I'm not the best one to answer that question. I've been in America too long. From what little I know of the team, and from what I do know about Australian brilliance in sport, then yes I can say that the team is "good." They have a decent shot at getting a medal.
CHN : AUS 0 : 7 pts from turnover 0 : 12 fast break pts 9 : 21 assists man... I sure hope this is not what yao's team always get... Can we just blame on the incompetence of the guard? or anyone thinks yao is a part of it as well? and how did CNT got outscored in the paint?
also, since Zhu F made 5/6 three pointers, can we stop the fascination about Liu Wei and someone start a petition to get Zhu pls?
Yeah, but being a Rockets fan, it's easier to blame it on the guards. They can pass worth ****. Their fastbreak is almost as bad as ours was last year.
thoughts I must have missed something in the stats. now I'm feeling so much better. still, the assists # for the whole team is irritating though...
Actually I must say Yao is pretty good at throwing long outlet passes, but only if the guards know how to finish. Same with the Rox guards, SF in particular, always trying to get the rebound instead of letting the bigs handle it so they could be in position for the long passes.
This guys is a very good 3-point shooter, shoot over 50% for the last several games. I wonder why no NBA team is interested in him.
http://www.eurobasket2005.com/news/newsitem.php?id=839 Yao lowers the boom on Aussies 01/08/2004 Foto: fiba.com Anthony Ronaldson missed a three-pointer at the death as China held on for a dramatic 84-82 victory over Australia in FIBA's Diamond Ball Tournament on Sunday. The Chinese, looking for respectability on the international stage, earned some against the Boomers as both sides warmed up for the Athens Olympics in a tough encounter. Del Harris' China received another dominating performance from Yao Ming. The Houston Rockets centre had 28 points one night after scoring 21 in a defeat to Serbia & Montenegro. China led by as many as 15 points in the match but the outcome hung in the balance until the very end. China were in front by a single point when Martin Cattalini fouled Li Nan with six seconds remaining. After an Australia time-out, the Chinese player converted just one of two from the line for a two-point cushion. Brian Goorjian's team inbounded the ball and got it into the hands of Ronaldson but his shot from long range was off the mark. Yao was virtually unstoppable, making eight of his 11 field goal attempts. The only area in which he seemed to struggle was at the free throw line where he made 12 of 17. The team from Down Under look to have a bona fide star in the making in Matthew Nielsen. The Australian National Basketball League player, who could be set to launch an NBA career next season after spending part of the summer with the Denver Nuggets, had 24 points. He was 10 of 19 from the field, including one of three from behind the arc. Australian captain Shane Heal had 18 points on six three-pointers (he missed seven of his attempts from long range). The Chinese had their own specialist from three-point land. Zhu Fangyu drained five of his six attempts from behind the arc and finished with 19 points.
I am pretty happy with Yao's performance in the past two games. Both Serbia and Australia are top 5 teams in the world and Yao pretty much scores at ease if he gets the ball in the paint. he is playing at a much igher level than he was in April.
Is it any co-incidence Yao's FT % goes down while he's improving the strength? Shudders, last thing I want is Shaqqish Yao.
