Link: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2439692 NBA takes notice of Yao's dominating play By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Yao Ming didn't know what to say. No one had told him he was named the NBA's Player of the Week until practice ended on Monday, and the news caught Yao by surprise. He earned the honor for the first time after stringing together three dominant performances against the Lakers, Timberwolves and Mavericks. In the three games, Yao led the Rockets to two victories by averaging 29.7 points per game and eight rebounds. He also shot 62.5 percent from the field. When the numbers were put all together, even Yao was taken aback. "I'm a little surprised that I had the week I did," Yao said. "What should I say? I'd like to thank everybody who selected me. It's the first time I've been selected Player of the Week, and I'm very happy." Yao, who was a leading candidate for the honor three other times this season, became the first Rocket to be named Player of the Week this season. And even though Yao never ventured near the notion the honor was overdue, his teammates did. "It's about time," said teammate Steve Francis, the only Rocket to earn the honor last season. "It's good. It shows you how much he's matured and how much better he is getting every single game." The Rockets want to see Yao continue that dominant effort tonight when they play the Clippers at Toyota Center. All season, they have rallied around his improvement and his ability to take over a game. They constantly talk about how much better they are as a team when Yao plays as well as he is capable. Their point was reiterated last week, when the Rockets went up against three of the best teams in the Western Conference and won twice. Each game was decided by a mere three points, with the Rockets' only loss coming against the Lakers. In the two victories, the offense seemed to flow with Yao leading the charge. They scored more than 100 points against Minnesota and Dallas while also hitting a higher percentage of their shots. They hit 50 percent of their field-goal attempts at Minnesota, and 48.8 percent against Dallas. "I think we're using Yao much better," Mark Jackson said. "It doesn't have to do with him getting 20 or 30 points. But the more touches he gets, the more space we're going to get offensively, because teams have to double him and it creates havoc for them on our offensive end. "He's doing a great job. And we know that when we put the ball into his hands on the block, it's going to open up so much space for the rest of us. He's just a great offensive force, a superstar." That's not how Yao thinks of himself. But he is finally starting to gain more confidence in his game, which is giving him the ability to test his limits. Yao bettered Shaquille O'Neal once again by scoring 33 points and grabbing eight rebounds Wednesday. And he didn't have a letdown after the Lakers left town. He scored 27 points against the Timberwolves and 29 against Dallas. He averaged more points during the week than any other Western Conference player, and trailed only Stephon Marbury (31.7 points per game) in the league overall. "Maybe (the difference) is just my self-confidence," Yao said. "At least, I feel like my self-confidence is getting better." His run of 30 consecutive made free throws -- capped by a three-point play with 15.4 seconds left against Dallas -- has helped, too. The team is feeding off of Yao's attitude and his willingness to lead the offense. The Rockets successfully worked the ball inside-out during the last two games, especially in the fourth quarter when the games were on the line. When the double teams sank in on Yao, he often found his open teammate. And more often than not, whoever got the ball found a way to score. Against Minnesota, Francis stepped up and scored 25 points. Against Dallas, it was Jim Jackson who helped down the stretch and finished with 24 points. And despite the strong individual numbers, they said it all started with Yao. "I think with Yao being more aggressive, really attacking the basket and asking for the ball, I think it opens up a lot more," Jim Jackson said. "The more Yao is aggressive, the better it is for us." Rockets summary Thorn in side The Rockets are aware that the Clippers are struggling, especially on the road against Western Conference foes. But that doesn't mean the Rockets feel overly confident about to tonight's matchup. Kelvin Cato clearly remembers the seasons when the Clippers dominated the series. In the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, the Clippers were 6-2 against the Rockets. The two teams split last year. "The last few years I've been here, the Clippers have been our downfall," Cato said. "They've beaten us on a regular basis. This year, we've kind of turned the tables a little bit. But they are a dangerous team. They come in here with nothing to lose." The Clippers, who have lost four consecutive games to the Rockets, have a 3-14 record on the road against the West. But they come into tonight's game off an impressive 91-71 victory over Portland on Sunday. The team's third-leading scorer, Quentin Richardson, left the game in the third period after injuring his back. He said after the game he didn't expect to miss any time. Despite losing six of their last eight games, the Clippers have posted some impressive victories this season. They defeated Dallas on the road and had home victories over the Lakers, San Antonio and Milwaukee. "It's a dangerous team because they are young and talented, but we have to put them in their place," Mark Jackson said. Too early to relax The Rockets continue to eye the playoff standings but refuse to get too comfortable with the notion they will reach the postseason for the first time in five years. With 20 games left, the players said anything can still happen. "You still can't breathe easy, because if you lose 10 or 11 straight then you're out of the playoffs again," Kelvin Cato said. "So you have got to maintain and try to keep getting all the wins you can get. "We're trying to move up. We're trying get the seventh, sixth spot, maybe four. You never know. It's real close right there -- four, five games between the eighth seed and the fourth seed." As soon as the playoff picture becomes clearer, the Rockets will start looking toward matchups and opponents. Jim Jackson said it's too early to tell which team is the "one to beat." "Even though Sacramento has the best record, San Antonio is right behind them with the Lakers," Jackson said. "If a team gets in there that's on a roll come late April and is playing really well, they may be the seventh seed, but they might be playing extremely well and maybe playing better than one of the top seeds. It just depends on who's playing best going into the playoffs." CONGRATULATIONS TO YAO AGAIN! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU
great read, thanks. i'm glad the team realizes that they are not locked in the playoff just yet. GO ROCKETS!
If we lose 10 or 11 straight, Cato and the team has more to be worried about than just missing the playoffs.
We've still got a problem with Yao, though. And it was best shown during the Dallas game. Dallas started the game trying to prevent Yao from getting position. This didn't work and Yao ate 'em up for 10 points in the first 5 minutes. Then Dallas put in Najera, who played a different strategy: he would let Yao get position, but used speed and agility to prevent Yao from getting the ball. Yao ended up only getting 5 buckets in the last 24 minutes. Nellie's not dumb: next time we play Dallas, he's gonna play Najera on Yao through the whole game. We're gonna have to (quickly) compensate. Our passes to Yao will need to be faster, more accurate, and more careful. Or we should build picks for Yao or lob a pass in to him every now and then. If the Rox don't these solutions (or any others) for Najera, Yao's next performance agains the Mavs won't be nearly as good as the last one. -- droxford
In that case, the Rockets need to have some crispy passes to counter that. When Najera was running around Yao front & behind, there was Dirk shadowing on the weakside for a potential double teaming. The best way to beat that would be patience & persistence. Use Yao to set some picks for Cato or MoT, that will confuse the denfense, get better match up/positions.
Fortuantely in that case, najera will be Marvs' biggest offensive liability. i see no reason Nellie will play him 25+ minutes. Hope Yao soon find his way to knock down najera-like defence
Well speed, agility and fouling. On several entry passes, Najera would pull Yao backwards to force a turnover. The refs weren't giving us the whistles that game. Maybe next time, the refs will be calling that. Wait, that's never going to happen. Nevermind.
They just can't call fouls every time someone pushes Yao. That would destroy the game. I for one do not want to watch a FT shooting contest. Guys like Shaq and Yao will have to live with the constant hacking. Yao dropped 29 points on the Mavs with all the uncalled fouls. If refs called everything, that game would have been a blowout. And blowout does terrible things to TV rating.
The thing is that if they called some of those fould early in the game, the teams would stop fouling. It would only be a FT shooting contest if a coach was stupid enough to have his players continue to foul even when they are being called for it.
what van gundy is going to tell the team is, "next time someone plans on coming around yao, throw a hard pass around yao's head, and to the off shoulder, the shoulder opposite from which the player coming around yao is making his move. then yao can just turn away from the defender towards the basket and go to the hole." at least i think that is what van gundy SHOULD tell the team to do.
Sure. Sign him and Maddog Madson too. Then take them out to the desert and bury them, alive. I hate dirty players.
from mocitydon: I don't get this at all. Yao's game has faults? He's not the best player in the league yet? You don't think we're going to win the championship this year? No kidding. But "we" have a problem with Yao. Well I guess you do, and I know every team in the NBA does. Whatever you expect from him now is seriously ridiculous. Najera made maybe three plays that were Yao's fault. Najera also fouled Yao twice badly and probably a third time that was questionable. Then with the game on the line he tips in a JJ miss, bails out SF by getting perfect position and converts. Give Najera credit. Give Yao some too. If you still have a problem don't watch the games. The youn man's doing pretty good.
