After Yao arrived back in China yesterday, he gave an interview to CCTV. Here’s Raymond’s summary of the interview written in Chinese:

* Yao Ming explained he opted to skip shoulder surgery this summer, and chose conservative treatment instead. If he had opted for surgery, it would have been at least 6 months minimum before he could have played some basketball, and even longer to complete his rehabilitation. That would have affected his ability to play a full season for the Rockets next year, and perhaps his ability to be at full strength for the 2008 Olympics. So he chose physical therapy instead, play for the next year or so, and postpone the surgery for another two years.

* He jokingly said if anything had gone wrong with surgery to his right shoulder, he would have become a “rookie” again by losing his shooting touch.

* When asked what he planned to do in the next few months, Yao Ming said he will stay in Shanghai to continue his training. Then he will need to meet and discuss with the Chinese national team about when he should rejoin them. Since the national team will not be back in China until mid-July, it will not make much sense for him to be in Beijing. so he will stay in Shanghai most of the time.

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YaoMania! correspondent Raymond in China has this pic below of Yao’s return to Shanghai yesterday and reuniting with bride-to-be Ye Li…

Raymond also has the following to report:

– Yao will stay in Shanghai for a few days before heading to Beijing where he’ll take part in a series of promotional activities for the 2008 Olympics.

– He won’t be joining his Chinese national teammates in the USA, who will be playing in the Vegas Summer League in July, until after they return back to China.

– It’s also rumored that Yao will move his wedding up from August to July.

I know what you’re thinking after the Bucks picked Yi Jianlian at the #6 spot. It’s like a fish out of water. As this article describes the reaction from Yi, his agent, and the Bucks, there are only 27,500 Asian-Americans in Milwaukee. I feel kind of sorry for him that he’s not going to get to play in the big Asian-American markets he preferred.

At least this Thursday article on Time.com gives him the visibility you expect he will continue to get, regardless of where he plays.

No doubt, I am quite surprised the Rockets picked Aaron Brooks with the 26th pick of the NBA draft Thursday night. Not that Brooks is a bad player. I watched him play a couple of games this season. He’s very quick, can fill it up, and has a bit of “street” in him — kind of reminds me of a younger Gary Payton. If he turns into another GP, that would be awesome.

But the problem is that Brooks is probably 5’11” tops, and the Rockets already have a guard like that on their roster that impressed them enough last season to sign that player to a 3-year deal. His name is John Lucas III — and then after signing him, they never really played him.

You might say that Brooks took his Oregon team to the Elite 8 last season, and therefore is the better player. If you say that, then I must point out that Lucas was co-Big 12 Player of the Year after his junior season, and helped take his Oklahoma State team to the Final Four in 2004!

Now with Brooks soon to be a Rocket, there’s no way the Rockets will have two point guards on their roster under 6-feet. I’m not saying that Lucas is the answer as the Rockets’ backup point guard. I know many of the talking heads in Houston will just say that Lucas is a joke because, yeah, he maybe quick and can score, but he’s short. Well, that’s exactly what the Rockets got in Brooks. My argument is that I want to at least see what Lucas can do in a system where apparently a quick point guard shorter than 6-feet can be effective, as evidenced by the Rockets selecting Brooks.

My other problem with the Rockets is that they are flushing money down the toilet by having signed Lucas to a 3-year deal and never finding out if he could really play (he showed flashes of brilliance a couple of seasons ago when they signed him to multiple 10-day contracts, and last year the very few times JVG played him). If they didn’t think JL3 was good enough last year, why did they sign him to that kind of deal?

And don’t forget that new Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey was already in place as the Rockets’ assistant GM last summer evaluating the talent at last year’s Vegas Summer League where Lucas impressed everyone (I know Morey was evaluating talent in Vegas because I was there and saw him in the stands watching every game Lucas played). After getting First-Team all-VSL honors, finishing second in scoring (24.3 ppg), and first in assists (7.6), there was a mini-bidding war for his services by many teams impressed with Lucas’ performance there, and the Rockets did the right thing by ponying up with the cash. I don’t see how they could think any less of Lucas since last summer because he never really got the chance to play last season.

So here we go with the Rockets wasting money on a player they never even tried to play to see how he could do. I thought there was a reason why Morey and owner Les Alexander wanted Jeff Van Gundy out as coach — because he didn’t develop the players they had on their bench. Instead of doing that and drafting another player who could have helped them at power forward — like Glen Davis from LSU — they now have a logjam at point guard.

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On Saturday Bonzi Wells decided he will not opt out of his contract and will return to the Rockets next season. Click here for the story.

Personally, I think it’s great news. I think Rick Adelman will understand how to get the most out of him, and Bonzi is motivated to play for Adelman again like he did in Sacramento. Of course, I’m sure the talking heads on the Houston sports radio stations will continue to blitz Bonzi, but I honestly thought alot of these guys were too quick to judge him last season for being a loser, and that Bonzi will prove them wrong.

So what do you think? Feel free to provide your comments in the YaoMania! forum in this thread (I’ll be approving new registrations today on a fairly quick basis).

I know this article has nothing to do with Yao, but I’m impressed on Daryl Morey‘s perspective on the draft for being such a young GM.

Here are some quotes that shows he understands how a draft can stack up:

“If you get to 18 to 20 (first round pick), there’s usually some sliders,” Morey said. “Danny Granger, Gerald Green, Jameer Nelson in recent years. Guys who should have gone high and slipped farther than they should have in many

“We have some opportunities to move up. We’ve done our draft work. We’re very prepared for this draft. I’ve spent a lot of time on (scenarios to) trade up, trade down, trade in (to the second round). A lot of different discussions have filled several days. Often, they’ll happen on that night because your guy is there, or their guy is gone.”

Later, Morey talks about the best way a player drafted late in the first or second round can stick around in the NBA…

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In case you hadn’t heard, Yao Ming will be marrying long-time girlfriend Ye Li, a member of the Chinese women’s basketball team, on August 8th. YaoMania! correspondent Raymond has a good summary of the wedding news in the YaoMania! forum. For photos of Yao and Ye Li together at Dikembe Mutombo‘s charity dinner on April 13th, click here.

YaoMania! correspondent Raymond has translated another Chinese article, this time about the loss of Juwan Howard through the Mike James trade, and what he thinks the Rockets could use at power forward — although the jury is still out until new head coach Rick Adelman starts making his mark on the team. Click here for the translation.

In case you missed it, here’s a great piece on Yi Jianlian on SI.com. He’s much farther along with his English and getting accustomed to American culture than Yao Ming was at the same stage.

To follow up on the my previous post with the translation of Yao talking about Carroll Dawson teaching him many great things, this article appeared in today’s Houston Chronicle about how new assistant coach Jack Sikma looks forward to doing the same. It’s such an interesting article, I am posting the whole thing down below (thank you Jonathan Feigen at the Chronicle):

On his first official day as a Rockets assistant coach, Jack Sikma did what he likely will do in most of the days to follow. He focused on the talents and potential of All-Star center Yao Ming.

“I just got a chance to talk with Carroll Dawson, who has been working with him and watched him. I’ve learned some things already. I’m getting a feel for where Yao is at, some areas to recognize where a tweak here or there or some fundamentals can lead to some improvements.”

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