I’m at Toyota Center and have Internet access, so I thought I would try something new and provide comments in the YaoMania! discussion forum on what I see and hear at the arena that you might not get on TV or video streaming over the Internet.

Click here for the discussion forum topic. Once you go there, you can click on the latest page number on the top-right and lower-right corners of the forum.

This Rockets-Jazz series already has some interesting sub-plots. But today we got another one when we found out that Andrei Kirilenko was shedding a few tears at the end of Sunday’s practice. Evidently it was because of the very little impact (2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 steal) he had in Game #1, and the fact Jerry Sloan pulled him in the third quarter right before the Rockets went on a 16-4 scoring run and only played 7 seconds at the end of the fourth quarter.

The Salt Lake Tribune writes how AK47 is upset that Sloan isn’t playing him, and how it’s an awkward situation that both Sloan and Kirilenko is going through.

Tonight on Inside the NBA on TNT, they reported that Kirilenko cried, and of course Charles Barkley asked, “You’re kidding?” and then said, “That’s ridiculous.”

You can bet the talking heads are going to jump all over this one because it’s an easy target to jump on. Just look at what they did with Dirk Nowitzki and his comment during the playoffs last season ridiculing him that the way he relaxed when shooting clutch free throws was to think of a David Hasselhoff song. Even opposing teams’ fans got into the act, jeering Nowitzki with signs about the Hoff. Let’s just hope Rocket fans don’t do anything classless to mock Kirilenko during Monday night’s game.

Then you’ve got the other storyline about the Jazz collapsing at the end of the season to lose homecourt advantage to the Rockets. And you’ve always got the standard T-Mac-has-never-advanced-past-the-first-round, which is getting very old.

Obviously, the Jazz are on the ropes mentally with diminished confidence, so the Rockets need to lower the hammer and not give the Jazz a chance to gain any momentum in the series by letting them win Monday night.

As I mentioned early this morning in my last post, I was able to capture a few things that you might, and might not, have observed through all the different media reports coming out of Toyota Center after the Rockets victory over the Jazz in Game 1.

First, if you didn’t know it, you can watch Jeff Van Gundy‘s post-game news conference for home games by going to Rockets.com. Here’s the video link for last night’s JVG conference, or if you want to read some of the noteworthy snippets from the conference, here are some of them:

* When asked what got T-Mac going in the second half, JVG first responded simply, “Tracy.” Then JVG later said, “Sometimes, when you want something so bad, it works against you a little bit. I think that’s what happened with him in the first half.”

* It looked like JVG was upset with a guy in the interview room behind me was finishing up a cellphone call (very quietly I might add). He looked at him seriously and asked, “You got a call?” then broke the tension by saying he was just joking with him.

* Commenting (and joking) on Utah’s 52.9% free throw shooting: “We defended the free throw really well tonight.”

* Speaking of the Rockets’ shaky play in the first half, “When the intensity rose, instead of doing what we do, we were scattered and frantic, and that’s a by-product of very good defense on Utah’s part, and some things we felt we could do better.”

“We actually would like to play a little quicker. In the first half, we were so discombobulated and so scattered, they had us all over the place. I didn’t even recognize what we were doing, and we were fortunate to only be down 9 at half.”

* “We obviously don’t want Yao out there on the three-point line with Okur.”

* On Rafer Alston‘s performance (9 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals in 46 minutes): “I thought Rafer was really good tonight defending…playing so many minutes. I think he did a great job.”

* On the play where Derek Fisher missed a layup and Yao converted the mistake into a dunk on the other end, JVG said “We got rewarded for poor play. Yao didn’t run back…Sometimes it is luck. We got lucky on that one…We got some good breaks tonight.”

* On T-Mac’s shaky start shooting 0-for-6 from the field in the first half: “There is an energy factor that he has to pace himself a little bit when you’re asking so much from the offensive end.”

In Jerry Sloan‘s press conference, I was very impressed with him that I thought I would be for such a tough-minded coach who has a feisty reputation. He was very professional, and downright pleasant, in answering questions after a tough loss.

Among other things, Sloan said, “We’ve got to try to get the ball out of his (McGrady’s) hands and we didn’t seem to have the desire to want to make that work. We’ve got a young team, and they’ve got to learn that, and in this type of game, you can’t lose your ability to compete and we went through a stage where we lost our ability to compete.”

“We have to play a full 48 minutes. We can’t have a quarter like we did where we were missing free throws and missing open jump shots.”

But while writing this post entry, I discovered that Rockets.com does a good job transcribing a lot of the quotes from the locker room and interview area. So rather than re-invent the wheel, I’ll direct you to this page if you want to read more quotes, especially from Yao.

Yao’s locker spot was the most crowded of any other player. That’s because T-Mac provided his comments in the interview room. There must have been 10 Chinese or Asian-American reporters waiting for him, so it was hard to get through and get good audio from him, or even ask a question. And Yao traditionally takes more time to get to his locker than anyone else, I think because he either lifts weights or gets some treatment.

The first few questions Yao answered were in English, with the majority of it being conducted in Chinese.

Instead, I’ll focus on observations and quotes that I know either you haven’t see anywhere else, or was lightly reported, like…

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Yao blocks the shot of Mehmet Okur Saturday night in an 84-75 victory over the Utah Jazz. Yao led all scorers with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for photos of Yao & T-Mac getting ready for the game. Click here for photos from Yao’s pregame shootaround.

I was lucky enough to go to Game 1 of the Rockets-Jazz series in Houston. Since many of you may have seen the game on ESPN, streamed online, or many of the highlights by now, I won’t go into a ton of details about the game. Instead, I’ll focus on some of the things you might have missed by not being at the arena.

And tomorrow (Sunday), I will post another blog entry with some of the comments and observations I gathered from the interview areas that you might not be able to read or see anywhere else (it’s so late, I don’t have enough time to do it tonight).

So let’s get things started…I don’t know if the Rockets do this before every game, or just the playoff games. But right before the pregame warmup drills, they showed on the big screen the Rockets in their huddle just outside the locker room area before they run out on the court.

That was cool to see because the fans got a chance to see the players get hyped up beforehand, and they responded with a roar of anticipation. Then when the players ran on to the court, each one of them had a small, red ball (I assume with a Rockets logo on it) and threw them into the stands as they transitioned directly into their layup drill.

The players never had thrown balls into the stands in past seasons. I had heard the team has done a lot of new and different things this season that was much better than in the past. Even the new public address announcer, who I know Van Gundy likes more than last season’s, got on the mic in the middle of the court before the warm-ups began to get everyone fired up and wave their “Red Rowdy” towels. He has a very impressive, booming voice and did a good job.

The introduction of the players was very well done, with imposing music and inspirational videos of the Rockets played on the screen leading up to the intros. The crowd got amped and the response from them was deafening!

Not only was the crowd’s decibel levels impressive, but I would say over 80% of them were wearing red. I have never seen that before at a Rockets game. It was like a college game the way the fans were all united in one color. They definitely were holding up their end of the bargain in not letting Utah get comfortable.

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Yao is swarmed Friday after the Rockets’ practice leading up to Game 1 of Saturday’s showdown with the Utah Jazz. Click here for more photos from the practice.

Our Raymond has translated an interview that Titan Sports did with Yao after Wednesday’s loss against the Utah Jazz in the final, but meaningless, regular season game against the Utah Jazz.

In the interview, Yao talks about how much work he has put into reading the scouting report of the Jazz players, how he tries to increase his confidence leading up to the game, how he wakes up in the middle of the night thinking about the Jazz, and other insightful tidbits.

Some interesting news about Yao working with the United Nations…his image will appear on some posters to try to end the stigma of living with HIV in China…

Here’s a short story about it on Reuters.com.

Here’s a more detailed story from the United Nations Web site.

Good work, Yao. And great timing for bringing more visibility to the campaign as millions of fans wait to see how you do in the NBA playoffs.

Yao suited up and participated in pregame warmups in Utah Wednesday night, but as a precautionary measure didn’t play in a fairly meaningless game against the Jazz. Utah ended up winning the final game of the regular season for both teams, 101-91, and play again Saturday night in the first game of their playoff series.

Although they lost against the team they will be facing in the playoffs, Jeff Van Gundy did the right thing by not playing Yao, T-Mac and Dikembe Mutombo in the final game of the regular season. The risk was too great if an injury had occurred to one of these guys. Yao suited up but didn’t play, Deke wore street clothes, and T-Mac stayed in the locker room.

Even without those three players, I couldn’t believe it when the Rockets jumped out to a 19-5 lead in the first quarter. That made the Jazz fans restless, and they started booing before the Jazz got it together and pulled away in the fourth quarter while resting their own starters.

This is so strange to have the Rockets lose and for me not to be mad about it. I kind of like this. It’s like that last exam you take in school when you know you’re going to graduate and no matter how bad you do on the test, you’ll still get a passing grade in the class and get your diploma. I loved those rare days.

Even with Utah out-rebounding Houston 45-25, I’m not upset.

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Yao scrambles on the floor for a loose ball Monday night at Toyota Center against the Phoenix Suns. This play represents how scrappy the Rockets played to pull off an inspirational victory against the Suns to win home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz. Yao finished with 34 points and 9 rebounds, while Tracy McGrady finished with 39 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Click here and here for more photos from the game. Click here and here for pregame photos during the shootaround.

Monday night was the kind of game you wait for all season. It was a game that everyone in Houston had marked on their calendar as an “L” against the amazing Phoenix Suns. In a great season that has had many memorable wins (remember beating San Antonio on the road earlier in the season?), the Rockets played an almost near perfect game to get a win when they really needed it.

With home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs at stake, the Rockets shocked the scoreboard watchers in Utah – and around the league – by pulling off a 120-117 victory over the heavily favored Suns.

I can only imagine what the reaction was in Salt Lake City when the fans at the Jazz-Portland game found out the shocking news when they heard Houston had beaten Phoenix. Taking a line from the old V-8 commercials while slapping their head, “Ohh, I could have had home court advantage!”

Instead, the Rockets were the ones savoring every last drop of their highly-caffeinated brew of run-and-gun offense, outscoring the highest-scoring team in the league for once.

On cue, the Rockets seem to be putting it all together. T-Mac is taking charge. Yao is a monster. The role players are hitting big shots.

Remember those games over the past two weeks where the Rockets have blown leads and Van Gundy has been grumpy about poor execution? All of that seems forgotten for now. I went on record saying I wasn’t concerned about those lapses because wins are still wins, and it shows the Rockets might have the stuff to create a lot of damage in the playoffs.

I may still be proven wrong, but right now, I think most of Houston is on a high this morning and thinking that way.
After losing to Utah at home on April 1st to drop 1.5 games behind the Jazz with only 9 games left in the season, the Rockets have not only risen from the dead to win home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against Utah, but they did it by beating the juggernaut of a Suns team they hadn’t beaten in 6 attempts. Who would have thought on April Fools Day it would have come down to this?

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We take a break from all the exciting action on the court to bring some attention to Yao Ming attending Dikembe Mutombo‘s charity dinner gala Friday night for the hospital he has built in The Republic of Congo. Yao attended the event with girlfriend Ye Li (pictured below).

Even Patrick Ewing came back to Houston for the event, probably to help out his old Georgetown buddy and alum Dikembe. That explains why he was at the Rockets game on Saturday night (I was thinking there was no way he would come to Houston just to see a game).

Thanks to Raymond for posting these photos from the event in the forum.

Everything is falling into place for the Rockets. A couple of weeks ago, it looked like the Rockets were out of the hunt in catching Utah for home court advantage.

But then Utah lost 5 games in a row. Then Houston rebounded from a 3-game losing streak to win 3 on the road, plus beat the Hornets last night for their 4th win in a row.

Then today the Spurs lost to the Mavericks in Dallas. Now there is no way the Spurs can catch the Phoenix Suns for the 2nd seed in the Western Conference playoffs. So the Suns really don’t have much to play for. They are locked in at #2.

So when the Suns come into Houston on Monday night, hopefully they will rest alot of their big guns (just like the Mavericks have been doing this past week) and lay down for the Rockets so Houston can gain home court advantage against Utah in their playoff series. Houston only needs one win (or one Utah loss) to win home court against the Jazz.

It’s ironic the Mavericks won on Sunday since they could have done the Rockets a favor a few days ago if they had just beaten the Jazz in Dallas, but they lost partly because they didn’t play many of their key players. So I guess it was difficult for the Mavericks to lay down two games in a row. At least they have some morals. They played to win Sunday afternoon against the Spurs, and they pulled through.

But it’s amazing that it took a strange ejection of Tim Duncan in the second half to give the Mavericks an even better chance of beating the Spurs. I was watching it on ABC, and I had never seen a player get ejected by getting two technical fouls while sitting on the bench. I think Duncan got a raw deal. While getting some rest on the bench, Duncan obviously did something referee Joey Crawford didn’t like, resulting in his first tech. With the smile he had on his face, Duncan looked like a school kid caught muttering something behind the teacher’s back.

After that, the cameras were focused on Duncan to see if any additional drama would unfold. It did. A couple of possessions later, Duncan started laughing at something that happened on the court, perhaps a foul that was called by Crawford on another player. Well, Crawford thought Duncan’s laughter was taking it too far in that he was trying to upstage him, so Crawford ejected him. Unbelievable.

With that, the Spurs lost a very potent weapon down the stretch in game that ended 91-86, Mavericks. I guess with all the bad calls against Yao this season, maybe it some strange way Duncan’s strange ejection made things a bit more even for the Rockets.

Finally, the Rockets and the rest of the Western Conference might be catching another break because the Golden State Warriors won their game against Minnesota today, while the LA Clippers lost at home to Sacramento today. That gives the Warriors a one-game advantage over the Clippers with only two games to play.

How does that help the Rockets and the Western Conference? Because the Warriors have been giving Dallas all kinds of trouble this season, and you can’t help but think that Don Nelson has a few tricks up his sleeve on how to beat his old team.

At minimum, the chances are good the Warriors will tire the Mavericks, and maybe even upset them. That could make the road to the Western Conference finals that much easier for Phoenix, San Antonio, and Houston.