Yi Jianlian won’t be working out at an NBA pre-draft camp in Orlando, and this article in the Sacramento Bee seems to skewer him for it.

However, at the end of the article, the Bee says that 19 other players won’t be playing either — just taking physicals. But it makes good headlines to say a Chinese guy is trying to hide something in his game.

Here’s an article from the Associated Press about an informal newspaper poll conducted in China revealing that 53% of respondents believe that Rick Adelman will be a better coach for Yao, compared to only 37% who are unhappy to see Jeff Van Gundy leave the Rockets.

Although newspaper polls are unscientific, I think they’re right on.

Just in case you missed it, ESPN wrote an article on soon-to-be-lottery-pick Yi Jianlian a few days ago. Here’s a link to it, although to read the whole thing you need to be an ESPN Insider subscriber. At least there are 2 videos on the page you can view for free.

We’ve got two videos from yesterday’s press conference announcing Rick Adelman as the new head coach of the Houston Rockets. You can either watch the abbreviated version below, or the full length video on NBA.com by clicking here.

It was music to my ears to hear Adelman say he thinks Yao can do some other things (like shoot from the outside), that he can become a very good passer, and wants to help him (and McGrady) get easier shots. Hallelujiah!

Now maybe we’ll get to see again the flashes of brilliance (nifty passing) that Yao showed when he was a rookie in the Rudy Tomjanovich era. Forget flashes…I think we’ll see it much more of the time now that Adelman is coach. Maybe as much as we see Tim Duncan do it today, or Bill Walton in the past.

More photos of Yao and Hakeem’s workout on Tuesday have been posted in the YaoMania! forum. Click here to check ’em out (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

Here’s some video from the historical Hakeem-Yao workout that took place at Toyota Center on Tuesday.

Last but not least, here are some quotes that both Yao and Hakeem provided to the press after the workout:

From Hakeem:

* “It’s amazing how agile he is for a guy of that size. He’s so smart because he understands the game. He’s just looking for the things that he can do so that he can enhance the skills that he’s already got. He just has to dominate the game. He has so many advantages because of his size and skill so I’m just showing him little things that he can do to consistently be a dominating player. It will be scary to see what he can do in the future.”

“The important thing for him because he is playing so well already is just how to dominate the game. He has all the advantages and he’s so skilled. Little things he can do to make him be a dominant player consistently. It’s scary to see what he can do in the future.”

From Yao:

* “I’m learning the mentality from him. I don’t know how many times I heard him talk about being dominant. That’s why he can be ‘The Dream.’ The mentality is the biggest difference between him and me right now. I hope not far in the future that I can do things like him.”

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What a beautiful sight: Yao receiving some welcome instruction from Rocket Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon today at Toyota Center. Click here for more photos from the workout.

I just got this sina.com translation from Raymond about Yao’s workout with Hakeem today. I’ll post more articles as they are written by other members of the Houston media over the next day or so.

Toyota Center, deserted and silent for the past several weeks, suddenly became lively today. Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming, the old and new centers, separated by two generations, that were instantly recognizable by every Houston Rockets fan, appeared together on the training court.

Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon arrived at Toyota Center around 11:00 am in the morning; he first entered into the changing room to chat with Yao Ming for almost half an hour. Then the two of them went to the training court to start the training session which lasted some 40 minutes. The training was behind closed door and not open to the media, but after the training, both Hakeem and Yao Ming showed up in front of the media to accept interviews.

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I’m delighted to hear the idea of Hakeem Olajuwon teaching Yao a few things is finally going to happen today at Toyota Center. Fans of both players have wanted this to happen for quite some time. The idea came up again when Hakeem paid a visit to the Rockets’ locker room after Houston’s disappointing loss to the Jazz in Game 7.

Is it a coincidence that this is happening while there is a void in the Rockets’ head coaching situation? Perhaps Jeff Van Gundy wasn’t too keen on anyone other than “his guys” (e.g., Patrick Ewing, Tom Thibodeau) teaching Yao anything that didn’t fit what he wanted Yao to do.

Now with JVG out as head coach, perhaps the Rockets’ front office wanted to pull this together before Rick Adelman is named head coach tomorrow and before Yao flies back to China in mid-June. Also, Hakeem spends most of his time in Jordan, so he’s probably headed back there soon.

Give kudos to the Rockets for finally making this workout session happen, despite the naysayers who think the Rockets’ front office is full of a bunch of bunglers. I hope more sessions like these are scheduled in the future.

Our YaoMania! correspondent Raymond has translated an article that appeared on tom.com/Titan Sports today about Yao’s thoughts on Jeff Van Gundy leaving the Rockets, rehabbing his shoulder, and other topics. Here’s the translation:

It was something that was well anticipated, but when it did occur, there was still a tint of sadness that went with it. Jeff Van Gundy will not appear again in Toyota Center. That well-illuminated little office that worked late into the night is now empty and forlorn. And those trademarks (bald head, black eye sockets, Diet Coke, and the sound of his walking without his shoes on) that had led the Rockets for 4 years will never be seen again.

Then two days later during the season-ending meeting, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were called into new GM Daryl Morey‘s office. They were told there was still a possibility that Jeff Van Gundy will stay and remain in the office, but the team is also in search of his replacement candidate. This in fact had indicated whether Jeff Van Gundy can stay is dependent on whether Rick Adelman is willing to come to Houston.

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Instead of having foot surgery like he first thought, Yao is going to join the Chinese national team in mid-June, according to the Chinese Basketball Association. Click here for the very short story.

Here’s an interview that Jeff Van Gundy gave to a local Houston radio show today after it was announced he won’t be returning to the Rockets. Pretty classy.

I’ve got to admit that the explanation that new GM Daryl Morey provided in his afternoon press conference was a very good explanation on how things went down. On the outside it looked bad, but it turns out everything seems to have been “above board” regarding the Rockets speaking to Rick Adelman while Van Gundy was still trying to decide what he wanted to do from a coaching perspective.

According to Morey, JVG had suggested that the Rockets keep an open mind about other candidates while he contemplated what he was going to do. He didn’t want to stall the Rockets while he tried to make up his mind. I can believe that about JVG. He’s an up-and-up guy who thinks more about the organization first than himself.

So JVG knew the Rockets were going to talk to other candidates, and Morey said that JVG even recommended that the Rockets talk to one of the other candidates (probably Adelman), and evidently JVG and Adelman even spoke to each other about it.

It just turns out to all have backfired on Van Gundy. When he finally decided he wanted to return to the Rockets as head coach, the front office had already become enamored with Adelman, and that was the end of it for JVG as coach. Then when the Rockets tried to retain him as a “Senior Consultant,” JVG decided he didn’t want to do that. I don’t blame him. It probably wouldn’t pay him that much, and he probably wants to have the freedom to take a coaching job he can’t refuse, even if it means temporarily leaving the city of Houston, a city he said he loves and where he wants to live. $5 million annual contracts can do that to the best of them.

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