Here’s an interesting video with Yao and Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was in Houston for the Cavaliers-Rockets game Wednesday night.

Zydrunas has provided good moral support to Yao ever since Yao learned he was going to have the same surgery on his foot that Zydrunas had, and Yao is obviously thankful. In the video, Big Z tells a little bit of what may be in store for Yao as he gets back to playing in the NBA.

Jonathan Feigen of the Chronicle also recapped the similarity between Zydrunas’ and Yao’s surgery in this story.

Recently YaoMania had an opportunity to talk with Rockets.com writer Jason Friedman, who was nice enough to spend some time with us at Toyota Center.

In part 1 of our video interview, Jason tells us the effect that Yao still has on the team even though he’s injured, how well he’ll be expected to fit into the offense the Rockets are running successfully this season, and more (apologies for the construction noises in the background in the first minute or two).

Thanks Jason!

I was listening to an old interview that Shane Battier gave to a local radio station a couple of weeks ago, and I was struck by this conversation that Shane had with the interviewer talking about Yao getting little respect from referees, but still manages to maintain his cool.

Interviewer: “Yao never loses it against players who are beating him all the time…”
Shane: “He’s amazing. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the entire league. Anybody.”

Interviewer: “What do they say to you?”
Shane: “I don’t know. They just sort of blow us off. I don’t know what it is about Yao. I wish Yao would even go after the refs a little harder and just let them know, hey, ‘I’m a 6-7 year All-Star in this league.’ I deserve some calls sometime.”

I love Shane for his loyalty toward Yao.

On another front, Raymond has translated an interview that Yao gave to Sohu Sports where he talks about improved cohesion in the locker room, his performance late in games, and what will happen with the team when Tracy McGrady returns to the line-up.

Finally, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle wrote an excellent article about Yao’s effectiveness in the fourth quarter.

“Every year, Yao is getting better. The Rockets showed their confidence in him, when they go through him at the end of the game like they did tonight. He made some big shots and was tough to stop.”

- Tim Duncan, on the Rockets’ big man who had 28 points and 13 rebounds in Houston’s 89-81 win over the Spurs, 11/06/07

“He’s so much more relaxed now.”

- Steve Francis, on how Yao handled all the hoopla with the media frenzy around Yao’s matchup with Yi Jianlian, 11/09/07

“He handles it so great. I really admire the way he handles himself, the way he carries himself.”

- Rockets’ teammate Shane Battier on how Yao Ming handled himself with all the attention from 200 million Chinese viewers (reportedly) watching him and Yi Jianlian in their first NBA matchup, 11/09/07

“I don’t think there’s a better one-two combination (in the NBA). Tracy is a great offensive player. He’s an all-star who creates his own shots and is able to get to the basket and finish. Yao Ming is basically what they call him, ‘The Great Wall of China.’ Once he posts in the block, he’s so hard to guard. Your best defense against him is to try and not let him get the ball, because once he gets the ball, he’s pretty much unstoppable. Plus, he’s a good passer who sees the floor well and gets his teammates the ball in good positions. That might be the best one-two combination since MJ and Pippen.”

- Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace after Yao Ming scored 34 points on 13-of-15 shooting and 8-of-8 shooting from the line after a Houston victory over the Bobcats, 11/11/07

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.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Houston Chronicle’s John Lopez has a nice blog post about how Yao is on his way to becoming one of the top centers of all time if he can dominate this post-season. Nice work, John.

“He is mobile enough to be a force. He runs the floor very well. He has a soft jump shot, good skills. For him, it is just the concept, the job description, that he must learn. That lane, it belongs to him. Everybody has to go through you. You reject everything that comes in there. It is your house.

“Maybe you say it is cultural. I don’t know. But he can change. He can be taught. Let him see how it’s done. I know he has obligations this year (in China) with the world tournament. But next year, maybe he is free. I plan to be here. Hopefully, with a bigger camp. I would like to work with him.”

- Hakeem Olajuwon on what he wants to teach Yao next year during his annual Big Man Camp in Houston, 8/3/06

“I’ve dealt with a lot of players and there (are) more misconceptions about Yao Ming than anyone.”

- Miscellaneous quotes from Jeff Van Gundy, 11/2/05

“I’ve already paid enough money (to the league in fines). Let’s not go there. It’s too early in the season.”

— Jeff Van Gundy, when asked about Yao Ming’s foul trouble, 11/2/05

“Yao has sold that very, very well, about fatigue being an issue. It’s not. Yao is a great worker. He just wanted some free time, I think more mentally than physically, and no one should begrudge anybody that.”

- Jeff Van Gundy after Yao requested some time off, 11/13/05

“I know right now, everybody’s hopping off the Yao bandwagon. 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.

- Jeff Van Gundy sympathizing for Yao and showing faith in him, 11/27/05

“It wasn’t as tough for me as Yao, because I had the ball 90 percent of the time. It’s different for a guy like Yao because we have to get him the ball. I already had the ball. I can create my own shot and create shots for other guys. That’s why it’s on us to get him the ball.”

“With the rule changes and the ability to completely take a guy out of the game like they’ve been doing, it’s simple. I was trying to tell the guys, it’s on us. It’s on the guys handling the ball to get him the ball. It’s going to be hard to get him post-ups. It’s going to be hard to throw him the ball on the post with a guy playing in front of him and a guy playing behind him. With me out, all the attention is focused on Yao.”

- Teammate Tracy McGrady, wanting to help out Yao because of NBA rule changes making it difficult for centers to dominate, 11/27/05

“He had a bad stretch. We had a bad stretch. A post player is much more dependent on who he plays with than a perimeter player. Our strength as a team is not entering the ball to the post. We’re getting better.”

“Certainly the game has been made harder on the post player, and it’s a perimeter game. The foul calls the perimeter players get can be a little softer than inside. The touch fouls on the perimeter and the mayhem inside can be…for any big guy, a little bit difficult to figure out. But that’s how the league is.”

- Jeff Van Gundy on Yao’s recent troubles offensively, 11/27/05

“If he listened to every critique about himself, he would be in a mental ward right now because he would have such self-doubt.”…

“I see a very productive player, a player who keeps getting better and an organization who just gave a guy every amount of money it could for a reason. Yeah, he’s got things he can work on and does work on and thankfully, Yao is a great worker.”

- Jeff Van Gundy giving rare props, 10/28/05

“He looks more aggressive this year. He’s looking good. He’s staying strong and holding his position. That’s our best offense, getting the ball to him and going inside-out or me and him playing pick-and-roll.”

- Teammate Tracy McGrady near the end of preseason, 10/23/05

“Yao is a very harsh critic of himself, and I think that can lead to good things when guys are very, very tough on themselves, and at times, he should worry less, have a shorter memory about mistakes. Sometimes being a harsh critic of yourself serves a guy well. Most of those people are perfectionists, which I think Yao is.”

“Where is he at? He’s a very fine player.”

- Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy as training camp starts, 10/05/05

“There’s so much on him. He has to not even worry about that, just go out be the best basketball player he can be and help his ballclub win. Then there won’t be that pressure. I don’t think he’s gotten that. But he’s young, and he’s improving every day.”

- Teammate Tracy McGrady as training camp starts, 10/05/05

“He is a man of integrity and has good sense of humour. He is the perfect one to be the flag-bearer.”

- Chinese Olympic delegation official Xiao Tian regarding Yao being chosen to be the flag-bearer for his country duing the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, 8/9/04

“He’s pretty much what you expect. He’s so big and I think I learned what I have to look forward to in the league. He’s a tough guy to have to face for your first NBA center.”

- 7′5″ Dallas Maverick rookie center Pavel Podkolzine, after facing Yao in an exhibition game, 7/01/04

“If he had it, no one could stop it. Absolutely no one.

“Backing in and working the post, getting a high-percentage six-foot shot, has no visual appeal. But it really affects the bottom line — whether you win or lose. And that’s most important. It takes awhile until (players like Yao) have an understanding of the game that goes that deep.”

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, on the benefits of Yao adding the sky hook to his arsenal, 5/09/04