Yao intended to send a message to Shaq early on, not to get into the matchup hype

Most people think that Yao last night just could not keep up with Shaq. I think it is simply untrue. I think Yao intended to send a message to Shaq and the league as to what expect him to be in the future by the way he played in the first five minutes of the game. I know he missed a lot of shots, but he was not really trying too hard to match Shaq point for point. Yao's culture teaches unity and sacrificing for the good of the common goal, and he has brought that way of thinking with him here to the NBA, that is how he approaches every game, he could careless for the individual standout, for for him he is as good as he makes his team look. Yao played tenatious defense yesterday and deflected more shots than he could get credit for, and his team won, which could not make him look any better, and that is why I think he won the matchup as well!!