[SINA] Yao Ming Interview after Win over Germany

*DISCLAIMER* This is a first for me in regards to translating, but since Pruyen doesn't seem as active anymore, and it was an enjoyable interview, I figured I'd give it a shot. I am not very good at Chinese so please correct me on any errors if you can read the article.

http://2008.sina.com.cn/cn/bk/2008-08-17/0820218322.shtml



"A report to the People: We have broken through!" - Yao Ming


Standing in the middle of the court after the win, Yao Ming spoke to his teammates. "Before, we always only had ONE chance, one last game, win or lose, all depends on the last game. But this time, we didn't wait for our one last shot, we already took it. Its as if we have two chances now, we still have to take advantage of the other. Going from here, we have to fight for our next shot."

The Chinese national team stayed to watch the first half of USA vs Spain, then left into the welcoming night. It was a glorious night, forever reminisced in the heart of Yao Ming.

Press: You've advanced, what do you want to say the most?

Yao Ming: Reporting to the People of China, we have broken through!

P: This is the second time you've lead the CNT out of the prelims in the Olympics, what was the difference between today and in Athens?

YM: In Athens, no one was expecting us to beat Serbia & Montenegro. In our hearts, we thought we might be able to, but no one would say out loud. The first few games in Athens, we were beaten very badly. It was as if our team was falling apart. That's why the victory over Serbia was such a surprise. I think that win was almost by chance. But this time, we've already demonstrated our competitiveness in the first few games. We knew we had the ability to advance. To go far. There's no way Germany took us lightly, they gave it their all. But in the end, we still beat them. We are very happy today, but not at all surprised. All along we planned to win this game, and we won.

P: Today facing Kaman, you still got 25 points. What kind of shape are you in?

YM: I can't really say what kind of shape I'm in, but I dominated Kaman anyways. Today right off the bat, I scored on him three times. You guys didn't see that coming, did you? When he wanted to go at me, well basically he had no chance. By the end as my stamina went down, so did my FG% too. To tell you the truth, Femerling guarded me better. He's more active on defense, always trying to front me. His timing was pretty good and actually stole the ball twice. Kaman on the other hand guards me just like he does in the NBA, in the back "hard against hard". Like I said, he doesn't have enough FIBA experience.

P: So you're saying Germany didn't use Kaman the right way?

YM: Yeah, you see, they didn't even play pick and roll. The whole time I was guarding Kaman, they didn't run a single pick and roll with him. They never tried to bring me out.

P: In today's game you made another three pointer. This is your second three in the Beijing Olympics, right?

YM: From now on when they write my scouting report, it should say, "7 foot 6 inches. And can shoot threes."

P: Today you guys defend Dirk very well, he shot 7 for 20. How did you do it?

YM: Yi guarded him very well, and the help defense from the whole team wasn't bad either. In comparison, we did a better job in the second half. Could have done better in the first. The key to defending Nowitski is to stay close to him, and guard him driving left. One time in the first half, I stood my ground and his belly was flying at my head. All in all, he's still the kind of player that doesn't like contact. That's why we have to play a little rough. At times, no matter who is in front of him, he will still take those high difficulty turn-around fade-aways. That's exactly what we want. Also, Germany is really a one-man team. If Nowitski is not scoring, everyone starts to hesitate.

P: In the fourth quarter when Germany was coming back, you took a charge from Dirk. There's some controversy in that play, how did it go down?

YM: There's three things that had to happen for that play. First, he was barreling straight down the lane. Two, I actually stood my ground. Didn't waver. Three, the ref actually blew the whistle. Can't go without any of the three. He charged.

P: With 28 seconds to go, when Yi shot that decisive jumper, what were you thinking?

YM: Thinking?! I was between Kaman and Nowitski, shoulder to shoulder, waist to waist, arms all tangled up, trying to get in there to fight for the rebound. When the shot actually went in, I wanted to hug him. He really played well today.

P: We rarely win this kind of game. We shot 33%, scored only 59 points. But we held an euro team to 29% and 55 points. Right?

YM: Thats because we are almost an euro team too. In Athens, for most of our players, their strength, competitiveness, defensive awareness, and team concept were all stuck at an eastern team's level. Although we advanced to the top 8, it was still the same. When we faced the strong euro teams, we had no chance. But now, we are fighting. Defensively, we are aggressively battling our opponents, especially on team defense. This is the mark of an euro team. This isn't something that happened over night. Like I've said, this team is developing in the right direction. Since two years ago at the Worlds to now at the Olympics. All along.

P: How are you guys preparing for Greece?

YM: We won't ease up, because we have plenty of experience from the past. In Athens and in Japan, once we've won the crucial game, we always eased up. Thinking we have already accomplished our goal. But right now, we have a higher goal, that's what we must remind ourselves in the next two days. Tommorow we will have a break, there is no practice. The couple of our main guys have to really get some rest. Tonight I'll go cheer on the womens basketball team. They have played pretty well too, but their group is a little easier than ours right?