Nice comeback from Yao Ming and China. Looks like Yao was much more aggressive, getting all our big blokes into foul trouble. One positive thing I hear a lot about Yao is the words "basketball IQ". Maybe this could be THE key thing in the long run as they all say he learns from game to game. Certainly, he adjusted against us. Humble pie will taste VERY nice if Yao forces me to eat my words... 7/7/2002 A foul-plagued Australian men's basketball team - the Boomers - was unable to overcome China's 'Great Wall', 225cm NBA centre Yao Ming, as they lost 84-70 in Guangzhou on Saturday night in the second-last game of their tour of China. The Boomers, who started their six-game, 12-day tour of China by winning three straight matches and taking out the Shuang Lai Cup by defeating China, Yugoslavia and Italy in a round-robin tournament, accumulated 30 team fouls in the game and saw three key players foul out in Chris Anstey, Ben Melmeth and Tony Ronaldson. The game, which was played on Chinese national TV and in front of a parochial home-crowd of 3,000, saw the Boomers trail early with the Chinese leading 30-23 at quarter time. China extended this lead to double-digits in the first half before some dogged play by the Boomers helped the Australians pull level at the half, 39-39. The third quarter remained tight, with the Chinese taking a 60-58 lead into the final break. The Australians lost Ronaldson and Melmeth to fouls in the third period however and with Anstey fouling out in the final quarter, the Chinese were able to take control of the game. Anstey and Melmeth had the daunting task of trying to guard Ming, who was tabbed by the Houston Rockets as the number one NBA Draft pick in June, and with the two Australian big men hampered by foul trouble the giant Chinese centre was able to score a game-high 22 points. Matthew Nielsen top-scored for Australia for the second straight game with 13 points while Anstey had 12 before he fouled out. Brett Maher added 11 despite a slight illness and John Rillie also had 11 points. Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian was disappointed with the loss but said that the Boomers were now looking to their next game against European superpower Yugoslavia. "We got down early but managed to claw our way back into the game, which is a credit to the guys," said Goorjian. "Obviously we wanted to win but as a whole, I'm reasonably happy with the level of fight we showed tonight. We're now looking to tomorrow night's game to finish the tour on a positive note." Boomers veteran Tony Ronaldson said that the team was keen to defeat the Yugoslavians in the Boomers final tour match tomorrow night. "I think we let ourselves down a bit tonight in what was a tough game, but we're looking forward to playing Yugoslavia tomorrow night and hopefully closing out the tour with a win." The Boomers record after the loss dropped to 3-2. Australia play two games each against the national teams from China, Italy and Yugoslavia during their 12-day tour of China.
No box scores. In fact, our official site has had none for the whole tournament. I guess they simply aren't kept by the media there? On a good note, just spoke to a friend who knows more than I do...and he said that the Aussie camp seems to rate Yao very highly. Certainly, much higher than the other Chinese players. He also said that they rate him a tougher opponenet than many of the team USA guys they met at the Olympics. (I guess that will get me flamed.)
I just don't think you can tell from international competition. It's just a whole different game. Hopefully when Ming comes over and plays with our talented backcourt, his game will improve as well. Having good teammates always helps your game Thanks for the update.
[/QUOTE]No box scores. In fact, our official site has had none for the whole tournament. I guess they simply aren't kept by the media there?
In your face SRJ, IN YOUR FACE!! J/K Seriously, nice bounce back by Ming and the guys! It shows that he learns in each game, I love that! I'm guessing this strong comeback has just destroyed BTM's day!
LOL...I'll take that one on the chin Seriously, I am really happy and quite relieved to see Yao bounce back like that. If he'd of been kept quiet TWO games straight by Anstey and Big Ben...damm that would have been a worry. Instead, he has come back...and I don't just mean by scoring. Our blokes got him in trouble by doubling him / triple teaming him last game. This game, rather than allow that again, he attacked them...and thus Chris and Ben got into foul trouble...and thus the double team options was limited. Excellent to see a young guy change his game accordingly. As I said before, the thing that really excites me is that most people I know, who have had a bit to do with Australian basketball, all say "Basketball IQ" when they talk about him. He learns.
Game-by-game adjustments, that right there probably sets him apart from some of the other busts in the NBA. SRJ mentioned the second time around he attacked the guys that had shut him down. That's a great sign, because players who get shut down tend to go into a shell and tend to be tentative in rematches, especially rematches so soon after the original game. I agree, if he had been shut down twice, there would have been cause for serious concern about his game and his mental make-up. I think a good part of that has been answered. Thanks for the updates SRJ!
