A long article appeared in the Times Online in UK on Yao. You can read it by clicking here, but for the most part if you have been following Yao’s career, you won’t really learn much new. However, below I have narrowed down some of the things that were new and interesting to me:

* Yao said, “The first few months I was really homesick,” he told The Times at his home in Houston, Texas, where he is recovering from a fractured tibia that will keep him out until mid-March. “I was counting it day by day, just to survive.

“After a couple of weeks I felt like I had already left home months ago — it was really slow. I would look at the dates all the time to see how it passed. I wasn’t driving at the time. I didn’t know my way around Houston. Everything was unfamiliar and I was trying to adjust to the NBA and perform.

* Yao said, “…after one or two years in the NBA, I became clear about my job. They ask the questions and you answer them. So from then on, I tried to be more professional and I started to make some jokes, to make it fun for myself. If the questions were going to bore me, at least I could have some fun and entertain myself.”

* Yao said, “…I’ll tell you this story. In 1993, we tried to get the Olympics. Obviously, we lost, but that night when the announcement was going to be made, I stayed up late as a 13-year-old boy to hear the news, but finally I fell asleep before the news.

“The next morning, my mom tells me we lost the Olympics and I’m really, really sad. Then, in 2001, we go to Moscow to try to get the 2008 Olympics and that night the TV was sitting right over my shoulder while I was in my bedroom playing video games and I was just listening for the news. I wasn’t watching because I was afraid to. Finally I heard [Juan Antonio] Samaranch [the IOC president] say ‘Beijing’ and I almost cried.

* Yao also said that he would like to hold the record for the most number of Olympic games for a Chinese basketball player, which would be four, taking him to play in the 2012 London Olympics.

* Bill Sanders, VP of Marketing for Yao’s agency BDA Sports, said the following: “…Yao is a reluctant icon. He doesn’t have the ego that a lot of celebrity athletes have. He feels a responsibility to China and to Chinese basketball. But privacy is important to him.

“He gives us a certain number of days to ‘sell’ and I would guess that figure is half as many days as Tiger Woods or Peyton Manning [quarterback with the Indianapolis Colts, winners of Super Bowl XLI] does. Could he be making more money? Sure. Should he be out there [in the public domain] with Tiger Woods? Sure. But he doesn’t want to be.”

Yao made an appearance at Toyota Center Saturday to conduct some workouts, and did the Rockets a favor by taping a video message for the crowd to wish them a Happy Lunar New Year. Click here to see some photos from a Chinese dance team that performed at halftime.

Here’s a translation from Raymond of a Sohu.com article that was published after Saturday’s game between the Rockets and Bobcats…

One after the other, Yao Ming shot the basketball passed to him by his assistant coach, Tom Thibodeau. It was almost exactly like the promotional film that Yao Ming did for the Houston Rockets, except this time, Yao Ming was standing a few steps more closer to the free throw line. As the commercial states, “Excellence is a habit, not an act (and it takes practice and perseverance.)” So while Yao Ming’s knee/leg wound is still recuperating, he is working diligently and laboriously to try to return to the court as soon as possible.

More Rockets teammates arrived into the training hall. Tracy McGrady walked in leisurely, and was surprised but excited to see Yao Ming there as well. The two of them stretched out their hands from afar and struck their fists to greet each other. They then sat down together on the bench and started to chat. They often turned their attention to the Rockets that were now into their shooting practice. Obviously Tracy McGrady was explaining to Yao Ming the latest situation with the team. At this very moment, maybe both Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady are starting to sketch out something big and special for the Rockets for this season.

Twenty-four hours after getting blown out in Dallas and being brought back to reality on how much farther they have to go, the Rockets got back to eating cupcakes, took care of business, and defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 104-83 Saturday night.

Although you would expect them to win against Charlotte, it didn’t start out looking that way. They quickly found themselves down by 11 points, but then righted the ship and cruised to an easy victory. One of the reasons was because of great defense (more on that later), and balanced scoring across the board, something you don’t see every day.

Six players scored in double-figures. Part of the reason was because Tracy McGrady only played 27 minutes and scored 16 points. That left extra minutes for other players to take on the scoring load.

After showing his age against the Mavericks on Friday, Dikembe Mutombo had a monster game, scoring 14 points and gobbling up 14 rebounds. He also had 4 steals.

Luther Head bounced back after his Dallas debacle, scoring 17 points, hitting 5-of-8 three-pointers, and dishing 6 assists. It’s a Devin Harris-like performance like that the Rockets will need from Luther when they play the Mavericks to have a better shot of winning.

Kirk Snyder also rebounded from a poor game against Dallas, hitting 6-of-7 shots for 15 points. A contribution like that from Snyder, especially with Bonzi Wells hurting, will also be needed if the Rockets are going to have a chance to beat the Mavericks and Suns of the world. Juwan Howard was solid with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

But the star of the game (I can’t believe I’m about to say this) was Rafer Alston, who chipped in 14 points (on only 5-of-13 shooting), but had 9 steals and 8 assists. 9 steals is sick, and is the most by anyone in the league this season. That must be the closest to a triple-double that Rafer has had.

It was those steals (20 as a team, the most by a team in the NBA this season!) and the 27 turnovers Charlotte committed that was the difference in the game. Charlotte didn’t shoot that bad compared to Houston (44.6% vs. 45.2%), outrebounded the Rockets 44-39, had about the same number of assists (25 vs. 23). But it was the defense and steals that made the difference.

The Bobcats’ leading scorer Gerald Wallace was the guy who coughed up the most TOs, giving up 7 of them, and only hitting 1-of-7 shots and scoring 4 points. Everyone else shot decently, except first round draft pick Adam Morrison, who only made 1-of-8, who only scored two, and point guard Brevin Knight, who missed all four of his shots in 16 minutes.

I was so looking forward to the Rockets-Mavs game Friday to really see where the Rockets stand as a team. Are they really as good as that 31-17 record indicates, or just pretenders and have a lot of work to do before they can even consider winning a championship?

That question was answered quite profoundly Friday night. The Rockets have a long way to go, losing 95-74 in a game reminiscent of that 40-point blowout in Game 7 of the Rockets-Mavs playoff series a couple of seasons ago. The bright side is that at least this time I had the wisdom to NOT attend this game.

In fact, for the first time in a long time, I turned off the game in the third quarter when Dallas went on a 16-0 run, 13 of those coming in just under 2 minutes to put the game out of reach. It was a complete disaster.

Luther Head kept turning the ball over (4 for the game, most on the team). Rafer Alston went back to his inconsistent self in the third quarter, driving into the lane and missing easy layups to help Dallas extend their scoring run and pull away. But you know it’s bad when Alston’s 6-for-13 shooting for 14 points was one of the best on the team.

Shane Battier was 1-of-9 (5 points). Juwan Howard was 3-of-9 for 11. Luther was 1-of-8, and 0-of-4 from three-point land. And Kirk Snyder was 1-of-7. Tracy McGrady was 7-of-16 with 20 points, which wasn’t bad, but he missed lots of shots in that pivotal third quarter before sitting out the fourth quarter. As a team, they shot 33%. Just as bad, they were outrebounded 55-40.

Even worse, they got rattled once Dallas started putting on the pressure in the third quarter, just like they did 2 years ago in that Game 7 I mentioned earlier, and extending their lead to 29 at one point. At least T-Mac admitted their softness after the game, “When things got tough, we folded…You just have to have heart, man. You just have to want it. Each individual. You can’t coach that.”

Now it’s almost not fair that Dallas has had virtually no injuries this year while the Rockets have had Yao out for 6 weeks and counting, and their X-factor-to-be off the bench, Bonzi Wells (well, he is one of their best bench players), had to sit out because of a sore back.

You know those two guys would have made a big difference, but still, the Mavericks are too fast and deep for the Rockets. But that’s what a huge payroll will help do for you.

What has to happen now is that the Rockets cannot be content to be good against the average teams and cupcakes. Every player has to ask, “Who is my counterpart on the Dallas team, and how can I get better than them, or at least close, if we face them in the playoffs?” A 21-point blowout instead of a 40-point one is not considered progress enough.

You can read more about the carnage in this Houston Chronicle game story.

Yahoo! Sports posted an interesting article on Jeff Van Gundy today, headlining their main NBA home page.

It’s nice to see the coach get some national run. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement made in the article, “All in all, this season has turned into Van Gundy’s finest work as an NBA coach.” It’s good to see he has more balance in his life, too.

Although the Rockets have been on a roll, having won 5 of their last 6 games, and were facing a Memphis team with the league’s worst record Tuesday night, you’ve still got to give them credit for winning 98-90.

After all, it was the second night of a back-to-back, Dikembe Mutombo ‘s knee was hurting, Juwan Howard was sick, Bonzi Wells was out, the Grizzlies are averaging 111 points a game since interim coach Tony Barone took over for the ousted Mike Fratello, and they kept coming at Houston.all game long But the Rockets fended them off to sweep the season series.

And for the second game in a row, Jeff Van Gundy praised his team:

“That was as hard as a team can play. That was a classic night that most teams let up and lose. I couldn’t be prouder of the group.”

“That’s what we’re talking about with leadership. McGrady puts it on the floor two times in a row. That’s leadership. Deke playing 37 minutes; that’s leadership. Juwan fighting through it; that’s leadership. (Shane) Battier being disciplined; that’s leadership. So I loved the way we played.”

Two post-game conferences in a row with compliments from JVG? I think hell is freezing over.

Tracy McGrady was awesome again, scoring 33 points on 12-of-26 shooting, and also throwing in 8 assists. To boot, he had two fantastic flying dunks, one on an alley-oop from Rafer Alston, and another after a baseline pump fake on Rudy Gay that left a clear lane to the hoop for an easy jam. I love T-Mac’s dunks more than most anyone’s. They just have a flair to them that makes you ask, “How did he do that?”

Houston’s offense was very efficient, shooting 49.4% and making 12-of-13 free throws. Three players shot better than 50% (Shane Battier – 6-of-9 for 14 points, Luther Head was 5-of-8 for 11, and Chuck Hayes was 4-of-6). With that kind of shooting, and only 10 team turnovers, you’re going to win a lot of games.

Of course, the Rockets’ defense was solid as always, holding Memphis to 43% shooting, and 2-of-18 from three-point territory for 11% shooting, a season-low.

Battier was awesome against his former teammate and scoring extraordinaire Mike Miller, holding him to 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting, 0-of-8 from three-point range, snapping Miller’s 27-game streak of making at least one trey.

Now the Rockets – who have played their share of cupcakes lately — face a big test on Friday and play the red-hot Dallas Mavericks. It will be interesting to see how well they measure up against arguably the best team in the league.

Another game where I don’t have anything to complain about. The Rockets showed fire and energy Monday night — and got payback against the Timberwolves for their last two losses in a row in Minnesota — dominating the T-Wolves 105-77. I can get used to this.

Tracy McGrady was back to his old self, scoring 32 points on 12-of-27 shooting, including 16 points in the third quarter. Juwan Howard was almost as good, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

Some other amazing stats from the game.

*The Rockets biggest lead was 37 points.
*They committed only 6 turnovers.
*They had 9 steals compared to Minnesota’s one.
*They outscored Minnesota 42-18 in the paint.
*They outscored the T-Wolves 17-0 on fast break points.

Wow!

Although they upchucked in their last game against the Hornets on Saturday night, the Rockets showed their pride. Van Gundy gave his team one of the best compliments I have ever seen when he said after the game:

“I loved the way we played, the energy level we had.”

That’s just as astounding as the stats mentioned above. JVG was also more encouraging during the game than seen in recent memory, clapping and applauding his players throughout.

The Rockets completed their 5-0 homestand against “cupcakes” 4-1, and are now 30-13. I’ll take it.

If anyone had any thoughts the Rockets don’t need Yao because of how well the they have been playing lately, all they need to do to understand how wrong they are is look at the Rockets’ 87-74 loss to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets Saturday night. That’s the 20-26 Hornets, the same team that had lost 11 of their last 12 road games, and is the league’s lowest scoring team.

Remember that loss to Denver five weeks ago that gave the Rockets a dose of reality? That’s nothing compared to this loss.

It was an ugly offensive showing for Houston. They scored only 15 points in the first quarter, a season low, as well as 30 points in the first half, another season low. By the third quarter, Houston was shooting only 32%.

This game also showed just how much the Rockets might need Rafer Alston in order to win, a scary proposition since Alston only shoots 36.9%. But after he got into some tough talk with Desmond Mason for hammering T-Mac on a layup attempt in the first quarter, both he and Mason were thrown out.

I didn’t really think it would affect the Rockets’ offense too much since Luther Head is a capable backup point guard and T-Mac is still very adept and finding the open man.

I actually had a little bit of respect for Alston since he didn’t back down on Mason, and wasn’t going to let his superstar teammate get assaulted like that without hearing about it. I’m glad somebody did.

Ironically, former Rocket Mike James showed the same fire in that Mavericks playoff series a couple of years ago. Van Gundy wasn’t too pleased with James losing his cool about the refs blowing several calls in a crucial Game 7, and even though the game had long been decided in a blowout loss. That off-season, James was traded for Alston. So should we expect another trade of the latest rendition of a Houston hothead for someone more ‘composed,’ like Seattle’s Earl Watson?

I doubt it. Alston has been playing better lately, even with the poor shooting, racking up all kinds of assists and turning the ball over very little in comparison. And although I’m sure Van Gundy will be tough on Alston for getting kicked out of this game, the loss of continuity would be too damaging to the offense.

Without Alston, the Rockets’ offense bogged down, even with T-Mac having shaken off the pain in his left wrist following the hard foul by Mason. Repeatedly the Rockets settled for 3-pointers, but hit very few of them (4-of-20 through the 3rd quarter). Live by the three, die by the three.

Meanwhile, the Hornets weren’t doing much better offensively, only leading 33-30 at halftime. But in the 3rd quarter they started hitting their shots, and led by 18 points at one point late in the third quarter, but thanks to a Bonzi Wells three-point play and a very long T-Mac 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer, the Rockets cut the deficit to 14 points, 63-49, heading into the third quarter.

But the Rockets couldn’t close the gap to start the fourth quarter, so in a last desperate attempt, Van Gundy said enough is enough with Juwan Howard and Chuck Hayes, and put in seldom-used Steve Novak and Scott Padgett. I applaud the attempt to mix things up, but it didn’t work.

Novak and Padgett really didn’t do anything, and on one Hornet possession, Novak got mixed up on defense and left Jannero Pargo open for a 3-pointer to push the lead up to 70-51. Van Gundy was visibly upset that Pargo was left so wide open, called a timeout, and pulled Novak out.

The Rockets ended up scoring their lowest number of points for the season (74). They were out-rebounded 49-36, and the Rocket starters were outscored by the Hornet starters 49-29.

The only bright spot was Bonzi Wells providing some low-post scoring, scoring 13 points (8 in the fourth) to give them a small chance to come back. But without Yao being the go-to guy when T-Mac couldn’t really take over (7-of-16 for 18 points, well below his 29 ppg over the last 17 games), all Rocket fans were reminded how much they missed the Big Man once the Rockets’ shooting confidence plummeted.

I enjoy watching the Rockets play great defense and winning slug-it-out games

Their 112-102 victory against the Sonics Wednesday night wasn’t one of them.

But it was a nice break to see a game where defense took a back seat, and run-and-gun offense was the order of the day.

The score was 59-51 at halftime, which is almost like a 3rd quarter score for many Rocket games. It included lots of fast breaks by the Rockets, with Rafer Alston showing what he can do in the open court by getting the ball to his teammates for layups.

But the Rocket Express started to chug down in the fourth quarter, when Luther Head missed 4 straight shots to let the Sonics hang around. But then T-Mac checked back into the game, drew the defense to him, and Luther responded by hitting two big 3-pointers to open up the Rockets’ biggest lead to 9 points.

T-Mac then juked rookie Mickael Gelabale with a killer crossover move and drilled a jumper to put them up 103-92 with 3:11 remaining. Even T-Mac himself was impressed with that move, leaving his mouth agape in astonishment as he ran back up the court.

A few minutes later with 51 seconds remaining, T-Mac had the ball at the top of the three-point line, Chuck Hayes came out and set a bone-jarring monster pick on Gelabale, and T-Mac came around the pick and drilled a three-pointer to make it 108-98.

But T-Mac’s passing to guys like Head, Hayes, and Dikembe Mutombo for layups (and everyone else who was the recipient of his 9 assists) was impressive. He is so good at finding the open man. I agree with Van Gundy that McGrady is the best playmaker in the league behind Steve Nash.

The team was pretty good sharing the ball, too. The Rockets had 30 assists in this game and only 6 turnovers, a season low. And I have to give credit to Rafer (15 points) for some of the best pinpoint passes (9 assists) I’ve seen from him in one game.

You also have to give credit to Seattle, who played hard for a team that has now lost 14 games in a row on the road. Nick Collison burned the Rockets defense by getting to the hole many times for tip-in buckets, helping the Sonics shoot 61% in the first half and 58% through three quarters — amazing against the Rockets’ vaunted defense. I know Van Gundy is not happy with them giving up 102 points when they average a league-leading 90-something.

But the Rockets defense clamped down in the fourth quarter and held the Sonics to 36% shooting and 1-for-8 from three-point territory in the fourth. Before then, Ray Allen (36 points overall, 4-of-8 from three-point territory) was awesome, hitting tough baskets to keep it close.

But it was McGrady who stole the show. He played one of the best games I’ve seen, and that’s saying something since he was also suffering from a cold. He was so efficient, scoring 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting to go along with those 9 assists. It’s hard to believe he struggled like he did earlier this season.

Notes:

This is the first time in a long time I’ve seen Earl Watson, who has been rumored to be on the trading block, and who I thought would be a good fit for the Rockets at point guard, especially if Alston goes back to being inconsistent. Watson didn’t disappoint, showing a nice shooting stroke from the outside, scoring 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, and dishing 8 assists in just 29 minutes.

The other guy I really like with the Sonics is TV analyst Lenny Wilkins (I watched the Seattle feed on DirecTV). His commentary is wonderful and insightful. Can the Rockets TV people trade Clyde Drexler for him?