Not sure if this posted, I just saw it online. Yao is the only postive on this team right now. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=nbaplayersoftheweek&prov=st&type=lgns James, Yao named Players of the Week April 3, 2006 NEW YORK (Ticker) - Once again, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers has been named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week. The All-Star forward earned the honor for a record third straight week Monday after averaging a league-best 42.7 points on 62.5 percent shooting, 9.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists while leading the Cavaliers to a 3-0 record. The three-week run also enabled James to win the Player of the Month award. On Saturday, James posted his sixth triple-double of the season with 47 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 106-99 triumph over the Miami Heat. James won the weekly award for the fifth time this season and eighth of his career. No other player had won the award three straight weeks since its inception during the 1979-80 campaign. Other nominees for the Eastern Conference honor were guards Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets, Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks and Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers. Houston center Yao Ming was named the Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 33.3 points on 62.5 percent shooting and 12.3 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 2-1 mark. Yao led the Rockets in points and rebounds in all three contests and tied his season high with 38 points in a 105-103 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday. Others up for the Western award were Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett and New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul.
Congrats Yao! Here's your chance for 3rd POW of the year. All road games. Go with the win too Rockets!
I know we will probably be out of the playoff this season. But this kind of news at least gives us optimism about the team's future. Go Rockets.
I don't think our record is good enough for him to get it. The week he didn't get pow was probably one of our worst weeks of the season.
Congrats to Yao on POTW! Someone looked at this already. Can't remember the thread but it looked like Dirk Nowitzki was going to win POM.
Also nominated for player of the month. link "Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month were Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Houston’s Yao Ming, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Elton Brand, Milwaukee’s Michael Redd, Miami’s Dwyane Wade, New Jersey’s Richard Jefferson, New Orleans/Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul and Sacramento’s Mike Bibby."
Yao named HANNspree Innovative Player of the Month http://www.nba.com/hannspree/index.html When 7-5 Houston Rockets center Yao Ming came to the U.S. from his native China after being made the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, his mission was to discredit doubters who claimed he'd be just another of a long line of giants who've entered the NBA with great hype only to disappoint. But what did also really hope to achieve? "He wanted to learn how to drive and have his own car," said his translator at the time, Colin Pine. "That was Yao’s big thing ever since he got here." Such a simple but a heartfelt goal reminds us of the little things Yao originally had to adapt to in his transition to the States. Everything from the country's food to its culture to its language. As evidenced by the "former" status in front of Pine's title nowadays and the driver's license Yao obtained during his rookie year, it can be said the Shanghai product has truly assimilated to his new land. And in his fourth season in the NBA this year, it can also be said Yao has obtained yet another license in America: one to dominate. Just look at his numbers in the month of March -- averages of 27.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.13 blocks per game over 15 games. Yao is making a case for himself as the best center on the planet. Criticized during his first three seasons for being too passive, Yao stepped up his game to a whole new level during the loss of superstar teammate Tracy McGrady for much of March and all of April. While many are saying Yao is now finally playing like a man his size should play, his coach insists Yao's impact on the court has been a product of more than just his 7-5 height. "Yao is not blessed with anything except God-given size and great parents," Van Gundy told the Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Everything else has been worked for basketball-wise. There's a lot easier roads to becoming a really, really good player in this league. He had a difficult road, and he made it through his own internal drive to be great." Which is the true reason why Yao Ming -- perhaps the world's greatest center and most certainly the tallest licensed driver in the state of Texas -- is the HANNspree Innovative Player of the Month for April.
Good find. HANNspree, huh? Well, I just wish Yao was playing better and his team wasn't often braindead. Is it possible to yawn with glee?
