on my Tivo about 8 times.

Chuck Hayes made the most of his 9 minutes when he was one of the reserves inserted in the third quarter. In that very short amount of time, he scored two points, grabbed four rebounds and had a block, drawing props from Van Gundy after the game.

Forgettable performances were turned in by Keith Bogans, 0-for-4 with no points, and David Wesley, 1-for-6 with 4 points. He did have six assists, though. As a team, the Rockets out-assisted Golden State 27-23, out-rebounded them 46-39, and out-shot them 46.8% to 40.2%. If they could play every game like this one nexxt season, I’ll take it.

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.

Yao posts up Portland’s Joel Pryzbilla Wednesday night. Yao had an off night, scoring only 13 points and grabbing 7 rebounds in an embarrassing 76-75 Rockets loss to one of the league’s worst teams. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

WEDNESDAY, 4/5/06 – The Rockets suffered one of their most embarrassing losses of the season Wednesday night, losing to Portland, the second-worst team in the league, losers of their last 11 in a row, and 21 of their last 23 games!! Not only that, but the Blazers’ last 6 losses were by an average of 18 points!

The Rockets showed absolutely no poise, and did just about everything to give the game away by blowing layups and committing 9 turnovers in the fourth quarter alone. Every one of those lost possessions was crucial in this close, 76-75 loss. It was like the Keystone Cops out there. When Yao is not on, the Rockets can be a very bad team.

So who were the culprits in this loss? Just about everyone, except maybe Luther Head.

Luther scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and went one-on-one against Theo Ratliff on a fast break to hit a sweet reverse layup with 1:17 remaining to give the Rockets a 75-74 lead.

But then the Rockets let Sebastian Telfair drive across the lane, stop, and pop a wide open jumper to give the Blazers a 76-75 lead. The Rockets had over 27 seconds remaining to win it, though.

On that last possession, Luther took the first shot, a three-pointer, with 7 seconds remaining that missed. Yao fought very hard to get the rebound with four seconds remaining, and then made a strong move in the lane with two guys on him to get off a tough shot. But it clanged off the back iron, and that was the ballgame.

The Rockets should have never been put into the position where they had to hit a last second shot to win it. After all, this was the freakin’ 20-53 Portland TrailBlazers. You had a feeling when the Rockets committed 3 turnovers in the first quarter on simple outlet passes alone, it was going to be a long night. It didn’t get much better from there, with the Rockets tying the Blazers at the end of the first quarter for an atrocious 17-17 tie.

If it wasn’t for Keith Bogans scoring 8 points in the second quarter, the game could have been out-of-hand by halftime. Instead, Portland only led 43-39 at the half.

But things went south in the third as the Rockets fell behind 51-41. Luckily Bogans and Luther Head kept them in the game, with Luther hitting all 4 of his shots to score 9 points, and the Rockets going on a 21-8 run to lead at the end of three quarters, 62-59. With Yao only having scored 8 points at that point, you had a feeling the Rockets were going to stop fooling around and let Yao take over.

Even though the Rockets’ defense was superb in the fourth quarter holding the Blazers to 6-of-17 shooting, Houston’s offense stunk it up, hitting only 5-of-13 shots. Yao scored 5 points in the fourth quarter, but missed two free throws late that really hurt. However, those 9 team turnovers in the fourth quarter (17 overall) were the killer.

For the game, Yao had 5 turnovers, and Luther, Juwan Howard, and Bogans all had three TOs each. In addition, Bogans blew an easy layup that could have given the Rockets a 3-point lead in the final minute.

When you couple those turnovers with lousy shooting from Rafer Alston (2-of-12) and Stromile Swift (1-of-5), you now know why Jeff Van Gundy called this team “undertalented” after the Rockets loss to Seattle Tuesday night. The problem is…he’s the guy who brought in most of these players. Does that make him an undertalented evaluator of talent?

You know what else hurts? On a night Alston scored 5 points on his 17% shooting, 10 assists and 3 rebounds, Toronto’s Mike James scored 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 8 assists. Daryl Morey (future Rockets GM), we can’t wait for you to make your impact!

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.

Yao Ming’s fans in Seattle came out in force to cheer on their hero against the Sonics Tuesday night. Unfortunately, they only got to see him play 27 minutes because of foul trouble. He did score 22 points and grab 10 boards, though, in a 104-87 loss to the Sonics. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

TUESDAY, 4/4/06 – The Rockets played uninspired Tuesday night in Seattle, losing handily to the Sonics 104-87. Yao fouled out of his first game since December 11th, finishing “only” with 22 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

Many of those fouls were touch fouls, and Yao didn’t really have an explanation for them. Several of the calls were bogus, but with the way the Rockets’ season has gone this season, nothing surprises me. When Yao wasn’t in the game, the Rockets gave up too many easy baskets in the paint, like to Chris Wilcox, who scored an amazing 26 points and grabbed 24 rebounds – tying Shawn Marion for the most rebounds in a game this season.

This game was almost the opposite of Houston’s blowout of the Sonics six days prior in Houston. Only scoring 10 points in the first quarter of that game, the Sonics scored 32 in the first quarter this time around and led by 11 heading into the second quarter. After that, the game was never really close. This time Seattle was rested, Wilcox had a great game, Ray Allen wasn’t 1-for-13 (11-of-22 in this game for 32 points), and Rashard Lewis played.

If the Rockets were lifeless in this game, can you imagine how they will be Wednesday night on the second night of a back-to-back in Portland? Luckily the Blazers have lost 21 of their last 23 games. Otherwise, it would not have been pretty.

One interesting thing the Rockets bench did in this game was remain standing until Yao scored their first point on a free throw to make it 6-1 with 9:14 remaining in the first quarter. Maybe it was a way to encourage their teammates. But it was strange seeing them standing for almost 3 minutes at the start of the game. I felt bad for the fans behind the bench who couldn’t really see because of it! If it was a show of solidarity toward their teammates, maybe the bench should have remained standing the entire game.

The only thing that went wrong for Wilcox occurred at the end of half-time when he was walking over to the baseline to inbound the ball at the start of the second half. The Seattle ballboy had to remind Wilcox to take off his warmup pants, creating a chuckle from the ballboy, Wilcox, and even the ref!

One surprising development that occured in this game for the Rockets was Richie Frahm showing major hops and scoring on two dunks in a row! Maybe the Rockets’ bench is more athletic than we thought. Keep an eye on Frahm the remainder of the season – with his 3-point shooting and surprising athleticism, he may win a roster spot next season.

With the Rockets having virtually no chance to make the playoffs, I’m not as mad about this loss as Jeff Van Gundy. I want to see more of the bench players perform to figure out who should stick with the team next season.

And it’s not a bad thing that with every loss, the Rockets’ chances increase for getting a higher lottery pick in the NBA draft. You may remember what happened in 2002 when the Rockets jumped several spots and landed the right to draft Yao Ming #1. With the bad luck the Rockets have had this season, they are entitled to a few lucky breaks come ping-pong ball time.

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.

Gotta love it. Here’s an excerpt from the Houston Chronicle:

Rockets center Yao Ming was named Western Conference Player of the Week, averaging 33.3 points on .625 shooting, while grabbing 12.3 rebounds as the Rockets went 2-1.

LeBron James, who averaged 42.7 points on .625 shooting, 9.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists, was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant scores on an alley-oop pass Sunday afternoon at Staples Center. Despite Yao scoring 33 points (16-of-25 shooting) and grabbing 16 rebounds, Kobe was too much, scoring 43 points in a 104-88 defeat of the Rockets. Click here for more photos from the game from sina.com.

by John

SUNDAY, 4/2/06 – After having impressive offensive showings against the Sonics and Wizards this past week, the Rockets’ Sunday ABC television game against the Lakers was an opportunity to show everyone in the country just how much they have improved recently without T-Mac.

The Rockets were delivering on those expectations from the get-go. In the first quarter, Yao was showing the nation just how much he has improved, hitting 4 of his first 5 shots and finishing the first quarter scoring 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Rafer Alston was also impressive, hitting 3-of-4 shots. Hitting 50% of their shots, the Rockets looked good. On top of that, they didn’t commit a single turnover in that first quarter.

The problem is that the Lakers were just as good, hitting 12-of-21 (57%) and committing just two turnovers to only trail 29-27 heading into the second quarter.

The Rockets showed they weren’t a one-quarter wonder, though, extending their lead to 46-40 after Luther Head drove to the basket for a dunk. Then a couple of minutes later, Keith Bogans scored on a layup, then followed up with a dunk to make it 50-45.

Those aggressive plays brought the players on the Rockets’ bench to their feet, with a feeling that maybe they could shock the Lakers in their own gym.

By halftime, the Rockets’ lead was cut to 52-51, but Yao was rolling. He already had a double-double (20 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 10 boards) and was neutralizing Kobe Bryant offensively (19 points).

But no one could stop Kobe after halftime, who went off for 22 points in the third quarter alone (9-of-13 shooting) and outscoring the suddenly-cold Rockets team by himself, 22-18. It reminded me of his 81-point outburst in January against Toronto when he was hitting everything from the outside. There’s nothing anyone can do when he’s hitting shots like that.

The only way to counteract that kind of firepower is to respond with an attack of your own. Unfortunately, Yao only got off three shots, whereas Alston took six, missing five! Big problem! Even Alston admitted after the game, “We should have found Yao more. Yao should have had 50 points tonight. He should have had 50.”

After the game, Yao confirmed my hunch that there is nothing you can do except attack back. “In the third quarter when Kobe made those shots — those are great shots — I think our defense did everything they could do. But we didn’t get a good answer at the other rim. It’s about being mentally tough. When he hit a couple shots in a row, we were frustrated by that. But we cannot let games go on like that. If they score, score back. It’s on us. We have to take care of our game.”

On the bright side, Richie Frahm showed he can shoot from the outside, hitting 3-of-4 treys. But by the time the quarter was over, it was too late. The Lakers outscored the Rockets 37-18 and led 88-70 headed into the fourth quarter. That basically was the ballgame.

The Rockets couldn’t get any closer than 13 points, but Yao did hit 4-of-5 shots in the quarter to finish with an impressive 33 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists.

Disappointing was the fact that Rockets who have been shooting so well lately couldn’t deliver. Luther finished 2-of-10 from the field for six points, Bogans was 3-of-11 (maybe tired from chasing Kobe all over the place), and Alston was 5-of-13 for 12 points.

The only other bright spot was Stromile Swift’s 5-of-10 shooting in 22 minutes. For a guy who is known for his dunking ability Swift has a really sweet shot from the top of the key. I don’t think I’ve seen him miss a shot from there the past three games. All the announcers keep ripping on Swift, but I’m okay with him. He has been playing well lately, this season is a write-off anyway, so the time to really judge him is the remaining games this season and early next season.

The Rockets are now on a brutal stretch of games. They next play Tuesday at Seattle, Wednesday at Portland, Friday at Golden State, Sunday at Sacramento, and Monday at Utah.

These games will be critical for the front office to use in evaluating young players on the bubble like Bogans, Frahm, Rick Brunson, Chuck Hayes, as well as veteran players like Juwan Howard and the aforementioned Swift.

In addition, if they can win some of these games on such a difficult road trip, that could be a big confidence boost for this young team as they head into the off-season trying to figure out how to get back into contention next year.

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.