The Rockets lost a heartbreaker to Portland on a 30-foot buzzer beater by Brandon Roy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the game, and I’m glad I didn’t. You can read and weep the game story here at the Chronicle site.

I do have something I need to tell you that’s pretty important, though. I have decided after running YMM for over 6 ½ years, I’m going to have to take a break from the site, and it could be permanent (gulp!).

I could have just disappeared and not said anything, but then all of you would be wondering what happened. I owe more to you guys than that.

I had decided several months ago that heading into this NBA season, I can’t continue to sacrifice my time, money and health without making a reasonable financial return on the site. It has been like a second job to me. Even moreso now since I’m not in Texas as much as usual because of a new, time-consuming job which makes it very difficult for me to watch Yao’s games. Also, every extra hour I can get back in my life is precious. I have become extremely busy over the past year, and it’s not going to let up.

Many of you know I have accepted donations in the past, but I refuse to take those any longer. I very much appreciate your past contributions, but after seeing what was donated the past few years, it’s far from being enough to make it financially viable.

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What geniuses at the NBA league office in New York scheduled a game as big as the Rockets-Celtics on the same day as election night, one of the biggest nights in the nation over the past 4 years?

Because of the importance of the evening, there was no way I could watch the game AND the election results on TV. Well, I actually tried to watch the game online through NBA’s League Pass Broadband offering because I’m not in Texas right now, but after multiple attempts their video wouldn’t load, and I just said “screw it.”

It turns out I didn’t miss much considering the Rockets lost their first game of the season, and Yao Ming had a crappy night, getting in early foul trouble, and scoring only 8 points on 4-of-14 shooting, which included getting his shot blocked 3 times. On the bright side, he only played 28 minutes (sarcastic tone inflected).

After the game, Yao said, “The early fouls changed a little bit of my game but cannot be my excuse. I played a bad game, probably one of my worst games in a long time. I need to figure out what happened besides just thinking about those early fouls. I think I hesitated, worried about getting another foul. I think I moved not quick enough.”

I’ll refer you to the Houston Chronicle for the rest of the game story.

Here’s a link to Raymond’s photos from the game.

Raymond has translated in the forum an interview that Yao gave after the Rockets pushed their record to 3-0.

He talked extensively about problems he has seen with the team thus far, and about the common concern of his fans about the extraordinarily long minutes he has played in this young season. Yao admits that if he keeps his minutes up at this rate, he won’t last more than 40 or 50 games. Click here for the full translation.

However, even with an excused absence from attending Sunday’s practice to prevent wear-and-tear, Yao decided to attend the practice after all! Hey Yao, be careful out there! Click here for photos from the practice.

Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks high-five each other during Houston’s game against Oklahoma City Saturday night at Toyota Center. Yao would go on to score 16 points and 11 rebounds in 39 minutes in an 89-77 victory. Click here for more photos. Click here for the Houston Chronicle’s game story.

This Yao Ming Mania game summary is from guest contributor Ren Hsieh…

Well, the offense still isn’t pretty yet but there’s just enough flashes of brilliance at just the right time to keep even the most critical of fans from losing faith. Three wins, all closed out in the 4th in the convincing fashion the Rockets often struggled with last season.

Granted, two of these wins came at the inexperienced, potential debacles of Memphis and Oklahoma City. While Houston’s team .364 shooting against an actually fairly solid Thunder defense (and their .426 shooting for the season) might raise some concerns, their own defense effort should not.

The Rockets are giving up only .400 FG% to opponents and a league-leading .138 from behind the arc. And they need the defense to bide through the growing pains of the offense; for which they should continue resisting the temptation to veer away — winning helps the cause. The OKC game was a good example of why. On off shooting days, which Rockets fans are more than accustomed to, the offense provides enough open looks to bide the cold streaks. This was evidenced by the Rockets’ balanced scoring, getting 6 players in double figures.

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In my mind…Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks, Yao Ming scored some of the ‘quietest’ 30 points I’ve ever seen in a 112-102 victory at American Airlines Center for the Rockets to go 2-0 on the season.

(Click here for more photos from the game, thanks to Raymond in the forum)

Maybe it was because I had to watch a game in a sports bar and didn’t have access to my statistics over the Internet during the game, thus surprising me when I saw the final boxscore.

But I think a big reason had to be the incredible display that Ron Artest put on. We all knew he was good, but I don’t think many people expected he would be this valuable to the Rockets this fast. Having an injured Shane Battier out of the lineup is requiring Artest to get more playing time than originally intended, and it hasn’t hurt the Rockets too much.

Yao was his usual solid self, shooting 11-of-15 from the field, making a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line (he was 9-of-9 Wednesday night in the season opener), and grabbing 13 boards. Amazingly, we’ve almost come to expect these kind of numbers from Yao, which is a sign of his greatness, and hell, might ultimately win him the league MVP if he keeps this up and doesn’t get hurt like in previous seasons.

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I’ve been pretty quiet on this blog over the past few weeks, with me intentionally not getting too involved with the details of the preseason Rockets, and instead focusing more of my time on work, as well as the election. Like many of you, I’m not a big fan of the preseason – it’s way too long and not indicative of how the regular season will turn out for most teams.

But something magical has happened over the 24 hours. The juices started to flow in anticipation of Wednesday night’s regular season opener for the Rockets against the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s now time to get serious as the Rockets prepare to launch a winning campaign of their own with their new running mate, Ron Artest. [Click here for Raymond’s photos from the excitement of opening night].

It wasn’t pretty, but the Rockets overcame a disjointed offense to win 82-71 with their defense — ironically the thing that concerned them the most at the end of the preseason. The 11-point margin makes it seem like a bigger win than it really was. It was much closer.

Houston’s defense made an early statement against the Grizzlies offense when they stole the ball 3 times in their first four possessions, with Ron Artest getting two of them. This display before their very eyes of one of the league’s most celebrated defensive players whipped the fans in Toyota Center into a frenzy as the Rockets took an early 7-0 lead. I myself couldn’t contain my excitement as I envisioned what an extra 2 or 3 steals per game from Artest will mean to the the Rockets’ cuse this season.

The lead expanded to 11-2 thanks to an active Yao Ming grabbing two offensive boards for a tip-in and dunk.

Yao’s performance Wednesday night would remind everyone just how much he was missed during last season’s playoff series loss against the Utah Jazz. Anytime you take out of the lineup a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and 9-of-9 shooting from the free throw line like Yao had Wednesday night, you’re not going to be near as competitive against a playoff team like Utah.

Click here for more photos from the game.

Welcome back, Yao. We’re glad to have you.

Houston looked like they were well on their way to a blowout against a young Memphis team after building a 26-18 first quarter lead. But then Houston’s offense went south with Houston’s second unit getting more action, hitting only 4-of-21 field goals in the second quarter for 17 points, and scoring only 15 points in the third.

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Yao Ming scored 17 points, grabbed 7 boards and had 2 blocks in Sacramento Thursday night as the Rockets easily beat the Kings 110-97.

Yao slightly pulled his groin in the first quarter and went to the locker room for treatment, but managed to play 32 minutes total and rested during the entire fourth quarter. Hopefully he’s okay — he must be if coach Rick Adelman played him that long.

Click here for more photos from the game.

Ron Artest was the Rockets’ high scorer with 19 points in his first game back at ARCO Arena since being traded in the off-season. He also had 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

You can probably tell I don’t get that fired up about preseason games, so I’m glad it’s finally over. The Rockets now have several days off before next Wednesday night’s season opener against Memphis.

Raymond has posted photos of Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady back at practice. Tuesday was McGrady’s third day in a row back at practice without any pain, and Francis’ first.

Click here for more photos from the practice that Raymond has posted in the forum.

Carlos Boozer (UTA)

6-9, 266 lbs | 6 years pro

Mehmet Okur (UTA)

6-11, 263 lbs | 6 years pro

Head-to-head in ‘07-’08, Record 0-1

CB: 30 pts, .520 FG%, 16 rebs, 5 TOs

MO: 16 pts, .500 FG%, 3 3FGs, 10 rebs

YM: 11 pts, .357 FG%, 7 rebs, 6 TOs

DIAGNOSIS: The amount of sheer hatred that these two Jazzees inspire from Rockets fans is enough to place them in the no. 1 spot. The Jazz are strongest where the Rockets are weak. Point guard and mobility/versatility in the front-court. Boozer may be undersized at 6-9 but unlike Dwight Howard, Booze is bottom heavy and consistently able to force Yao to post up further from the rim than he likes. And his lower center gravity mixed with excellent footwork, gives Yao fits.

Mehmet Okur is a different look, kind of like how NFL teams like to change it up with their backfield. Don’t know if Steve Slaton/Ahman Green qualifies yet but you get the picture. Mehmet is just old school in the low-post. Meaning he’s a hack. He even looks a little like Bill Laimbeer. Okur will push, shove, knee, trip, elbow and hack until the refs call it. He leaves it up to them. If Yao can get square, solid position, Okur has no answer. And for that matter, neither does Boozer, but both do a hell of a job to prevent that.

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Yao Ming and Luis Scola were two of several Olympic athletes honored at yesterday’s Houston Texans game at Reliant Stadium. Check out some video here:

Earlier that morning, Yao and the Rockets had a practice and workout at Toyota Center. Click here for more photos from the practice.