CNNSI: The Year of Yao

By John Hollinger, CNNSI.com

As we head into Friday's Shaq vs. Yao showdown, it's a good time to review what Yao Ming has already accomplished, because perhaps no player in history has turned public opinion so completely on its head in such a short time.

The 7-foot-6 Chinese rookie is averaging 13 points and eight rebounds a game and is the front-runner for the league's Rookie of the Year Award despite a painfully slow start and several other barriers.

“New culture. New system. New teammates. Misses summer league. Misses the orientation. Misses first two weeks of camp ..." said Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich, recounting the obstacles Yao faced heading into the season. "But we thought he was a pretty good player all along."

Not everyone did. Yao's first two weeks produced some ugly stat lines -- his first six games produced 20 points combined and more turnovers than field goals -- and unflattering comparisons to big stiffs like Chuck Nevitt and Manute Bol. But Tomjanovich knew how much progress Yao was making despite the criticism.

"That’s sports. Either you’re the best or the worst," said Tomjanovich about the rush to judgment on the NBA's No. 1 overall draft pick. "But Yao gained respect [from teammates] right from the beginning. I was very encouraged even though his numbers weren’t big."

Of course, a week later, Yao had his coming-out party in a 30-point, 16-rebound tour de force against Dallas' Shawn Bradley, and the rest was history.

But Yao and his teammates are in a learning process, and there's still a long way to go. "We’re just learning all the stuff. We've got a brand-new team," said Tomjanovich, pointing out that in addition to Yao, James Posey and Bostjan Nachbar are new, Glen Rice barely played last year, Maurice Taylor didn’t play at all, and Eddie Griffin is in just his second season.

The result of all that newness is a team that's up and down more than Moochie Norris' hair. Some nights -- like when they followed a 25-point rout of Philadelphia with an impressive victory against the Kings -- the Rockets look like a top-four seed in the West. On others -- like Friday night's moribund defeat in Atlanta, during which Yao showed impressive command of his newly learned English swear words -- they look like the players met one another just a few minutes before tip-off.

Yet the Rockets have all the pieces in place to be a serious contender down the road. Point guard Steve Francis is a superstar in his own right; combined with Yao, that gives the Rockets cornerstones at the two toughest positions to fill. Griffin is even younger than Yao and is steadily ironing out the holes in his game, while Cuttino Mobley provides a scoring threat at the other guard spot. It may not come together this year, but when it does -- and it will -- the Rockets are going to be something special.

And three months into his NBA career, it's already clear that Yao will be the centerpiece. While he may not shine in his first encounter against Shaq (provided his sprained knee is healed by Friday), his development this year has still been an amazing story.

 

And even more after...

 

Yeah, except he didn't swear. According to Yao he just let out a yell.