Houston Correspondence http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/houston_correspondence_061206.html Mike Trudell Wolves.com Reporter No one has seen more Houston Rockets basketball this season than Rockets.com beat writer Damien Pierce. Well, maybe head coach Jeff Van Gundy, but that's about it. Pierce, who covers the Rockets for the Rockets, is here to discuss the matchup between his team and ours. We'll ask him all about Yao Ming on and off the floor and check on T-Mac's injury status as we get you prepared for Wednesday night's game. Trudell: What's up Damien, thanks for joining us. Let's kick things off by talking about Yao, who made 11-of-15 shots against Minnesota in Houston's 82-75 win on November 28. He's tall. Damien Pierce: That's true. I think Yao has a real advantage down in the post, and is emerging as a star player. The biggest difference in him is that he's become more assertive, and has accepted the role of being the leading scorer. Tracy McGrady has struggled to locate his shot and has been tweaked here and there with little injuries, giving Yao a chance to emerge as the No. 1 option. He's worked hard, gotten stronger, and is spending more time in the weight room. MT: Kevin Garnett called Yao the League's MVP so far this season in Wednesday's shootaround, which is some pretty high praise from a former winner. Our head coach, Dwane Casey, agreed with KG and talked about how much the 7-6 man has developed. Has Yao added anything to his game this year, and does he seem more comfortable mentally? DP: Yeah, he's added a hook shot to his arsenal, and is just a better all-around force. Shane Battier said it best when he talked about Yao becoming a player that is more willing to carry a team. MT: Did I mention that he's really, really tall? I talked to Casey about this; we discussed that regardless of how great an athlete you are and how high you jump, a player as big as Yao will still be up there waiting for you. DP: It certainly doesn't hurt being that big, but the difference is the confidence. MT: Fair enough. I like talking about Yao, so let's keep going for a second. How about the Chinese center's personality? DP: Yao is actually really incredible. You hear about superstar personalities being apt to blow media people off, but Yao has never been that type of guy. Before games, he's willing to put in time with media, and even does two media sessions after every practice. He'll handle the American media, and afterwards do interviews in Chinese with the throng of reporters from overseas. I think he has a very humble personality, and will still defer to Shaq as the best center in the league, even with the numbers he's putting up. MT: Can you dunk on Yao? DP: No. MT: OK. So it would appear that T-Mac is over his concussion from Dikembe Mutombo's elbow in practice last week. He scored 31 points on Golden State last night in an impressive 118-90 Rockets win. DP: McGrady had a mild concussion, but is fine now. He was bed ridden for a couple of days, but is ready to play. MT: T-Mac was only 4-of-14 from the field against the Wolves last time we played, and as you talked about he hasn't gotten off to a great start this year. However, he remains one of the NBA's premier talents, as evidenced by last night's performance. DP: His shot has been off a little bit, and he hasn't been the same scorer as he was in his Orlando days or early Houston days. I'm not sure if it's in his head, but he hasn't had that game where he's hit 10 consecutive shots, or finished 15-of-20 from the field. He showed signs of it last night, but hasn't gone on a hot streak. Now with that said, he is still playing at an All-Star level. He's been the guy creating the plays, driving the lane and hitting people for open shots, and has also accepted that right now the Rockets are at their best when going inside to Yao. It's very key that he's becoming the No. 2 scorer, and letting Yao be the main guy. MT: I hear you. Can we talk about how you guys are among the league's most boring teams to watch with that grind-it-out style? No offense. I mean, you're 12-5. DP: Jeff Van Gundy is a defensive coach. You can notice even on the sideline that he is never yelling at one of his players for making a mistake at the offensive end, but he will get after guys if they make a mistake on the defensive end, like not boxing out on a rebound. This is a team that wants to be very disciplined on defense, and that's what is showing up on the court right now. They aren't a quick team, and you aren't going to see them play like Golden State or Phoenix. They understand that if they want to go deep into the playoffs, they're going to have to be a half-court, slow-down style team. It may not get them on Sportscenter every night, but it will produce wins. MT: The last time you got on Sportscenter was when Nate Robinson blocked Yao's shot, but I'll be the first to say that it was a misleading highlight. Yao didn't see the little guy with the big vertical coming, and went on to score 29 points with nine boards with a W for the Rockets. DP: Exactly, and I think while it made for a great highlight, I was wondering where the foul was. Nate poked him in the eye, and when Yao goes down with all these scratches and bruises, you'd think more fouls would be called. But I think Yao was fine with it. MT: However, it did look like he was about to cry, Damien... DP: Come on, he got poked in the eye. MT: Fine. So Shane Battier killed us from three last game, going 5-for-5 from distance. The guy just knows what he's doing on the floor, doesn't he? Is he a Mensa member? DP: I think Shane is a guy who is always going to be in the right spot, which is one of the reasons the Rockets made the trade to bring him in over the summer. This is a guy that just does everything right. In that particular game against Minnesota, Battier found his favorite spot a few times, which is that corner. That's where he loves to spot up against really any defense, and he'll hit that shot when it's open. MT: Changing directions here, do you ever go out for a Greek brunch with your backup point guard Vassilis Spanoulis? DP: I haven't made one yet. But there is a lot of great Greek food down here in Houston, so soon enough. MT: Cool. Maybe he'll take you to the Parthenon someday...is there anything else we need to know about our Greek friend? DP: One funny thing we do down here is have Spanoulis teach the crowd a Greek word on the Jumbotron at most games. They'll then go and show all the players trying to say the word in Greek. Every single time, Mutombo is the last guy to try the word, and the crowd laughs without fail. MT: Mt. Mutombo is a solid locker room guy, isn't he? DP: He really is. Every time you walk into the locker room, he's going to say something hilarious. After we played in Miami, when Yao had a big game against Shaq, Mutombo knew that the media was in our locker room for that reason. Mutombo stood up and pointed to Yao's locker, and said, "That's where the best center in the NBA is, the MVP." MT: We should never talk about Mutombo without noting his amazing community work. DP: Exactly, he just built a hospital in the Congo in his mom's name, and I believe it was between 13 and 15 million dollars. That's just an incredible thing to do. MT: We have a guy who does quite a bit of amazing work in our community with Garnett. What did you see from him on the basketball floor last week? DP: I noticed that he stretched out his range and can knock down threes consistently now. I just don't know how people defend the guy anymore. He can shoot, he can get to the hoop and spin around people. After a decade in the League now, he's still one of the quickest forwards there is down in the paint. MT: I'm going to guess you've been impressed with our rookies as well, DP? DP: Randy Foye impressed me a lot. I think he's eventually going to be a star in this league. As far as Craig Smith, before Minnesota came to town the name that coach Van Gundy kept bringing up was Smith. He basically referred to Smith as the butt kicker, the guy that comes in and pushes everyone around, makes the scrappy plays, gets after loose balls and on the offensive glass, and just does all the dirty work. MT: He's a little bit like Chuck Hayes, an undrafted free agent out of Kentucky that's starting for you guys. DP: Yeah, both guys that didn't go in the first round but are doing things to help their teams win. MT: One thing I've been waiting to ask you about is if you've seen the original "And-1 Mix Tape," starting your boy Skip To My Lou (Rafer Alston), your starting point guard. DP: Actually I haven't. I've seen one, but not with Skip in it yet. I'll definitely get to it. I think Van Gundy has asked him to tone it down a little, but you'll see him bring some of it out when the Rockets are on a break, or have a lead. MT: Man, Van Gundy is just all basketball, all the time. DP: Yes, but he is engaging, and never has a problem sitting there doing interviews. He'll never cut an interview short, he just tends to run a tight ship. MT: Well, I'm going to tell our guys to watch their legs if a fight breaks out. You know what I'm talking about. But thanks a lot for being with us, Damien, we'll get back with you later on in the year.
