Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Official Thread on Yao Ming's Summer Activities 2006

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by pryuen, Apr 25, 2006.

Tags:

Page 20 of 49

pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0

In the launch/press conference of the Passion For Life program, Yao Ming received a special gift from Sang Lan, who presented him with a giant jersey, written all over with blessings from the Chinese basketball fans, wishing him get-well soon to lead China in obtaining good results in the World Championship.

#381 pryuen, Aug 1, 2006

pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0

Yao Ming and Sang Lan on the Passion For Life online chat-room program........

#382 pryuen, Aug 1, 2006
CoolWater Member

Joined:

Jun 29, 2006

Messages:

5

Likes Received:

0

pryuen said:

I just sneaked in just now. I have to leave for a meeting soon.

So be patient.......I'll try to catch up with the live-chat sometimes later tonight. There should be full transcripts of the Q&As.
Click to expand...

Interesting

#383 CoolWater, Aug 1, 2006
qrui Member

Joined:

Dec 4, 2002

Messages:

1,528

Likes Received:

1

see something odd from this pic? the guy standing at the back has no head

#384 qrui, Aug 1, 2006
qrui Member

Joined:

Dec 4, 2002

Messages:

1,528

Likes Received:

1

and it's funny to see a jersey makes yao looks tinny!

#385 qrui, Aug 1, 2006
pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0

This is the full transcript of the Q&A at the press conference of the launch of the Passion For Life. I have left out those Q&As of Cao Guowei, CEO of Sina.com, Guy Russo, President, Greater China, McDonald, and just concentrate on Yao's Q&A.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2006-08-01/14252371906.shtml

Reporter (from Guangming Daily): Mr. Yao Ming, you talked about balanced diet a short while ago. Do you eat McDonalds ? How many times a month ? Do you think McDonald's can be helpful to supplement your energy and strength?

Yao Ming: I have to admit I also eat McDonalds, less here in China but more in USA. As far as we are concerned, McDonalds are considered high heat energy food. So right after our training, if there are high heat energy food like McDonalds, then it is helpful to your body.

Reporter (Satelitte TV from Hunan): Mr. Yao Ming, I would like to ask you a question on behalf of the mass TV audience. What is the happiest moment or rewards for you ever since you became a professional basketball player?

Yao Ming: I felt that you can find lots and lots of happy moments and rewards in basketball. Not merely winning games, but also in training. It just motivates and spurns me on for more and more.

Reporter: Mr. Yao Ming, now here at home, as you become better and better in NBA, you have more and more commercial value, and you are getting more and more commercial endorsement. What is your viewpoint (and criteria) on choosing those commodity ?

Yao Ming: First I have to thank my team's (i.e. Team Yao) full suport at the back, especially their great contribution in my commercial development. When we choose our sponsor, of course, it has to be a well-known enterprise, with good reputation and goodwill, including social responsibility. McDonalds is doing alot in this area, giving alot of help to the poor children. I am previleged to have the opportunity to co-operate with McDonalds.

Reporter: We heard that you went to double-check your foot. How is the result of the inspection?

Yao Ming: I don't know where you got the source of this "news". I had not arranged any medical check today. I finished my training in the morning, took a 1-hour rest, and then I am here for this activity.

Reporter: How is your foot now ?

Yao Ming: My foot is recovering well. Now it is all about strength and conditioning training and shooting practice. Still not much with-ball training, nothing special. Just go over the same training routines day after day; in fact, it is pretty dull and monotonous, but it is mainly for enhancing my body condition.

Reporter (from CCTV Sports-Online and Olympic China): Mr. Yao Ming we have 3 questions for you.

First, you mentioned earlier that you will only compete in the World Championship when you're 95% rehabilitated. Our TV audience would like to know what is your current body condition ? How many % you think you are now ?

Second, these few years, everybody thinks you have gotten much stronger compared to the past, in particularly your upper body. You also are more comprehensive in your basketball skills, technique and tactics. What do you think you have achieved in NBA ? And how Chinese men basketball can learn and benefit from it ?

Third, our "Olympic China" is a program specially made for overseas broadcasting to promote 2008 Olympics. Our audience would like to know what target you have set for the 2008 Olympics? And what is your Olympic complex ?

Yao Ming: My foot is about 80% rehabilitated. As a basketball player, in most siutations, you can only restore to 80% to 85% without real action on court. The rest will need actual competition and physical counter on court. I think competition and team practice with the national team can bring me back to 95% and above.

As for the second question, NBA provides me with a more challenging platform. This is extremely important (for a basketball player). In my humble opinion, once he loses his target, men can become sloppy and sluggish. In NBA, I play amongst many many extra-ordinarily outstanding players. That gives me the drive and motivation to surpass them or (at least) to be equally as good as they are. That is why I can maintain a good work ethic and attitude.

As to your third question, I crave to become the national flag bearer once again. For 2 reasons. On one hand, this has to be the biggest motivational force for me, nothing bigger. Secondly, ever since China started to participate in Olympics since 1984, the national flag bearer has always been from the men basketball national team.

Reporter: Yao Ming, Ni Hao. I come from Shanghai, your hometown. Everybody knows that you and Liu Xiang are the pride of the Shanghainese people. NowLiu Xiang has broken the world record. I just want to ask if you have set any goal or ultimate target for your professional career to manifest the pride bestowed on you by the Shanghainese people ?

Yao Ming: You surely are a Shanghainese, as your Putonghua is not much different to Shanghainese. Well, I met Liu Xiang this morning. He is an extremely outstanding athlete. I can't comment much on that result (i.e. the 110M hurdle World record) as we are in different sports; but obviously in any case, it is extremely great result to be able to break a world record, and it is extremely not easy as it is unimaginative for Chinese track and field sports. As for myself, I don't think there is any world records in basketball. I don't think I can break the scoring records of Michael Jordan. Maybe I can lead the national team to have a breakthrough in the 2008 Olympics.

Reporter (from Shanghai Eastern Daily): I trusted that you also followed closely over the Internet the results of the national team in Europe. There are alot of controversial reports about the national team, and of course, those heavy defeats. What is your personal appraisal of the national team ?

Yao Ming: Of course, no one wants to see that we lost by 47 points. From all that I gathered and summarized, we fell behind 20 ~ 2 in the first quarter, which means we had not prepared well. So at the end, it was an extremely grieved defeat. (I hope) we learnt alot from this hefty loss of 47 points. We did not lose for only 1 reason. There were many many underlying causes to this big loss: the players, the coach, the overall macro conditions/environmental factors of Chinese basketball. Too many reasons, and I don't want to further elaborate on this subject. But I was extremely happy with the results of the following 2 games; my team mates played better and better, which means we did not lost that game (to Spain) for nothing. I hope this momentum can be carried on to the World Championship.
Click to expand...

#386 pryuen, Aug 1, 2006
brantonli24 Member

Joined:

Jun 30, 2006

Messages:

3,236

Likes Received:

68

qrui said:

see something odd from this pic? the guy standing at the back has no head

Click to expand...

ARG! Where did his head go?! P) Oh, he's just checking the camera

#387 brantonli24, Aug 1, 2006

brantonli24 Member

Joined:

Jun 30, 2006

Messages:

3,236

Likes Received:

68

pryuen said:

Yao Ming: You surely are a Shanghainese, as your Putonghua is not much different to Shanghainese. Well, I met Liu Xiang this morning. He is an extremely outstanding athlete. I can't comment much on that result (i.e. the 110M hurdle World record) as we are in different sports; but obviously in any case, it is extremely great result to be able to break a world record, and it is extremely not easy as it is unimaginative for Chinese track and field sports. ..................
Click to expand...

He met Liu Xiang? One of the prides of our country? Wow! He, Yao and two other divers are probably China's national sport treasures. Wonder if Liu Xiang could play in the nba, he'd probably outrace everybody down the court and make a slow layup.

pryuen said:

Yao Ming: Of course, no one wants to see that we lost by 47 points. From all that I gathered and summarized, we fell behind 20 ~ 2 in the first quarter, which means we had not prepared well. So at the end, it was an extremely grieved defeat. (I hope) we learnt alot from this hefty loss of 47 points. We did not lose for only 1 reason. There were many many underlying causes to this big loss: the players, the coach, the overall macro conditions/environmental factors of Chinese basketball. Too many reasons, and I don't want to further elaborate on this subject. But I was extremely happy with the results of the following 2 games; my team mates played better and better, which means we did not lost that game (to Spain) for nothing. I hope this momentum can be carried on to the World Championship.
Click to expand...

We lost by 47 point and fell behind 20-2 in the first quarter? Oh my.......What happened to Yi Jianlian, Wang Zhi Zhi and Sun Ming Ming. Aren't they supposed to be good? 47 points.......I doubt Yao could score that much.......we need Kobe Bryant on our team (in another dimension) and let him score over 100 points.

#388 brantonli24, Aug 1, 2006
jarid Member

Joined:

Mar 28, 2006

Messages:

47

Likes Received:

0

Thanks for sharing

pryuen said:

This is the full transcript of the Q&A at the press conference of the launch of the Passion For Life. I have left out those Q&As of Cao Guowei, CEO of Sina.com, Guy Russo, President, Greater China, McDonald, and just concentrate on Yao's Q&A.
Click to expand...

#389 jarid, Aug 1, 2006
TRAVLR Member

Joined:

Jun 29, 2006

Messages:

353

Likes Received:

1

Thanks, Pryuen.

Your efforts to give us the translations and coverage are very appreciated.

Yao says his foot is 80% and that it won't get better until it's tested in game situations. That sounds a bit odd to me, but in any event, it's more than we knew before about his injury. Also, it sounds like he is working out pretty hard.

#390 TRAVLR, Aug 1, 2006
Old Man Rock Contributing Member

Joined:

Oct 23, 1999

Messages:

7,157

Likes Received:

518

TRAVLR said:

Thanks, Pryuen.

Your efforts to give us the translations and coverage are very appreciated.

Yao says his foot is 80% and that it won't get better until it's tested in game situations. That sounds a bit odd to me, but in any event, it's more than we knew before about his injury. Also, it sounds like he is working out pretty hard.
Click to expand...

He said, "you can only restore to 80% to 85% without real action on court. The rest will need actual competition and physical counter on court. I think competition and team practice with the national team can bring me back to 95% and above."

Which means in team pickup games and practice and makes sense because you cannot substitute rehab off the court for the intense physical competition on the court and considering he said he is not doing much bball activity in his rehab he will need that game practice to finish his rehab. He is not waiting for World Championships to get to 95%.

#391 Old Man Rock, Aug 1, 2006
Last edited: Aug 1, 2006
pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0
This is the full transcript of the Pasion For Life online chat of Yao Ming with his fans.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2006-08-01/15322372009.shtml

I don't think I am going to translate it word by word or else I won't be able to sleep.

Maybe just the summary, and pick out the ones that will be of interest to you all.

Summary

When asked about whether he visited Internet forums/websites, Yao Ming said yes, but he seldom replied.

When asked how he spent the Chinese Valentine's Day (July 7 of Chinese Lunar Calendar), which was July 31, Yao Ming did not even know that July 31 was July 7 in the lunar calendar. He said he did know about the ancient folklore about Lunar July 7, but he did not know that July 31 was July 7 on the lunar calendar, and he had not spent it together with his girl friend, or sent her any gift, or receive any SMS. Then he was told that there will be a second lunar July 7 coming up soon (Note: because this year it has 2 leap months of July in the Chinese lunar calendar). Yao Ming was all puzzled.

When asked what kind of advice he would give to young Chinese players who dream to play NBA, Yao Ming said players need to set small targets, and then one step at a time, realize the set target one by one through sheer hard work. He said it is no use to set too lofty targets that are too distant and unrealistic. Too lofty targets will only add unnecessary load and pressure to oneself.

For himself, he never dreamed about playing in NBA when he was young. His dream as a young 14-year-old was to have his first pair of leather player boots for basketball games, as prior to then, he could only afford to wear canvas sneakers. Then someone told him if he could make it to the junior national team, then he could own his own pair of leather sneakers. Then he started to play as hard as he could, and realized his own dream making the junior national team. Then he set his next target for making the senior national team, and then CBA championship. He realized he might have the potential to play NBA when he was 18 years old, and he had confidence by the time he was 20 years old that he could play in NBA.

A fan wanted his advice, as he likes playing basketball, but he was too short, only 1.7M. Yao Ming said he should focus on speed and opts for playing guards, and not centres or forwards like himslef who relies on his height, weight and power. He used Earl Boykins as an example to illustrate that height is not absolutely mandatory for NBA survival.

When asked which NBA players impressed him most in terms of combination of speed and skills/techniques, Yao Ming said that there are just too many to pick on. But if he has to really pick, he said he was well impressed by Allen Iverson and Shawn Marion. He described how Shawn Marion, after grabbing a defensive rebound, passed to his point guard, and then sprinted pass 3 to 4 players from behind for an easy lay-up, leaving his defenders at least 10 meters behind.

When asked whether he had improved on his speed, he thought he had improved a great deal in NBA through practice and training.

When asked about his goal for the 2008 Olympics, he said he targets for Final 8. He said it is unrealistic to set too high a goal, and there are still 2 more years to go, everything is uncertain and alot of things can happen. He said he did not anticipate 4 surgeries within the past year. He said the pressure is going to be suffocating for him, and it is going to be very very difficult, but it is important that his team mates can keep up the fighting spirits.

When asked how the Chinese national team can improve on their fighting spirit, Yao Ming thought they should be given more opportunity to play with stronger teams. When they can compete with stronger players within the same age group, maybe they could be motivated to work harder and make improvement, just like he himself originally just dreamed about a pair of leather sneakers, but worked hard to promote from the ranks from junior to senior national team and then to NBA.

Yao Ming thought there is a wide gap between himself and the rest of his national team mates in terms of mental state and skills level. He thought he needs to communicate and transfer to his team mates stuff that he learnt from NBA, but it will take a long long time. He siad he, Wang Zhizhi and Jonas Kazlauskas are but 3 drops of water into the ocean.

When asked which is the most unforgetable event for him, Yao Ming mentioned 2 occasions: the win over Serbia & Montenegro in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the CBA Championship over Bayi Rockets. He remembered he got drunk that night of the CBA Championship. He said he seldom drinks and never smokes, but that night he got drunk and he even smoked a cigar. He said he was no good in drinking. He got drunk that night when he mixed red wine, white wine and beer.

When asked about his left ear, Yao Ming said he could not hear clearly; he could hear only about 30% with his left ear, but it was all noises. He said his left ear did not create alot of problems for him, as Jeff Van Gundy speaks very loud, and it is only important to be able to listen to Jeff Van Gundy's instructions. He said his left ear brought him difficulties in the early part of his NBA career, as then his English listening comprehension ability was not as good, and coupled with his listening problem, he just got the game plan/tactics totally mixed up. But now it poses not much problems, as his English proficiency has vastly improved. He said he can read and speak alot more fluently, but he still can't master writing in English.

When asked how he can keep up his work ethic and work so persistently hard, he said he just enjoys playing basketball and training, just like others who might like playing computer games, or listening to music, or reading books. He said the most enjoyable moment was to be able to sit down on the bench after a hard day's training.

When asked whether he felt Jeff Van Gundy is not the suitable coach for Houston Rockets, or whether he agreed to trading Tracy McGrady away for a good power forward and a back-up forward, Yao Ming just brushed aside the questions quoting Del Harris and Jonas Kazlauskas in the 2004 Olympics and the 2005 Asian Championship as examples. He said the Houston Rockets is very similar to the Chinese national team. They kept losing and therefore fans and critics started to bash and diss the coach. But once they start winning (like beating Serbia Montenegro in 2004 Olympics or beat South Korea by more than 40 points in the Asian Championship), then all compalints and criticisms just died down.

When asked about his impression on the new players that Houston Rockets got for this summer, Yao Ming said he is very happy about Shane Battier joining the Rockets. He is the type of team oriented players that the Rockets need. He may not have superior individual skills, but his contribution to the team should not be underestimated. Yao King said he learnt about that when he played against Battier. He even joked that he felt that Shane Battier could be a communist party member, willing to go to whereever (position) he's needed.

When asked the difference between Chinese basketball players with other country's or NBA players, Yao Ming said the gap is currently huge, both physical and mental. He criticized about the the lack of self confidence and fighting spirit of his team mates. He said once felling behind by 10 points, most of the players just give up. He said he does not think China is really that bad in basketball. If every player can improve on the confidence and fighting spirit, he think the gap between China and the European teams will be much narrow. Maybe just 10 to 15 points gap.

When asked whether he still finds it tough in NBA, he said yes. He said it is all about competition; he needs to compete with players that have longer years of NBA experience, as well as players that join NBA much later than him. And every year, there will be another influx of very talented local and international players. He thought that is why NBA is so fascinating and challenging.

Click to expand...
#392 pryuen, Aug 1, 2006
littlefish_220 Member

Joined:

Dec 11, 2002

Messages:

676

Likes Received:

0

Wonderful job, Pryuen.

#393 littlefish_220, Aug 1, 2006

MightyReds2020 Member

Joined:

Oct 16, 2003

Messages:

62

Likes Received:

0

brantonli24 said:

...
We lost by 47 point and fell behind 20-2 in the first quarter? Oh my.......What happened to Yi Jianlian, Wang Zhi Zhi and Sun Ming Ming. Aren't they supposed to be good? 47 points.......I doubt Yao could score that much.......we need Kobe Bryant on our team (in another dimension) and let him score over 100 points.
Click to expand...

That was a really really bad game from the Chinese national team by all accounts and it happened right after a game the Chinese lost Wang Zhizhi to injury.

Only one Chinese player did relatively well in that game and it was not Yi Jianlian. Yi did rebound back a little bit in their second matchup against the Spain.

Sun Ming Ming is not on the national team and I am not even sure Sun can play in the CBA, let alone international games. Sun Ming Ming is not all that good.

#394 MightyReds2020, Aug 1, 2006
Rashmon Member

Joined:

Jun 2, 2000

Messages:

21,175

Likes Received:

18,151

Great stuff Pryuen. I look forward to each of your posts.

My favorite line:

"He said his left ear did not create alot of problems for him, as Jeff Van Gundy speaks very loud, and it is only important to be able to listen to Jeff Van Gundy's instructions."

LOL

#395 Rashmon, Aug 1, 2006
pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0

PHOTO GALLERY

MORE of Yao Ming photos at the Passion For Life online chat.

It seems like Yao Ming enjoyed the online chat very much.....lots of smiles and laughters..............

#396 pryuen, Aug 1, 2006
crums17 Member

Joined:

Apr 24, 2005

Messages:

554

Likes Received:

1

Why isn't he afraid of that giant red sort of hand shaped cyclops wearing a Rockets uniform?

#397 crums17, Aug 1, 2006
pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0

Yao Ming said he is ready to play again now !!

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...1_PEK306032_RTRUKOC_0_US-BASKETBALL-CHINA.xml

Yao putting best foot forward for world champs
Wed Aug 2, 2006 1:57am ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - China center Yao Ming says he is on track to play in this month's world championships as the national team returned home from its disappointing European warm-up tour, Chinese newspapers reported on Wednesday.

"Now I am 80 percent OK," the China Daily quoted Yao as saying. "The recovery has been quite good and better than expected... I feel like I am getting closer to my best shape."

The 7ft-5in NBA All Star broke his left foot playing for the Houston Rockets on April 11, casting doubt on his participation in basketball's international showpiece starting in Japan on August 19.

Yao said his priority was to train with the national squad which on Monday completed its European tour with a 66-74 loss to Angola -- their sixth defeat in seven games in a four-team tournament including Spain and France.

"We play in different leagues and have different styles in the games, but we have to get used to each other in a very short time. It won't be easy," Yao said.

With former NBA player Wang Zhizhi not certain to play in the worlds after straining a ligament in China's 76-57 loss to France last week, Team China's preparations are in disarray.

The two 7-footers were expected to be the lynchpins of China's assault but face limited game-time in the lead-up.

The Chinese Basketball Association has indicated Yao will skip the warm-up matches against the U.S. and Brazil in Guangzhou starting August 7, but named him for the Stankovic Cup on August 11 in eastern Jiangsu province, the paper said.

The six-nation tournament with Greece, France, Germany, Brazil and Australia would be Yao's last hit-out before the worlds.

Despite China's poor showing in Europe, which included a 47-point drubbing by Spain, Yao expressed confidence that the team could be ready for the worlds.

"We need to play with more confidence when competing against strong rivals," he said. "As long as we can be mentally tough at the worlds, I believe we will be able to make the quarter-finals."
Click to expand...

#398 pryuen, Aug 2, 2006

AroundTheWorld Member

Joined:

Feb 3, 2000

Messages:

83,288

Likes Received:

62,280

Thanks pryuen. Do you know windandsea? You are doing a similar job to what she did in the beginning when "Yao King" (liked that typo) came to the Rockets.

#399 AroundTheWorld, Aug 2, 2006
pryuen Member

Joined:

Mar 8, 2003

Messages:

4,316

Likes Received:

0

Sir Jackie Chiles said:

Thanks pryuen. Do you know windandsea? You are doing a similar job to what she did in the beginning when "Yao King" (liked that typo) came to the Rockets.
Click to expand...

I don't know windandsea, but I guess she is not as persistent as I am.

I have been doing this for 4 years now ever since Yao Ming joined NBA. I have covered every of Yao Ming's news and summer activities of the past 3 years over there in YMM.

This year, I decided to do the same thing for fans here at Clutchfans and RealGM too, just to let Yao Ming/Rockets fans all over the world can be updated on Yao Ming's summer activities.

#400 pryuen, Aug 2, 2006

(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Page 20 of 49

Share This Page