From Today's ESPN Insider.. You want an early season epic matchup? How about Tuesday night's battle in the paint between Arvydas Sabonis and Yao Ming? It just doesn't get any better than that. Talk about a human freak show. It might as well have been Godzilla versus Rodan. In both cases you just know some sort of funky radiation figures into the explanation. The Rockets could have billed this as "The Human Bobble Head" vs. "The Giant Walking Stick". Now that's must see TV. Sabonis finished with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist. Yao managed seven points, four rebounds and two assists. But that wasn't the whole picture. Yao, proving he isn't as slow as we all think, pump faked and blew by Sabonis for an easy basket in the third quarter. If Yao can get by Sabonis, is there any stopping him? "He is a good player," Sabonis said of Yao. "But good players need time to learn. He needs to be here to learn against the best players in the world." Yao returned the favor. "Gold will always shine," Yao told the Houston Chronicle. "That's how I'd like to describe Sabonis." Coach Rudy Tomjanovich sees a lot of Sabonis in Yao. "He is going to be a player just like that," Tomjanovich said of Yao. " ... It's going to take just getting used to the NBA and really the personnel." ____________________________________________________ Speaking of the Rockets, Steve Francis has taken his game to another level this season. He's taking games over in the fourth quarter, increased his scoring average by almost 10 points a game and is showing a mental toughness that should get him on the MVP radar screen if the Rockets keep winning. Francis proved again Tuesday night that he can play through pain. Francis bounced back after crashing hard to the court in the third quarter. But he would not let the Rockets lose, scoring their last 14 points to will them to an 86-83 win over Portland. "It says a hell of a lot about him," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We know that about him. We know the guy is a warrior. There was no doubt in my mind — if he could walk, he would play. He came out last year with the headaches and all those problems and gutted out a lot of games."
Yao stuffing Sabonis had me jumping up and down and yelling like I won the lotto. That was was just too sweet!
He did...at 2:08 in Q1. Guess whoever wrote the article was so carried away with the "Godzilla", "Rodan" and "freak" crap, they overlooked it. They also overlooked the fact that Yao didn't play at all in the third period like was mentioned.
Why let something so minor such as 'accurate stats and details' get in the way of writing a witty(?) sports article? Especially if you write for ESPN.
i agree! to quote max "tangles" walker: "you should never let the truth get in the way of a good story..."
Thanks for the info. Francis must be pissed off at his new diet or something because whatever he's eating is winning him games.
