Yao begins to break out of his shell By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Yao Ming grinned and grimaced, shouted not so much in delight or relief but to let loose the intensity he built inside himself. Before Sunday's breakthrough against the Lakers, Yao had to channel the emotions and motivations of a star, which he had always been before joining the NBA, into determination. Patience had to replace intensity. He watched games start and end from the bench and never questioned his role, insisting instead that his carefully limited role told him how much he had to learn. But for almost a week, Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and Rockets teammates said they saw a difference in Yao at practices. By Friday and most obviously on Sunday, that difference was in public view and unmistakable. As determined as Tomjanovich has been to "go slow" with Yao, a position he repeated after Sunday's game, on Sunday Yao dramatically picked up the pace. For the first time in his eight-game NBA career, Yao was on the floor with the game on the line and then won it with a three-point play with a minute left. With that moment, and a perfect 9-for-9 shooting night, Yao might have gone from working through his growing pains and getting a taste of court time to becoming a player that helps determine if the Rockets win or lose. "I think he will eventually be that person," Rockets assistant coach Larry Smith said. "The guy has tremendous talent for his size. He's very skilled and a terrific passer. He does things normally 7-footers don't do. He's been really, really fantastic in practice. He's grasping what we're trying to do, scoring, making plays, playing with such aggression we're really happy to see. "We're just proud of the way he performed yesterday. He did everything we asked of him. He was solid on the offensive end and played good team defense. I though yesterday was a breakthrough game for him. But every day he's going to get better and better." If he continues to improve at that pace, he'll be Wilt Chamberlain by February. That is not likely or expected. The Rockets do not expect the "go slow" progress to continue on the fast track of the last two weeks. In his first four games, he averaged 2.5 points. In the past four, he has averaged 10, scoring 10 points in Phoenix and 20 in Los Angeles. "He's not a finished product," Rockets forward Maurice Taylor said. "He's a 22-year old. He has a lot of work to do. The scary part is how good he can be when he is finished." But on Sunday, Yao made more shots without a miss than any NBA player has in a game this season. His 22-of-33 shooting this season would lead the league in shooting percentage if he had enough attempts to qualify. He has made 17 of his last 18 shots. The Rockets will likely continue to determine Yao's minutes based on his play and on matchups. But as he tried to extend his streak of best-games-of-his-career to three, the Rockets begin a tour of 7-footers tonight against the Cavaliers and 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They face the unbeaten Mavericks and rejuvenated 7-foot-6 center Shawn Bradley on Thursday. They go against Brandon Haywood and the Wizards, Michael Olowokandi and the Clippers, Arvydas Sabonis and the Trail Blazers and Erick Dampier and the Warriors before facing a team, Seattle, that does not give long minutes to a 7-footer. And even the SuperSonics played Jerome James for 20 effective minutes off the bench against the Rockets. "It's going to be a challenging stretch for us all," Smith said. "I hope he comes out and plays like he did on Sunday. We'll see how it goes. We're excited about it, but it's a really, really tough week for us. "He just has to get more comfortable with his teammates and the things we're trying to do. So far, he's on a remarkable pace. We've thrown lot of things at him in a short period of time. And as we all know, he has to get stronger. That will come. "It's going to take a little time. It's another process for him. He still has to get more familiar with the team, his teammates and the thing we're trying to do. But progress has been steadfast. He's learning every day. We'll just bring him along slowly, not do it too fast, take his time and bring him along slow. But we're looking forward to that happening." Ilgauskas presents an interesting decision for the Rockets. The Rockets get Kelvin Cato back after he missed three games to be with his family after the death of his grandmother. But Cato has not practiced or played in more than a week. Tomjanovich is often hesitant to start players that have been out that long, but is unlikely to take a starting job away from a player that left only to attend to a family matter. Jason Collier had started the first two games of Cato's absence, but did not play against the Lakers on Sunday when Tomjanovich started Eddie Griffin at center opposite 6-foot-9 Samaki Walker. Yao might seem a suitable matchup but still has a tendency to draw fouls and could still benefit from watching the opening minutes, especially considering there was no practice on Monday to prepare specifically for the Cavaliers. But as much as he has preached the virtues of patience, Tomjanovich said Yao is "a quick-learner." If anything was clear, Sunday's breakthrough demonstrated he has picked up the NBA way of finishing a play, and a game. "We knew he had (skills)," Taylor said. "We want him to get his toughness. We want him to go over everybody. We want him to dunk everything he can. As far as his skill and finesse, we knew he had all the talent in the world. We wanted him to be more aggressive. We want him to be done there and dunk on everybody. And he knows what we say when we say dunk it."
