The Houston Chronicle has an excellent article about Yao now that his scoring and rebounding averages are both in double figures (a.k.a. “double-double”). I love the sarcastic comments that Jeff Van Gundy makes. Click here to read the story.

MONDAY, 2/27/06 – Great news about Yao! He was finally rewarded for great play on Monday. Here are excerpts from the NBA.com story:

NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2006 – The Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas and the Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Tuesday, Feb. 21 through Sunday Feb. 26.

Other nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Boston’s Paul Pierce, Detroit’s Ben Wallace, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade, New Jersey’s Jason Kidd, Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson and Phoenix’s Shawn Marion.
John

Our YaoMania! correspondent in Hong Kong, Raymond, has been kind enough to translate two recent interviews with Yao provided through Chinese Web sites.

You can read the interview of Yao with Shanghai Eastern Satellite TV by clicking here.

The other interview from a Houston-based reporter with sina.com can be found by clicking here.

Thanks Raymond!

The trade of Mike James for Rafer Alston continues to show how stupid a move it was for Houston. Read more about what James did in a victory over Indiana Friday night.

On Thursday night, James had 28 points and 9 assists in a victory over Atlanta. Led by James at point guard, the Raptors have won 4 of their last 6 games. James has averaged over 16 points and almost 6 assists per game during that stretch.

I know many Alston defenders will say the jury is still out since he hasn’t played much this season because of an injury, but the fact remains that Alston was struggling terribly before his injury, averaging 7.1 points, 32.3% shooting, and 4.1 assists per game. We should see soon if Alston can prove his worth. There is a chance he might play tonight against the Golden State Warriors.

Man, oh man. How many injuries can the Rockets take? Yao is out for several weeks after getting toe surgery on Monday. Click here for the updated story from Tuesday.

Here’s an article providing more information about Yao’s injured toe, which will put him out of service for 7-10 days.

There’s a definite ‘must’ read in today’s Houston Chronicle about Yao. Here’s one of the quotes from Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy:

“I know right now, everybody’s hopping off the Yao bandwagon,” Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. “That happens. People are fickle. When a guy doesn’t make (shots) it’s condemn Yao. It’s either Yao is right behind Shaq (O’Neal) or Yao is right below the worst center in the league. With Yao, the only thing I feel badly about is people try to raise expectations up so high, they’re actually satisfied with nothing that he does. I feel badly for him in that way.

“I’m not going to jump off because everyone else has.”

Click here for the article.

I ask the above question after seeing tonight that former Rocket point guard Mike James, traded for Rafer Alston on October 4th, went off again for the second time in 3 games.

Tonight (Wednesday night), James scored a career-high 38 points and dished out 9 assists! Just last Sunday, James scored 36 points . Sure, the Raptors are losing, but he is still extremely productive.

Man, I’m sorry to keep harping on it, but I can’t believe the Rockets traded a guy we all knew had skills the Rockets sorely need right now — scoring, and now assists. On the day the trade happened, I wrote an entry that expressed my shock and disappointment on the deal.

You can check out James’ stats by clicking here. Check out Rafer Alston’s stats by clicking here. I’m sad to say, the numbers speak for themselves.

So what do you think? You can provide your thoughts in this discussion forum thread.