The first of many articles about Yao's improvement. Funny how it is at the bottom right hand portion of the large article and specifically talks about people not giving Yao his props. This is exactly where I would expect ESPN to put a Yao article. It is good however... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-060311-12 A Fine Line MAR. 8: YAO MING VS. PACERS MIN FGM-A FTM-A BLK REB PTS 38 14-21 10-10 5 10 38 Funny thing about Yao Ming: Perhaps you've noticed that the volume on Yao praise, now that he's dominating, doesn't come close to how loud his critics have always been. How many times do you remember hearing Yao rapped early in the season because of Houston's 0-8 start in games without Tracy McGrady? Fact is, T-Mac might be in worse shape now, since he's still in and out of the lineup with back trouble and also shouldering those mysterious personal problems. The Rockets, though, are making a credible playoff push anyway. Guess who's responsible? Since the big man returned from toe surgery on Jan. 30, Houston is 14-5. Calling for the ball with more confidence than he ever has and clearly moving better than ever, Yao uncorked 38 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in Wednesday's home victory over Indiana -- making it three straight 30-point games and preserving a crucial win after T-Mac hobbled off in the third quarter. That eruption came just one night after Yao's 30 points and 13 boards delivered a crucial road victory in Minnesota that McGrady missed completely. Common sense says Houston has to have T-Mac back to actually make the playoffs, especially with Sacramento surging and only one game left this month (out of 10) against sub-.500 opposition. Yet if Yao can maintain this type of production -- 27.7 points and 13.6 boards in the past nine games -- we might have to amend that consensus. A lot of us, at the very least, owe the fourth-year behemoth an apology. He was playing in considerable pain before the surgery and never complained. Even as he was getting blasted for his non-domination, Yao never tried to use the injury as an excuse. It's too late to applaud him for that, but it would be nice if this long-awaited production and aggression were getting more attention.
