http://www.***********.com/nba-game-011603.shtml NBA BASKETBALL Jan. 16, 2003 Shaq vs. Yao By D. Chip James This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Shaquille O’Neal and his Laker dynasty will finally square off against the man who may soon become his own dynasty, rookie sensation Yao Ming. Friday night on ESPN, the gloves come off and all the recent off the court trash that may have spoken becomes irrelevant as two playoff hopefuls go for a big western conference win. Los Angeles, winners of four straight going into Wednesday night’s game against New Orleans, will travel to Houston where the Rockets hold a 15-5 home record this season. Shaq and Yao are the top two field goal shooters in the NBA and perhaps the two best centers in the league, but the game could be won or lost in the backcourt. Amidst the Lakers struggles, Kobe Bryant is having the best statistical year of his career. He’s second in the league in scoring at 27.7 per game and is also top-10 in steals and assists, all while averaging an impressive 7.5 rebounds per night. Houston’s team is anchored by the play of their superstar guard Steve Francis. Francis has shown once again this year that he is one of the best all-around perimeter players in the game, averaging 23 points a night to go along with his 6.3 boards and 6.1 assists. Francis gets help in the Houston backcourt from Cuttino Mobley and his 17.8-point per game average. When either of those two need a rest or get into foul trouble, crowd favorite, lightning quick guard Moochie Norris is there to spark the Rocket offense. The Lakers will need Derek Fisher and Rick Fox to have a good games defensively to help slow down the three explosive Rocket guards. Offensively, if they can knock down a few jump shots early, it may keep the rest of the Houston defense from collapsing down on Shaq, which could open up isolations against the weaker Ming. If Shaq utilizes his strength advantage over Yao, it could be a long (and painful) night for the young rookie. However, centers that have nice outside touches and are capable passers have had past success against O’Neal - even causing problems for him defensively in the past. Think Arvydas Sabonis and Vlade Divac. While those two guys struggle to guard Shaq, they make it equally tough for Shaq on the defensive end by drawing him away from the basket with their mid-range jumpers. If Yao can do that, the still not quite in shape Shaq could struggle. Despite showing recent signs of life and winning seven of their last 10 games, as of Wednesday the Lakers are still just 4-14 on the road and a mediocre 10-11 against western conference teams. The Rockets and Lakers met earlier this year when Shaq was still out of the lineup because of injury and the result was a four point Houston win. In that game, Yao exposed LA’s weak forwards and bench play by hitting all nine of his attempted shots en route to scoring 20 points and nabbing six rebounds. On the season Ming is averaging 12.9 points per game but December was one continuous coming out party for the 22-year old. His playing time jumped to 33 minutes per game (up from 20 mpg in Nov.) and his stats inflated as well. Yao scored in double figures in all but one of the Rockets 15 games, averaging 17.1 ppg, 10.2 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and hitting 78 of his 90 attempted free throws. The Lakers started the year 3-9 with their big man on the bench, further solidifying Shaq’s reputation as the most dominant player in the game. He’s come back from injury supposedly out of shape and unmotivated but is still fourth in the league in scoring, first in FG percentage and tenth in blocks. Friday night has all the makings for an exciting game. Not only will the two most talked about big men in the game go head-to-head for the first time in their careers, but two of the most efficient and exciting guards will battle as well. More importantly, it’s nearing mid-season and for two teams that figure to be fighting for one of the bottom four spots in the western conference playoff race, every game counts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Besides the center matchup, I hope our "supporting" group helps out Yao...
