I know it was only a preseason game against a Dallas team that didn’t play hardly any of its starters at all, but the way the Rockets looked on Thursday night, it look like it’s going to be a fun season.

The Rockets proved to many people tonight they are absolutely stockpiled with talent. They remind me of recent Dallas teams that had big-name players come off the bench, but maybe even better. And tonight, the Rockets were, cruising against Dallas 104-90.

When you’ve got a lean and motivated Bonzi Wells (11 points on 4-of-7 shooting) being a threat offensively with his impressive array of moves and setting up Yao Ming for easy baskets, and can bring Mike James (17 points, 6-of-9 shooting) and Steve Francis (8 points) off the bench, and where you haven’t even had to factor Tracy McGrady (8 points) into the equation, it’s incredible how unstoppable they could be.

And we haven’t even talked about how much better Luther Head (8 points) is this season, how solid Shane Battier is (14 points on 6-of-9 shooting), how the Rick Adelman offense fits Rafer Alston‘s (6 points) game better, how great of a talent Luis Scola, is, or about Yao’s constant greatness in the middle (19 points, 8-of-11 FGs in 20 minutes).

I watched the game on Thursday night, and I was reminded just how difficult it is to stop Mike James, Francis, and Bonzi when they take it to the hole.

There has been a little bit of hype about how the Rockets could be the most improved team this season. Not only do I believe that, but they could be the best. I know it’s just one game, but I haven’t been this excited about the Rockets’ chances in years.

I hope you haven’t puked yet the way I’m fawning all over this team right now, but it’s rare that I do this, so enjoy it (or deal with it) while it lasts.

This season you’re not going to have to worry too much about a big drop-off in offensive production when the starters go out. The only Rocket fans who might be unhappy this season with the team are those fans who play fantasy leagues and are disappointed how each player, other than Yao, won’t rack up a lot of points for their fantasy teams. That’s how balanced they are.

I also enjoyed watching Yao play in the high post and hit some easy outside jumpers, as pictured below. Every basket won’t be a big chore this season, and he won’t have to worry about his head coach this season getting on his back for taking those shots.

Here are some very encouraging post-game comments regarding Yao’s play:

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Here’s an article from ESPN’s Marc Stein, who wrote this piece after talking to the Rockets the afternoon of October 7th at their Austin training camp the same time I was there. I could tell Rick Adelman and many of the other Rockets players recognized Stein and respected him, which is evident by the quality of his work as seen in this article.

We already knew Yao Ming was an awesome center, and we had heard Rockets new power forward Luis Scola was good from what we had seen and heard in the media. But we had never seen them in action together as much as we did Thursday night when the Rockets played Greek team Panathinkainos at Toyota Center.

I know it’s just Panathinkainos we’re talking about (which is actually hard to ‘talk’ about literally), but Yao and Scola showed how daunting a force they can both be when on the court together.

Yao scored 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbed 8 boards, while Scola scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 6 boards in a 107-70 blowout victory. I can’t wait to see how Scola does in the Rockets’ next preseason game against NBA-quality competition and a bigger front line.

To see highlights of Yao from the game, click here for the video.

Click here to see more photos from the game.

Since Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady had missed the Rockets media day on Monday, October 3rd, they were able to get their official photos taken yesterday for the 2007-08 season.

Also on Monday, the Rockets practiced at Toyota Center. Click here for photos from the practice as well as some more photos of Yao and McGrady together.

Tuesday night Yao Ming had an interesting game in the Rockets first preseason game, dishing out 3 assists Vlade Divac style. He also hit 4-of-11 shots (most from the outside) and scored 13 points in 17 minutes of play. Here he goes up strong over New Orleans’ Hilton Armstrong…

I wasn’t able to see the game, which the Rockets lost after holding a 30-9 lead. But most of that lead was given up in the second half long after Yao and Tracy McGrady were gone.

Click here for the boxscore, and here for more photos from the game.

As Yao prepares for the start of the NBA season on Wednesday in Utah, Raymond in China has worked hard to translate a long interview that Yao granted to Titan Sports. Click here for the translated interview.

Thanks, Raymond!

Yao sprained his left ankle last night in Orlando in his 14th minute of play. It’s minor and he said he won’t even miss the Rockets’ next practice on Saturday. He sprained it when he was boxing out for a defensive board, and was pushed from behind.

In those 14 minutes, Yao had 13 points and 4 rebounds. Later in the second half, the Rockets held a 13-point lead but the reserves blew it when the Magic went on a 19-0 run, and the Rockets ultimately lost 94-90. Good thing it was only a preseason game, but it was there last warmup game before next Wednesday’s regular season opener against Utah in Salt Lake.

Yao corrals Shaquille O’Neal in a preseason game Wednesday night where Shaq only scored 9 points on 3-of-8 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds in 22 minutes of play. Yao struggled with his shooting as well, only hitting 1-of-7 shots that were away from the rim (5-of-12 overall), finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. However, the Rockets still won the game 96-71. Click here for the game story. For more photos from the game, click here.

I watched Wednesday night’s game and was deeply impressed with the Rockets’ 96-71 victory over Miami, who played Dwyane Wade and Shaq significant minutes. If the Rockets play this well in the regular season, it’s going to be a fun one. 55+ wins wouldn’t be out of the question. They are loaded, and Bonzi Wells hasn’t even played in the preseason yet.

Yao looked good on pick-and-rolls where teammates like T-Mac and Vassilis Spanoulis delivered nice, soft passes to him near the rim for easy layups. He also had a sweet left-handed hook shot over Shaq from the middle of the lane. But he missed the rest of his shots away from the basket to finish 5-of-8 from the field for 12 points. I like what Yao said after the game, though:

“He (coach Jeff Van Gundy) wants me to score, score, score. If I score five times in a row, don’t think about passing the sixth time. I need to learn this.”

Amazing! Maybe Yao will average close to 30 points per game this season with these instructions.

On the down side Wednesday night, he got his shot blocked and stolen a couple of times and he threw an easy pass too high over Rafer Alston‘s head where he acknowledged it was ‘his bad.’ Despite five turnovers, he made up for it somewhat with 13 rebounds and 3 blocks.

T-Mac also struggled, but Shane Battier (10 points, 6 boards) continued to play solid ball. Alston (13 points, 6 boards, 5 assists) looks very improved compared to last year, hitting 3-of-6 three pointers on Wednesday (7-of-13 in the preseason) and committing only one turnover in 27 minutes.

Rookie Steve Novak (17 points, 4-of-7 from three-point land) was impressive to make up for Yao and T-Mac’s shooting woes. I don’t think anyone thought that Novak would shoot so well in his rookie season from 3-point territory (12-of-21 so far). But it’s still early, and once he hits the drain of the long, NBA regular season, I expect his shooting will taper off.

Kirk Snyder looked great scoring around the hole and going to the basket. As Van Gundy stated a couple of weeks ago, it’s clear Snyder is very athletic and strong. He scored 11 points Wednesday night, but he needs to stop being tempted by the 3-point shot as much. He missed all three of his attempts, includine one attempt from an angle that hit the backboard first, and missed all four of his attempts in his last game.

Barry is back

It was interesting to hear former teammate Jon Barry, now an ESPN game commentator, provide his perspective on Yao. He stated:

“I’m just a big Yao fan. I really think he could be one of the top 6-8 centers ever to play this game. I love his game.”

We know that most people love Yao’s game, but to say Yao has the potential to be up in the upper echelon of centers all-time is something I hadn’t really thought about since Yao is only in his fifth season and had his breakout year only last season.

On an different note, I laughed when Barry said that coach Jeff Van Gundy has no problem calling out his players during film sessions, and that Barry was highlighted so much during these sessions, he was the “Brad Pitt” of the team.

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

Yao and Juwan Howard read to some kids at Toyota Center at Read to Achieve event on Monday, October 23rd. Click here for the story and more photos from the event.

At Read to Achieve on Monday, the understated Yao quipped in typical fashion, “”I (wanted) to listen, not read. I (wanted) to sit with the kids.” But then got serious and followed up with, “But no, I do like reading to them.”