an article by yao's close friend Yangyi

He is also a chinese reporter. the original article is in chinese.
http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2002-12-20/0958367849.shtml
I try to translate it as following:


"the Drexler-like one "


On the way back from Miami, when talking about the next game against Pacers, Yao Ming said,"Let's expect a slaughter". sort
of joking. But after the game, With reporters of Houston looking
at him with some expectancy, what yao said was just " I now can breathe more freely".

For Yao, that expectancy which stirred inside him on Oct.30 in
Indianapolis, seems like an old story already. "I'm totally
relaxed. When I ran into the court, hearing the DJ anouncing
my name so loudly, I didn't feel out of breath any more. But
you know, the more you feel at home, the harder you can hit
your opponents."

10 seconds before the game was over, Rox already locked the
win. Yao looked up at the big scoreboard, " do you know what
I'm thinking?" he smiled, "I'm thinking it takes 24 games to
get me from Indiana to Houston."

51 days after his debut in Indiana, Yao dominated tonight.
However, "what's most important is not on the sta sheet,
but in my mind".

After Indiana, yao always said "this is war". Guess he learned
to enjoy the war before he could play like what he did in
Compac Center. In the 2nd qr, Yao's move on the baseline
gave rise to a cry from the crowd "wow, Kareem!"

But Kareem is just part of what he wanted to be. In the 4th
qr, Yao faced B.Miller again. Holding the ball, he stretched
arms suddenly and Miller jumped, losing position.At this moment,
Yao stepped forward with a hook shot. "This one is my fav.
The ones which people feel like "Dream"-like,I shot as a center.
But this one was shot by a forward, it's Drexler-like."

In Indianapolis, it took only a Foster to make Yao look bad,
but now seems no one can stay in his way easily. "That Miller,
he failed to guard me successfully. He was on me, very close,
which made me easy to get to his position. I just spin on and
get positioned firmly while he turned to be weak, sort of like
CBA's Wangshouqiang in Liaoning Team. Among all the centers
I already played against, olowokandi is the toughest one for
me. He didn't stand very close, just holding a hand agianst my
waist and with some strength, like Bateer did back in CBA."

"Are you taling about NBA or CBA?" Yao just giggled.

24 games ago, in Indiana, Yao giggled like this after the scoreless
game. "It's just like taking the Long March again, traveling all the
path you have travelled before." In CBA,it took three years before
he became a superstar and 5 years a champion team member. In NBA,
he averaged 3.3 points, 3.6 rebounds in the first 6 games. Then from
Suns to Wizards, he began to explode. From then on he became the
started. He was a little bit silent on the following road trip . Then
came the second explosion: in the game against Spurs, he took 27 points
and 18 rebounds and most important the Rox won. After that he had a
6-game streak of double-double but never reached 20 points, until
this night, sweeping across the court, and pacers--ESPN just asked
"who is the best second center, NOW?"

"I know what's on your mind. You may say I'm walking too fast on my
second taking of Long March?" he smiled again," I myself noticed there
was a wave of ups and downs. But every down was higher than the previous
down. To tell you the truth, sometimes I may not figure out how I can
be so fast. There are times when I just felt so exausted and didn't
even feel like moving my butt. Like you saw in today's game, I was kind
of too tired to run even at the beginning, but I felt better and better
after running the floor for a while. People were getting tired with
playing time passing, however, I felt even more energetic torwards the
end of the game. Don't know why, maybe it's because I could take a deep
breath

One day before the game, Yao and his teammates went to Taxas State
Children Hospital to pay a seasonal visit to the sick children. Wearing
a Santa Clause Hat, Yao handed a little boy a No. 11 jersy. After the
game, he said," I felt sad for them, and we won this game for them, wish
they can enjoy life as we healthy people do."