not sure if this is anywhere, here is the link http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2879376 Taylor named starter at power forward Yao's elbow OK; center will play in tonight's opener By MEGAN MANFULL After a preseason of mixing and matching at power forward, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has finally settled on a starter. Maurice Taylor, the team's sixth man a year ago, will start against the NBA champion Detroit Pistons when the season opens tonight at Auburn Hills, Mich. Also Monday, center Yao Ming said his hyperextended left elbow "doesn't hurt a lot" and that he will be ready to play tonight. Yao was cleared to participate in contact drills on Monday for the first time since injuring his elbow last Wednesday. The Rockets held a short, light practice, however, and Yao's elbow was not tested. Taylor started six preseason games, averaging 9.8 points and 3.2 rebounds. His best all-around outing of the preseason was in the team's last game against Denver, when he had 14 points and eight rebounds. "He's really on the right path," Van Gundy said. "Sometimes it's hard to quantify with specific reasons, nor do you want to say them always. But I just feel that it gives you our best rotation early in the year to play our best. I really do. And it's not just one guy. It's how they all fit together." "Last year with Kelvin (Cato), I thought he gave us our best chance because we could play big against bigger, stronger power forwards. "This year, we're a little smaller at that position, so I just think he (Taylor) gives us our best chance." Juwan Howard will come off the bench after starting three games during the preseason and averaging 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. Howard has typically been a starter at every stop in his 10-year NBA career. He has come off the bench in only 26 of 730 career games. Taylor's last season as a starter was 2000-01 with the Rockets, when he started 69 games. Since missing the 2001-02 season with a torn right Achilles tendon, Taylor has started only 19 times. "It doesn't really make a difference," Taylor said. "I play the same way. I prepare the same way. It's not really a big deal to me."
