Beautiful news: China vs Spain live on CNBC this Sunday!

Reading through all these posts about Yao Ming you would think people think he sucks and already gave up on him playing on a national team in the olympics which doesn't count for anything! It's only ONE game and a game that does not affect his NBA standing! Geez, Yao Ming is a great player! He seems like a great person! We should be happy to have him on the Rockets! Instead of bashing our OWN players why can't we represent him?! Also, loved the aquistion of McGrady over the summer. Ward and Sura will be fine also! I think the NBA and us Rockets are in for a surprise! Either way, I can't wait to see the Rockets play. Hopefully we can get Mutumbo for experience also. GO ROCKETS!

 

That optimism stuff won't work here buddy, better make a disparaging comment about at least one Rocket or everyone gonna think you're a druggie

 

How come after a bad game or a strech of a few bad ones, people always say this same thing about Yao. But will they say the same thing after he plays a stretch of great games? Just wondering.

What do you mean *will become* Rik Smith's level? IMO, Yao's already at Rick Smit's level, but still *HAVE POTENTIAL* to become dominant like a Hakeem or Robinson. The question is will he fill out his potential and that's impossible to answer right now. As long as he improves every year I am happy.

I'm very disappionted Yao pointed his fingers at his teammates. He's the man on the team and if he plays bad and the team loses, it's always his fault first and foremost.

 

http://2004.sina.com.cn/cn/bk/2004-08-15/66614.html

there is a link posted on page 4. In case anybody wants to read the some of the translation.

Beijing Time August 15th, CNT lost by a large margin to Spain. Yao surprised everybody by loosing his composure after the game. When he was interviewed by the media, he was bitter and almost had tears rolling out of his eyes, saying that he has lost so much confidence in his team and teammates.

blah blah...now interview

Reporter:" Do you think the referee made a wrong call on your fifth foul?"

Yao:" Do you think that makes any difference? "

Yao continues: "I have lost so much confidence on the CNT. I don't know why the team always hurts me like this, it makes me so heartbroken. I don't know if some of my teammates were nervous or afraid to shoulder some of the responsiblities."

Stoping here, Yao almost cried, but he continued on.

Reporter: "Is it because the your teammates couldn't shoulder any pressure, so all the pressure was on u?"

Yao: "I have shouldered what I could shoulder, I have done my best. But the national team,,,our change/improvement was only skin-deep. Inside, we are as weak as the team in the last year's World Tourament. We give up when we encounter difficulty."

Yao Ming's response is very unusual. He has never ever said anything like this about his teammates in public since he started playing basketball.

Reporter: What about ur fatigue?

Yao: Only an excuse.

Reporter: How do you compare the loss u had today and the loss you had two years ago vs Korea?

Yao: Eventhough we lost to korea, I felt like we still had a lot of hope and room for improvement. YOu know, all of my current teammates are new, in 2002 I had mostly old teammates. I was hoping the new teammates could change all this. I am an old teammate now, I will retire before them... but they had their own mind, there is nothing I could do to influence them."

The Yao left. From the observation of the reporter, Yao was trying very hard to put the tears back into his eye sockets. It is obvious that Yao is "very very" disappointed in the current CNT team.

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I hope CNT doesn't get swept. Anyway, my first translation

 

Holy ****! Look at all these posts bashing Yao. LMAO! All the sudden people jumping off the bandwagon and callling him name. Pathetic Rox Fan or YOF! Yes it's a good time to troll. Give me a freaking break, Spain is going to win GOLD and China is a crap ass team and without Yao it would've been 100-40. Of course he's tired. I'd be tired too seeing how crappy your team is and have to cover for their every mistakes. I'm also disappointing at his stats but be realistic. Spain knew stopping Yao is stopping the whole team so they did that today. So please stop all your whining becasue it won't be happening when he return to the Rox. The next guys who say he's the next Rik Smit will receive a cactus up his ass!

 

"I really enjoyed the slam dunk in the face of Yao, but it was nothing personal," Gasol said.

 

Well as the official "Thank people for doing translations of foreign articles" person, I say thank you.

 

You see that much in a pic? You are really a genius!

 

what type of fans we have here!

it was a bad game. when yao will be back for the rockets, he will be a lot better.

if you guys don't like yao and yao suck so bad......i guess we should let him go and let him play for some other team huh?

that's what i thought.......

 

Replace Yao with Tim Duncan and the CNT would still probably lose. It's more of a reflection on their team than on one individual when they lose by 25 points.

 

I'm glad and hopefully he come to his senses! What Yao need to do now and say screw the team, I'm going to take 30 shots and forget about passing out to you idiots who can't shoot. If China lose the game but at least Yao stats will look good.

 

http://www.fiba.com/pages/en/events/blockbusters/olympic_men/article_olympics_men_04.asp?cookietest=done&r_act_news=3392&r_cat=208

Day 1 Men: Spain 83 - CHN 58

Gasol inspires spain

ATHENS (Olympics) - Pau Gasol and Spain's lightning quick guards ran past China on Sunday to open their Olympic campaign on a triumphant note.

Spain, looking to build on their silver medal success at last year's Eurobasket in Sweden, romped to an 83-58 win.

They broke open a close contest by going on a 20-8 run in the final eight minutes of the first half to lead 42-30 and it was a struggle for China the rest of the way.

Gasol, the seven-foot Memphis Grizzlies power forward, had 21 points on an array of shots and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

On one occasion in the decisive quarter, the Barcelona native soared into the lane and dunked with two hands over Yao Ming and was fouled on the play. He converted the free throw for a 29-23 advantage.

"I really enjoyed the slam dunk in the face of Yao, but it was nothing personal," Gasol said. "I just like to always play hard. I don't care who the opponent is."

Early on, China looked a well-organised side under boss Del Harris, a veteran NBA coach who's currently an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks.

After keeping the game within reach, they unravelled over the final two minutes of the third quarter.

Spain went on a 9-0 run as guards Juan Carlos Navarro and Jose Manuel Calderon scored all of the points.

That gave them a 61-43 stranglehold on the game and the result was never in doubt after.

"We are in great shape," Gasol said. "We played hard against a great team and we managed to start the Olympic tournament with a very good performance. If we continue to play like this, we can dream of an Olympic medal."

Gasol did take a shot to the nose in the first half but continued to play.

"I hope not to have a serious problem," he said, "I will have an X-ray when we get back to the Olympic Village." Yao, the centre of the NBA's Houston Rockets, had just 12 points and eight rebounds.

"I feel so disappointed," he said. "I lost all of my hope for this team. I didn't expect to play so bad. We changed our skin but we are the same, just like the World Championships in Indianapolis two years ago."

Flash quotes:

Pau GASOL (ESP), Forward

On the game and his personal fight with YAO Ming:
"We are in great shape. We played hard against a great team and we managed to start the Olympic tournament with a very good performance. If we continue to play like this, we can dream of an Olympic medal. I really enjoyed the slam-dunk in the face of YAO, but there is nothing personal, I just like to play always hard. I don’t care about my opponent."

On the injury to his nose:
"I hope not to have a serious problem. I will have an x-ray when we will be back to the Olympic Village."

On the security at the Olympic Village:
"I feel safe living in the Olympic Village. There are a lot of security people there."

On his participation in the Olympic Games:
"It’s great to be a part of the Olympic team. It’s emotional to play for your country."


Juan Carlos NAVARRO (ESP) Guard

On the game:
"We were better team than China. We played an excellent game especially with the front line and we take an easy victory."

Rodrigo de la FUENTE (ESP): Guard

On the game :
"It was the first game and always is difficult to play well but we were very concentrate and won easily. We wanted to win and play a good game. We are satisfied."

On the opponent
"China is a good team but we must think now the next game."

Press conference quotes:

Rodrigo DE LA FUENTE (ESP)

"Very important win for us. It’s tough to start such a tournament after many days without competing. Pau GASOL is without any doubt our reference player, but in general our team is able to play consistently regardless of Pau’s performance. To win great tournaments, you don’t need just superstars but a great team. We dedicate today’s victory to the Queen of Spain who was here with us, as well as to the Spanish fans who came to the arena."

YAO Ming (CHN)

On the game:
"I have no regrets that we lost, we had our opportunities. We made many mistakes and paid for them. Congratulations to Spain on their victory."

On which of the teams China faced (Serbia & Montenegro, Argentina, Spain) is the best:
"All three are excellent teams, I don’t see how I could tell which one is the best."

On his bursting out in frustration during the game:
"An old Chinese saying goes, ‘If you don’t burst out from silence, you fade into it.'"

Mario PESQUERA, coach (ESP)

On the game:
"We were prepared for a tough game. We had followed China’s preparation games and worked hard in rebounding and defense, finishing the game with a winning margin that can prove very important for us."

On whether the United States has regressed or other countries have improved:
"The United States have always been a reference for us. We’ve learned from their approach. I have been many times in the U.S. and learned from great coaches like Del HARRIS. Certainly the U.S. did not take a step back, but we worked a lot ourselves."

Dedicating the game:
"I dedicate it to the Queen and our fans, like my player, and also to the three players I had to cut from the squad, in the hardest decision of my life."

Del HARRIS, coach (CHN)

On the game:
"I am disappointed at the way we played. We are a better team than we showed today, certainly a better-shooting team. Spain did an exceptional job on defense. I watched a lot of them on tape, but tapes don’t show the defensive intensity they were able to play with as they did today."

On YAO Ming:
"Today he was too much of a team player. I’d rather see him take shots or draw fouls. He is a team player and knows we have good shooters. Maybe I’d like to see him take more shots and be more aggressive in the rest of the tournament."

On whether the United states have regressed or the other countries have improved:
"There’s no case of regression. At international level, talent and coaching has improved immeasurably. The United States, the NBA are still good, but if you are B and work more than A, some day you will catch up with A no matter where you were born."

On his Chinese experience:
"We had problems such as the language barrier, I had to demonstrate a lot. I had also had to do tape editing, scouting, and coaching at the same time. But I like so much being around these players. They are real gentlemen, and they treat me like I was the king of China. I enjoyed marching and taking pictures with them in the opening ceremony."

On young YI Jianlian:
"Some day he will be in the NBA. At 17, he is a very good player, but short on experience. He was not even a starter in his club, and now he gets to guard an NBA star like GASOL. In two years he will be drafted and you will see a lot of improvement in him, but now he’s still just a kid."

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I hate to see Yao frustrated like this! Hopefully China can turn it around. Gasol is a punk for his dunk on Yao quote.

 

Quotes from fiba.com

Del Harris On YAO Ming:
"Today he was too much of a team player. I’d rather see him take shots or draw fouls. He is a team player and knows we have good shooters. Maybe I’d like to see him take more shots and be more aggressive in the rest of the tournament."

Yao On his bursting out in frustration during the game:
"An old Chinese saying goes, ‘If you don’t burst out from silence, you fade into it.'"

 

Damn Matador you just beat me to it.

 

would time duncan be as passive as yao?

 

This was going to happen sooner or later. I'm glad it did. Anyone remember what Bird said during the 1984 Finals? "We played like a bunch of sissies!"

I feel the same way that RoyJones does. I'm happy that Yao called out this teammates. Finally! It took this embarrassment for it to get to this. If you were a member of the CNT team and he called YOU out. What would you do next game? Would you talk back to him? Would you question Yao's game? Or would you look yourself in the mirror?

You would come out the next game with something to prove (the guards seemed to "give up" late in the 3rd quarter). So, sit back and watch...the team will come out on fire next game. What Yao is doing (by criticizing his teammates; maybe he doesn't realize it yet) is setting the bar higher; expecting more from his teammates.

How will they react? If they start playing at the same level as Yao (effort; stop being passive and scared), then they will start winning as team. Not just standing around watching Yao try and do it all.

Yao: "I have shouldered what I could shoulder, I have done my best. But the national team, our change/improvement was only skin-deep. Inside, we are as weak as the team in the last year's World Tourament. We give up when we encounter difficulty."

I think one of the first things Dell Harris should look at is that horrendous matador defense the guards and forwards play. A change in effort on that alone would help the team tremendously.

P.S. This game was more about the CNT as a whole rather than Yao or a particular teammate. This should be recognized. And yes. Yao knows that his endurance is a problem. Yao was blowing off a lot of pen up steam. Lets see if his teammates respond.

 

the quote is not accurate.

the actual quote is from Lu Xun (arguably china's best writer ever), and it should be translated to:

if you do not break out of the silence,
you will die in the silence.

 

Thanks! Yao did what he had to. He "rocked the boat" for a purpose!

"If you do not break out of the silence, you will die in the silence."
- Lu Xun

 

for reference: USA vs. Puerto Rico preliminary game 1 2004

 

box score usa
http://www.nbcolympics.com/results/5038516/detail.html