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AI gives props to Yao!

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by ds888, Oct 25, 2002.

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  1. ds888

    ds888 Contributing Member

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    http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1632892

    This is the start of something big
    By DALE ROBERTSON
    Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

    The long and short of it was this: Long was too short.

    Being the preseason, Sixers coach Larry Brown didn't get too caught up in worrying about matchups. So Philadelphia's 6-9 Art Long found himself on the 7-5 rookie Rocket Yao Ming as the second quarter began Thursday night, when one of the more anticipated local debuts in Houston's sporting history finally came to pass.

    Yao had a brief NBA test run in San Antonio the previous evening, getting his giant feet wet with 13 promising minutes against the Spurs. Now, it was our turn to check out Mr. Big, the mighty Mandarin upon whom the future of the recently sputtering franchise is supposed to rest. He was greeted by a standing ovation and within 41 seconds he had notched his first ... foul.

    Fouls are going to be a problem. That we can already see. The officials are clearly refusing to cut the kid the slightest bit of slack, adhering to the age-old NBA tradition of dissing rookies of every race, creed or color. Yao had picked up his third with 2:44 left in the half after being whistled four times in San Antonio.

    Otherwise, though, Yao's coming-out party had to be judged an unqualified, near-spectacular success, all things considered -- not the least of which is how his head is surely spinning from both fatigue and being force-fed the Rockets' way of hooping, which bears little resemblance to the basketball he was weaned on in China.

    Then, of course, there's all the pushing and shoving around the bucket.

    "It's a lot more physical than I thought it would be," he said of American pro brawl.
    Between the back-to-back exhibition games, Yao had risen early Thursday and made his first visit to Aggieland. China's biggest man -- in stature, not height -- was giving a speech at the Bush Library at Texas A&M. The country's president, Jiang Zemin, had invited Yao up for the reception, and declining wasn't exactly an option.

    "It was an honor," Yao said, wisely.

    Anyway, he arrived at Compaq Center barely an hour before tip-off. Rudy Tomjanovich let him get his bearings in the first quarter, then sent him out to start the second to as thunderous a roar as a mere 9,581 could muster. Clearly, Houston is not yet ready to pronounce Yao the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon.

    Still, those who came had to relish what they saw, never mind the 93-89 Sixers victory, or that Philly had trailed by nine before Yao joined the proceedings. Purely coincidental, everyone contended. Brown himself said the Rockets have landed the real deal.

    "I would have loved to have had that first pick," he said. "He can play. He can pass and shoot, and he's playing for a great coach in the right system."

    And Long was certainly the right defender.

    First, Yao beat him with a soft 12-foot fall-away. Next, he went baseline and kissed the glass with a reverse layup. A 14-foot turnaround, with fellow first-round draftee Bostjan Nachbar assisting, followed, as did a tip-in off a rebound. His only miss in the quarter would be a trey launched from the left baseline, and he also pulled down a pair of rebounds at the defensive end.

    The play that woke everyone up, however, was a block, the kind of monster block that will have us calling him Chairman Yao one day soon. Brian Skinner foolishly tried to challenge him in the lane. Thwack! The basketball practically landed in Rockets owner Leslie Alexander's lap at midcourt.

    We wondered how they might say, "Don't be bringing that stuff in here," in Mandarin.

    Apparently, there's no direct translation for "trash talk," either.

    Yao was asked if he'd been hearing much of that NBA staple yet, but he never fully processed the question through his interpreter Colin Pine.

    "He does not understand," Pine said finally.

    He will.

    Yao's comprehension of what's expected of him as a brutish board presence is also sorely lacking. Of course, he has never thought of basketball as a contact sport before. He's particularly lacking at the offensive end, that one tip-in notwithstanding, but he'll get it eventually. Unlike most men his size -- not that very many are his size -- he's an extremely smooth and polished product. What he needs, it appears, are more rough edges.

    And meaner elbows.

    Although Yao wouldn't hit from the field in the second half, he drained five of six free throws and snared a couple additional rebounds. He was the first to admit he should have had more of the latter, saying, "I started well, but at the end of the game, I missed a few."

    He offered no excuses. He insisted the jet lag after Sunday's 17-hour flight is behind him, and he wasn't that tired despite the 24 minutes Rudy T gave him. He was simply outmuscled.

    But there was no need for him to apologize. The fans who did come out treated Yao as a new member of the family.

    Said Yao: "I felt a lot like I was coming home tonight" -- and he was roundly lauded by both friend and foe alike.

    Allen Iverson, of all people, proved especially complimentary.

    "He's special," Iverson said. "He's a gift from God."
     
    #1 ds888, Oct 25, 2002
  2. michecon

    michecon Contributing Member

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    How to say "trash talk" in Chinese? Not that Ming will.

    This is a legit question. Being a Chinese speaker myself, I can't find a word for it.
     
    #2 michecon, Oct 25, 2002
  3. Timing

    Timing Member

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    On the local fox news they had a soundbyte from Olden Polynice talking about being in awe of Yao or something to that effect. I was pretty surprised to see Olden being that complimentary. If the opponents are propping Yao, well that's a good thing.
     
    #3 Timing, Oct 25, 2002
  4. Tha Jay

    Tha Jay Member

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    Man! it seems like all the NBA pros that have played against him become believers. Way a go, Yao Ming!!! :cool:

    Great article, thanks!!
     
    #4 Tha Jay, Oct 25, 2002
  5. Rockets_Truth

    Rockets_Truth Contributing Member

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    I dont know about you guys, but that sounds like Iverson is being sarcastic. I would have liked to see his face when he said that.
     
    #5 Rockets_Truth, Oct 25, 2002
  6. robbie380

    robbie380 ლ(▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿ლ)
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    michecon is there a way to say something to the effect of "showing someone up" or bragging about how good you are and how bad the other person is in a joking around manner? or even in a serious way for that matter? i don't know...there has to be some way to translate trash talking or showing off or hot dogging or whatever you want to call it. i dunno...just trying to think of different ways to express trash talk
     
    #6 robbie380, Oct 25, 2002
  7. Lil

    Lil Contributing Member

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    the closest translation i can come up with is:

    xi4 - yan2

    xi4 as in theatre or play/fun/game
    yan2 as in talk

    but then it would mean more like joking around, teasing, and just messing with opponents, and lose the whole attitude...

    michecon is right, damn hard to find a one-to-one translation on this one.

    if anyone read jin yong's novels, huang rong trash talks a lot. i bet you can find some nice terms for it there.

    similarly, in romance of three kingdoms, kong ming and zhang fei trash talks a lot of people too. if you talk some time to go through the chinese versions, there's bound to be a translation.

    just a hunch. :)
     
    #7 Lil, Oct 25, 2002
  8. Shrimpie

    Shrimpie Member

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    One thing I can think of is "Dou(4) Zui(3)" ( mouth fighting literally in English). But then Lil might say this is not pure madarin. :)

    Shrimpie
     
    #8 Shrimpie, Oct 25, 2002
  9. The Cat

    The Cat Contributing Member

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    Not to me. Both are true, and considering the negative attention the national media wants to give him (see the "posterized" crap) people would be absolutely all over this quote if Allen rolled his eyes, or did something to indicate sarcasm.
     
    #9 The Cat, Oct 25, 2002
  10. pippendagimp

    pippendagimp Member

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    Also AI is generally straight up about things when he speaks. He's not gonna use a round-about sarcastic way of expressing his views. If he thought Yao was just hype he'd just say it point blank.
     
    #10 pippendagimp, Oct 25, 2002
  11. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Contributing Member

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    Iverson wasn't being sarcastic. He's said things like that before while being dead serious.
     
    #11 RocksMillenium, Oct 25, 2002
  12. feishen

    feishen Member

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    Nah, xi4-yan2 lose it. Nah, it's like using monolouge to describe
    "trash talk" in English.
    I should take Pine's job, it's not Yao dont understand, it's him couldnt translate it. One simple Shanghai word will do. "Tiao1"
    Yao knows it, I gurantee.
     
    #12 feishen, Oct 25, 2002
  13. Qball

    Qball Contributing Member

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    UHHHH.....Eddie had freakin 7 blocks again.....

    7 blocks..... :eek: :eek: :eek:
     
    #13 Qball, Oct 25, 2002
  14. RocDreamer

    RocDreamer Contributing Member

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    So if Yao speaks in Mandarin to the refs, how long until they T him up. They dont even know what he is saying or who he is saying it to. He could be telling them they are great. Nice to have that advantage.:D
     
    #14 RocDreamer, Oct 25, 2002
  15. Chuck Nevitt

    Chuck Nevitt Contributing Member

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    Maybe he means "gift from God" to pick up league attendance and TV ratings, which all NBA players should want. Maybe he is looking at the big picture.
     
    #15 Chuck Nevitt, Oct 25, 2002
  16. fwang

    fwang Member

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    This is copied from 76 website. Read AI's full quote. He is pretty straightforward and sincere.

    Postgame Quotes - October 24


    October 24, 2002
    Sixers 93, Rockets 89
    Recap | Box Score


    Brown

    Sixers Coach Larry Brown
    On his team’s play
    ”We got a few more people healthy and we had a lot of guys play well. We played very good defense, and that is the only way to play when you play the Rockets. “

    On Eric Snow’s play
    ”Eric made a great defensive play at the end. He had an outstanding game for us all around. “

    On Yao Ming
    ”I would have loved to have had the first pick. He can play. He can pass and shoot and he’s playing for a great coach and in the right system.”




    Iverson
    Sixers Guard Allen Iverson
    On the 76ers play
    ”Everything is not where we want it but we are giving the effort and we will get better and better as we get into the season.”

    On Yao Ming
    “Yao Ming comes to play. He’s a great player. He does a lot inside and outside and has such soft hands. It’s amazing, his God-given ability. He’s special. He should thank God everyday.”




    Polynice
    Sixers Center Olden Polynice
    On Yao Ming
    ”He is going to realize this is the NBA and that is the way we play. We gave him some hard shots inside and he just got up and went about his business. He will have to learn about the fouls and that will take some time. He will have a target on his back but he is reacting real well. Once he learns the offense he will be incredible. I’m in awe of him. He is going to be very tough. Basketball wise, he knows how to play the game. He has such a soft touch for a big man.”




    Van Horn
    Sixers Forward Keith Van Horn
    On Yao Ming
    ”He’s a lot bigger in person and he moves very well. I was really impressed and he’s going to be a solid player in this league. He made some moves out there that really surprised me. He is very agile and shoots the ball well and is stronger than he looks.”




    Tomjanovich
    Rockets Coach Rudy Tomjanovich
    On the Rockets
    ”Exhibition season is over. We’ve got some really important days before the season starts. Still no Kenny (Thomas), Moochie (Norris) will be able to go and of course we will start the year without Mo (Maurice Taylor), so we probably don’t know exactly what our line-up will be. Not the most ideal situation but that’s the way NBA basketball is. I’ve been here many times before and I really like our defense throughout the exhibition season. We’ve had that going and offensively we will have more weapons when we have those guys back. “

    On Yao Ming
    ”He did a good job. It’s been tough on him. He’s had so much to absorb. It’s not a good situation but he has made the best of it and he looked really good. It’s going to take some time but I think he is going to be fine.”




    Francis
    Rockets Guard Steve Francis
    On Yao Ming
    ”Offensively, he was more assertive. He made more of a conscious effort to pass the ball. He passed the ball real well tonight, which I thought was good.”

    On the crowd’s reaction to Yao entering the game
    ”Everybody was real pumped up. And that was good. It was good that he was getting that much love when he entered the game for the first time. If they (the crowd) can be like that throughout the season, it would feel like home.”




    Ming
    Rockets Center Yao Ming
    On the game
    ”I started off well but toward the end of the game I missed a few rebounds. It was not because I felt tired but because it was a very physical game.”

    On the crowd
    ”I felt like they were really supporting me and rooting for me. It felt a lot more like coming home tonight. I am very happy that I got so much support.”




    Rice
    Rockets Forward Glen Rice
    On Yao Ming
    ”The big guy is exciting! Defensively, he is always changing shots. He’s having fun and that is what it is all about. Once he gets some rest and starts to get rolling it will be exciting. He is going to force people to double down low and his passing ability will allow him to throw passes and get everyone else involved.”


    E-mail this page to a friend
     
    #16 fwang, Oct 25, 2002
  17. pradaxpimp

    pradaxpimp Contributing Member

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    i can think of a phrase
     
    #17 pradaxpimp, Oct 25, 2002
  18. michecon

    michecon Contributing Member

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    AI is not capable of being sarcastic. :D
     
    #18 michecon, Oct 25, 2002
  19. RocketForever

    RocketForever Contributing Member

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    It doesn't seem to be sarcastic
     
    #19 RocketForever, Oct 25, 2002
  20. ricerocket

    ricerocket Member

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    Just tell him " it's like the crap Shaq says about elbowing you". Then Yao Ming will teach his little grasshopper how to say it in Mandarin... ;)
     
    #20 ricerocket, Oct 25, 2002
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