(Chron) Yao: Things with T-Mac are just fine

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Yao Ming, the center and centerpiece of the Rockets, did not claim these are grand times for the Rockets. Their three-game winning streak last week was not equated to the 22-game run last season. Their strong performance in a loss to the Lakers was not confused for actually winning.

He said, however, that a report of locker room discord to the point that he and Tracy McGrady do not speak and that he wants McGrady off the team is not true.

Yao spoke Thursday on topics ranging from from getting McGrady and Ron Artest back on the court to the sanctity of the locker room. But when there was doubt about where he stood, he made himself clear.

Responding to an NBA.com story that he and McGrady are not on speaking terms and that he wants McGrady out, Yao said the report is not accurate.

"I'm upset," he said, "(that) this news is fake."

That McGrady and Yao still talk, even beyond the conversations necessary as teammates, is not news. They can often be seen conversing on the practice court, in the locker room and on the road.

"We've been talking," Yao said. "The locker room is very good. In there, we're joking. I think it's been a tough time for us, for the Rockets, a lot of rumors, just like in the summer will come out.

"It's easy when a team is going the right way, going good, is winning. Everybody is good. This is a tough time for us. We need to stay together, stay tight, fight through it. That's how you show the teamwork, show how good you are.

"That (story) surprised me, really surprised me. That's the first time in my career I heard that. I heard other stories, but not about me. Now is the first time it happened to us. Whatever they say outside, I feel we need to keep inside that room, in close, and we fight like a team."

If Yao wanted the team to trade McGrady, he showed no signs of it. (McGrady was not available for comment on Thursday.)

Even before he was asked about the report that he hoped McGrady would be traded, Yao spoke of McGrady's return. He said he was worried about the Rockets making the playoffs and about their level of their play if they do get there.

And he described McGrady's and Artest's return as a solution.

"You know what: I worry about it," Yao said. "This team, last game we showed we have played very good, but you want to go deeper in the playoffs, you cannot play without Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest. Those two guys will make our team reach that level."

The Rockets had hoped that the decision to let McGrady take two weeks to work on his conditioning — along with the seven to 10 days Artest would need before the bone bruise in his right ankle would be re-evaluated — would allow them to concentrate solely on the 10 healthy players and the games to be played. Reports of discord, however, can be a distraction.

"It can ruin a team if you have a bunch of guys that read that stuff and believe it," Shane Battier said. "You don't listen to that. You know when you lose a few games, people are going to chirp. People are going to make innuendo and speak what they think the perception of the team is. We have a good team. We have a good locker room. All that stuff is good for the tabloids and good for the chat rooms, but doesn't have a place in our locker room.

"We really don't care and frankly have better things to think about and talk about."

There is no doubt that teammates have questioned McGrady's efforts in recent games and McGrady's and Artest's availability this season.

"It's going to come down to Mac getting healthy and then Mac's got to kind of be more of a dog," Artest said in Toronto.

In Boston, Artest said, "Sometimes Tracy thinks his talent is going to take him; he can just cruise his way."

After a better effort in Atlanta with Artest and McGrady out, Rafer Alston said of Artest and McGrady, "Two of our guys out, they watched and saw. They know the guys were battling their hearts out. The only thing they can do is come back and do the same."

Jokes have ranged from a player saying he would bring a note from home to be excused from games to another flipping a coin to decide whether he would play, even to kidding Artest about his "Tru Warier" moniker.

Rockets players have said the jokes are typical of locker rooms.

Before the game against Jazz — when Artest announced he could not play, McGrady said he would be out and then Artest changed his position and said he would play, eventually helping lead the Rockets to the double-overtime win — players were rolling off their locker room chairs in laughter.

"What happens in the locker room, we will not say," Yao said. "That's like a rule in there. What happens in there will stay in there, not (just) Vegas.

"Everybody keeps a secret. For teammates, it's like that. We stay there like a family. In a 82-game season, it's over a half-year. We would not let anything like that slip out. I don't know where they get news from."

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sounds good to me!