Over the past couple of days, Yao has made a couple of posts on his Facebook and Twitter page.

Today he posted this on both:

Congrats to Aaron Brooks for winning the Most Improved Player Award. You deserved it. Thanks for your effort this season.

And yesterday he posted this on his Facebook page:

Juan Antonio Samaranch, who used to be the head of the IOC, died a couple of days ago. I’m sad that he passed, and that I didn’t get to know him personally. He was very famous in China and a good friend of our country. He supported us getting back into the Olympics. He was also the one who announced the 2008 Olympics would be held in Beijing.

What he did for us means way more than sports and the Olympics. His life is about friendship. Friendship is a very simple word, but how to do it is very very difficult, and he did it his entire life

Here’s a link to an article about Samaranch’s influence in China that Yao references. Personally, I’m glad Yao mentioned Samaranch’s impact on China since I didn’t realize how important he had been to China’s Olympic movement efforts.

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With the tragedy in China taking place, Yao made the following statement on Wednesday:

“It is very hard putting into words how difficult it is to see this kind of destruction in Sichuan. I am very saddened to hear of the large loss of life that has occurred. My thoughts are with everyone back in my home country of China during this very dark and emotional time. Right now, the most important thing we can do is to respond quickly to help those who cannot help themselves.

“I plan to do whatever I can and would like to thank Leslie Alexander and the Houston Rockets for the support they have already pledged. I hope that many others around the world will join us.

Rockets owner Alexander also made this statement:

“On behalf of the Houston Rockets, I want to offer my deepest sympathies to all who have been affected by the earthquake in Sichuan, China on Monday. Over the past several years, we have formed a strong bond with our friends in China, and it is very difficult to see them struggling through this tragic event. We have already begun the process of reaching out to relief aid agencies and have pledged our financial support to assisting those who have been devastated by this catastrophic event. I know Yao Ming is fully committed to helping the people of China recover from this horrific experience, and I will help him in any way I can.”

I’m sorry that we haven’t had more direct words from Yao in his journal. I was able to interview Yao in October, which is close to being the same as a journal entry from Yao. But part of the problem is my schedule syncing up with Yao’s since I don’t live in Houston now, and Yao is not an email or phone kind of guy.

Another reason is the delayed launch of a new ClubYao site, brought on in part because of Yao’s recent leg injury. We were planning to have Yao’s journal entries made first available exclusively to official ClubYao subscribers, with release to casual visitors of the site a few days later. That would have created more of an expectation for this content to be provided, but since he hurt his leg on December 23rd and hasn’t been playing since then, that delayed the launch of the new ClubYao site. Obviously, we want to launch the new site when he is active and playing, which is when fans are more interested in following what he’s doing.

Finally, Yao has been granting lots of interviews with Sohu.com, Titan Sports and other online publications, which we have been posting in the YaoMania! blog section of the site. Obviously the information he is giving these folks is most likely the same thing that would be posted in Yao’s Journal. Click here for recent interviews with Yao that we have linked to — or translated from Chinese to English — in YaoMania!, thanks to Raymond in China.

Regardless, looking ahead, we do have a strategy to get more direct communication from Yao in the next few months, and we’ll keep you posted.

We pulled out a close 84-82 victory against a very strong Miami team the other night, snapping their 12-game win streak. Tracy had another great all-around game for us and Dikembe really came through as well, hauling in something like 15 boards, while helping to defend Shaquille O’Neal.

The win against the Heat was very big for us, especially at this point in the season. Miami has the best record in the Eastern Conference, and the way it looks now, the road to the Finals will probably lead through them. We also have won eight of our last eleven games and have the best record at this point, the best this team has had since the 1996-97 season.

Tonight, we play Cleveland at home. Although LeBron has been unbelievable for them this year, overall the team has really struggled the second half of the season. This will be only their second game under their new coach, but they did have an impressive win the other night against the defending champions, so it’s important for us not to let down our guard. In the only game we had against the Cavs this season, however, we managed to limit LeBron very well, but more importantly we walked away with the win. Hopefully this outcome will be no different.

I can’t believe 2005 is already here – where has the time gone? For me personally, the past year was very good. My 2nd season in the NBA was great, and I was so happy about making it to the playoffs and getting a taste of things to come. A lot of changes happened over the off-season, and I am pleased with the new team that we have and believe that we are going to do well together.

I was also really excited about the NBA playing games in my home country, and getting to share a little of my culture and historywith my teammates and the U.S., while at the same time, getting to share the new part of my life with the people of my homeland. It was unbelievable, and is something that I will never forget. I also got to spend a lot of time with my family, so overall 2004 was a very good year!

2005 though, looks to be very promising as well. I am excited about the All-Star game and am humbled that so many people have taken the time to vote for me. I also can’t wait for the second half of the season and my goal is not only for us to make it to the play-offs, but for us to move even further this year. With the addition of Tracy, and now another shooting threat like David Wesley, I believe that will happen. My heart goes out to all the people who have been affected by the Tsunami and I hope everyone will give and do what they can. We are all citzens of this world, and in times like this, we all need to pull together. Thank you to all of you who support me and follow my career. It makes playing basketball so incredible for me. I hope I continue to live up to your expectations and give you a lot to cheer about in the year to come.

I wish all of you a very Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year.

The game last night against Milwaukee was a really tough one for us (115-87 loss). They played with more energy than we did and we gave away too many second chances. They were very aggressive and I spent a lot of the game frustrated as I found myself doubled and even triple-teamed at times. Regardless, I still feel like I should have found a way to help my team more, and was disappointed by my performance.

Tonight is another road game and is a big contest for us. We play Cleveland, and they have the second-best record in the East, right behind Miami. They are a very good young team, coming off a huge win last night. They are one of the only teams from their conference having a lot of success against the teams in the West, so it should be a pretty interesting match-up. And as an individual, LeBron James is having an amazing year. Even as a fellow player in this league, it’s still fun to see so young a guy, be so good. The thing about Cleveland is however, as LeBron goes, so go the Cavs. One of our main jobs then, is to make sure we shut LeBron down, and that no one else steps up.

Last night’s game versus Toronto was incredible. I can’t even begin to tell you how good I felt after the game and still feel today! It was like an early Christmas present. Scoring 40 points was nice, but the most important thing was that the team played well and that we came away with the win. Coming into the season after all the major transactions of the summer, there were a lot of expectations on the Rockets as a whole, and of Tracy and me in particular.

The beginning of the season however, has been a learning process; this team is very different from last season’s and Tracy and I have only really played together for a few months. In many ways we are still very much getting to know each other on the court, and that takes time. I am excited about where this team is headed though and I believe that things are starting to really gel now. During the first two months of the season, I think people saw glimpses of what Tracy and I are capable of. Individually speaking, we have had several good games. Last night however, for the first time, people finally saw what Tracy and I are capable of together – and I think it was something pretty special. And maybe even, a little scary. Now that’s not to say we are going to post almost forty apiece every night – this is a tough league we’re in after all and an even tougher conference – but I believe it’s definitely a peak into the future, so stay tuned.

Last night was one of those games that you just have to win – playing at home against a team (New Orleans) that is really struggling. But in this league you can’t take anything for granted. So while the game may not have been pretty, it was still good to come away with the win.

All season, teams have really been putting the pressure on and doubling Tracy and me, which makes it difficult to get off decent shots. I think you saw that a lot last night. Overall however, I was pleased with my performance, particulary with my rebounding output.

Perhaps the best part of last night’s win though, was to see a guy like Andre Barrett have such a good game – he was key in us pulling it out last night, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter alone. And in order to be a success in this league as a team, you really have to play like a team, with different guys being able to step it up on any given night, just like Andre did last night. That’s what makes this game so much fun and exciting.

We’ve had a fairly good start of the season. As a team, we have to step it up more and find ways to win at the end of games. We play at home tomorrow night and I feel like we’ll be better prepared for that final stretch of the game and bring a little something extra.