CHRON: Yao set to spar anew with Shaq

Yao set to spar anew with Shaq
Van Gundy doesn't expect officials to give his man any breaks
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Yao Ming sat in a folding chair Tuesday, surrounded by a dozen local reporters and more than 20 members of the Chinese media. The number was far more than he was used to dealing with this season, but none of the attention came as a surprise.

With the Lakers in town tonight and the NBA All-Star Game only four days away, Yao isn't fazed by the sudden burst of interest. It's actually become a little mundane for him.

"It's very ordinary at this point," Yao said. "Here it is again. Every year, at least four times a year. And every time is a test. And I'm not just talking about the game, but the stuff before the game like this."

Yao has learned to handle the media well over the past season and a half. He also has learned arguably the most important lesson about dealing with the league's most dominant player, Shaquille O'Neal.

"The one thing I've learned is that you can never just have one person defending him," Yao said.

So despite the hype prior to each matchup between Yao and O'Neal, tonight's game isn't really just about the two big men.

The issues on the Rockets' minds go further than how they will help Yao with O'Neal. Their biggest concern is getting a victory before the All-Star break starts Thursday. The Rockets hope to take advantage of a vulnerable Lakers team, depleted by injuries and winner of only six of its last 10 games.

"We definitely need a win," Rockets guard Steve Francis said. "Knowing that the All-Star break is coming up, both teams are on the brink of the playoffs. They are struggling right now. We lost (Monday) night. Hopefully for us, it can be a momentum game going into the break."

The Rockets picked up a big victory over the Lakers on Christmas when they won 99-87 on the road after dropping five of their previous seven games. Everything fell into place for the Rockets as they jumped out to a 33-19 first-quarter lead and held off an LA comeback.

The Rockets lost their next two games, but they have put together impressive stretches since. Monday's loss to San Antonio snapped a three-game winning streak.

"I think we've improved a lot," Yao said. "(Monday) night, what we showed we improved the most was our energy and our spirit. We were down by more than 10 points several times, and we were able to catch up and play with them and give ourselves a chance to win. For us to be a playoff team in the future, these are the things that we have to continue to do."

Those aren't the only things, though. Much of Yao's success tonight and in the future will depend on how he deals with physical play inside. Against Tim Duncan on Monday, Yao played 38 minutes but was sent to the free-throw line only four times. Duncan, who complained about the officiating on both ends of the floor, went to the line 11 times.

Yao seems to be getting used to the treatment he receives and said he didn't "think the refs were too hard on me." Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, on the other hand, said he thought Duncan didn't have anything to complain about on his end of the floor and that the officials don't treat Yao fairly.

"The league office doesn't believe me, but it's true," Van Gundy said. "Men of size get officiated differently. It's the underdog mentality of people who referee. They will give people of smaller stature more liberties in the post. I'm just saying in general, not just for us, men of size, there's far more liberties given to smaller players. Yao is going to have to deal with this his whole career. That's just how it is in the league. They say it's not true, but it is true."

Yao averages only 5.45 free throws per game. In comparison, O'Neal averages 11.27 trips to the line. The fact O'Neal doesn't get the same treatment as Yao only adds to the difficulty of their matchup.

"O'Neal gets to the line a lot more than Yao does," Van Gundy said. "O'Neal gets to the line plenty. (Yao's) 7-6, and he's going to have to absorb more contact and score, and that's going to be how it is."

Rockets summary
Van Gundy: My bad
One day after his team lost to the Spurs on Monday, coach Jeff Van Gundy was still bothered by the Rockets' final play. The team had no timeouts and trailed by three points with 15.5 seconds to go. Steve Francis dribbled out the clock and tried to shake off Robert Horry. His attempts failed, and his last-second shot missed terribly.

Francis took the brunt of the blame for the loss after the game, but Van Gundy said Tuesday it was all his fault.

"I let our team down," Van Gundy said. "That was terrible. Bad, bad. We didn't get a good shot. It's my job to get us a better shot. I left Steve stranded out there on an island. We'll do better next time."

The Rockets had no timeouts left, but Van Gundy said that makes no difference.

"You should be able to generate for your team a much better opportunity," he said.

Francis said he wasn't surprised by Van Gundy's comments.

"That just shows you what type of coach he is," Francis said. "That just shows you how much he cares about us as a group. That's just a coach sticking up for his players. That's what you need to become a good team."

Jump-ball `joke'
After watching the third-quarter jump ball between Yao Ming and Robert Horry on Monday night, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy couldn't help but wish the league could find a way to fix the toss. The first toss between Yao and Horry was too poor to be played. The second one wasn't much better.

It came with 29.2 seconds left in the third quarter and with the Rockets trailing 60-52. Horry eventually got the tip, knocking it to Manu Ginobili, who then gave it back to Horry, who sank a 3-pointer.

"The jump ball was a joke, and it was a huge play," Van Gundy said. "I didn't like the second toss after the first horrendous toss -- that led to another 3. They should invent a machine where they can shoot it up there straight."