This one hurts to copy and past. BY PHIL MILLER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE HOUSTON -- Leave it to the Jazz to avoid getting swept up in Yao Fever. Their first experience with 7-foot-6 Chinese rookie Yao Ming left Utah's players and coaches impressed and intrigued -- with Greg Ostertag. Yes, Yao, whose face is on billboards all over town and who has drawn a Chinese news media contingent that numbers more than a dozen, played well, scoring 18 points, collecting seven rebounds, and forcing the Jazz to shoot far more jumpers than normal. But the defense applied by Ostertag in the second half -- capped by an improbable swat of a Yao hook shot in the final two minutes -- seemed to impress the Jazz even more than the Rockets' new irresistible force. "Oster did a pretty good job on him," said Karl Malone. "Sometimes it takes you two or three games to figure out what a guy's going to do. But Oster caught on pretty fast. He did some really good things." Mostly, he kept Yao occupied and made him work for his shots. Only three of Yao's six baskets were from point-blank range, so he was 3-for-9 away from the basket. "We had Greg out there a little bit more in the second half, and they didn't hurt us quite as much," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. Make no mistake, the Jazz had no doubt about Yao's future. "He's just a wonderful player, the real deal," Sloan said. "It's wonderful to see a guy with all those skills. You better get him early, because he's going to get better and better as every day rolls by." Ostertag agreed, and was especially struck by Yao's ability, and willingness, to pass. "He's kind of like [Portland center Arvydas] Sabonis," said the Jazz center, who scored five points with six rebounds. "I heard stories about Sabonis when he was younger, how good he was passing the ball. [Yao has] really nice footwork in the hole. A lot of guys, even 7-footers, I can get a hand on their shot. But he shoots over the top." Well, not always, right? Ostertag did get that one block, when it counted most. "I happened to have my hand in the way when he shot it," Ostertag said. pmiller@sltrib.com
thanks Free Agent. it hurts but it's good to know. and wait till next time they meet. yao is a quick learner and i'm sure he'll figure out a way to get back on oster. just wait...
This article seems a bit misguided. The Jazz won, not because they were able to contain Yao, but because the Rockets gave up 96 points to a team they had held to 36 at the half...Ostertag was hardly a factor in this game rally...
Bull****! Greg is almost a nonfactor in the game.The only work he does is to force Ming to make shots at a percentage of 50% and grap 6 rebounds. And what Greg actually impressed me is that he successfully allured Ming to move out of panel and to defence him instead of Malone.
lol...Joe the Joker. This is a joke! Ostertag did good against Olajuwon but was not a big factor in the game. Yao still scored 18 points.
BOY, I"M IMPRESSED A 7-8 year veteran vs. a rookie in his 26th game (who even missed most of pre-season). Wow. As mentioned earlier, Yao has incredible basketball savvy and will dominate Osterfat SOOOOON and for years to come Happy Holidays to everyone on the BBS Dallas Rocket ** missed the Rox game last nite but couldn't pass up a chance to go see MJ in his final swing thru Dallas.
Actually I viewed it as positive signal for Yao. A nice defense (But not excellent) on Yao by a NBA veteran is considered as something impressive, even with the veteran's poor offense perfromance in the game. The more Yao is not regarded as a rookie by the rivals, the more quickly he will improve himself.
yeh, that's exactly what I feel. actually Yao should take Greg as a nonfact and let Greg shoot more rather than let Malone shoot I don't know why Yao took so seriously to defend Greg. Either the gameplan was wrong or Yao was too humble to look down Greg.
Yao is a rookie........to say a veteran did a good job against him is kinda sad. Shouldn't it be the other way around. The first block was a foul and the second was actually a blocked pass to Francis. I'll give him the first block. The Rookie scored 18 points on his ass. i don't think Osterstag will want to see him the second game. Jazz suck! However, i do like Harpering.
Yeah, that Ostertag, he's really something. What a low-post presence he's been for the Jazz all these years! Move over, Wilt -- Ostertag's headed straight for the Hall o' Fame, baby! A guy does absolutely nothing for 7 or 8 years, then blocks one single shot and the brain-dead Utah fans go apesh*t. Congrats on winning the game, but all I can say is those folks *deserve* to have Ostertag as their center.
So opposing players get it up for Ming, try their damndest...I wonder if Osterfat is on life support today? Saying through his respirator, "I blocked it; I blocked it!"?
I guess holding someone to 18 points is doing a good job. That is call respect. Only when you hold down a star player to 18 points then you are doing a good job. I guess we can see what the league is thinking about Yao (All star caliber player). Even if Yao will not voted in by the fan, there is a good chance he will be voted in by the coaches.
of course he'll be voted in by the coaches. not just because he's good, but because he will generate a billion more viewers for the all-star game.
