Official Thread on Yao Ming's Summer Activities 2006

So the whole city of Nanjing is suddenly basketball-crazy !! There are photos of banners and advertising boards on display on the streets of Nanjing, and in front of the 5-star Nanjing Grand Hotel, the hotel where the various national teams from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece and of course, China, reside.

 

I surely hope CBA and Yao Ming himself know what they are doing.

Not too sure about the genuiness and legitimacy of a sina.com article that I read this morning.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2006-08-11/12002391043.shtml

In this article, it said that the medical team at Houston Rockets, after inspection of the latest X-ray slides of Yao Ming's left foot had recommended Yao Ming not to play and to skip the World Championship, or else it will risk further injuries and jeopardize his NBA career.

But CBA insists and Yao Ming is eager and willing to start playing tonight in his preparation for the World Championship.

 

Man.....don't hope they over-trained him too much. 2 team practices on the same day.

 

The national team had another team practice today in preparation for tomorrow's game with Brazil.

After taking off the protector for 1 day, Wang Zhizhi had to wear it back. Looks like he will not be ready for the Brazil game, even though CBA persisted that he will play.

Jonas Kazlauskas did not want to rush Wang Zhizhi into playing. After seeing Wang Zhizhi play in the Europe trip, he said he now realized Wang Zhizhi is very crucial to the national team. He now only wished Wang Zhizhi could rejoin the team in the World Championship hinting that after all Wang Zhizhi may not play in tomorrow's game with Brazil.

Jonas Kazlauskas defended for Yao Ming's rusty performance in the PK with Nowitzki. He said Yao Ming is a great player. It is unrealistic to expect that he will shine after a long 4-month lay-off due to injury. Also the double-teaming of the Germans in the second half also affected Yao Ming's performance.

Jonas Kazlauskas also said he did not want to comment anymore on Chen Jianghua and the other young players, but he was still unhappy about CBA not being able to process visa for Chen and Xie for the previous Europe trip, and sort of regretted that he had not seen enough of both of them.

And during the team practice, once again, Chen Jianghua was teamed with Yao Ming. And in the 5 vs 5, it was Chen Jianghua passing a great defense splitting assist to Yao Ming for a dunk. It seemed that Kazlauskas is pondering on whether he should start Chen Jianghua as the point guard instead of Sun Yue in the game with Brazil. Liu Wei will sit out of this game due to injury.

 

Anybody remember this news that came out about a week ago about a seriously illed Yao Ming fan receiving ticket to see Yao Ming in real action ??

http://english.people.com.cn/200608/05/eng20060805_290262.html

There is a follow-up report on sohu.com about this touching story; once again it illustrated the lofty noble character of Yao Ming.

http://sports.sohu.com/20060812/n244756258.shtml

Zhang Bujun, a 16-year-old from Suzhou, suffered serious muscular atrophy. He had been confined to his bed for 11 years. He had no control of his bladder, and had to rely on his parents to help him eating and going to toilet.

But he is crazy about basketball and is a loyal fan to the 2.26-meter Houston Rockets center, and his wildest dream is to be able to watch Yao Ming playing.

Back in June 4, when Yao Ming learnt about this in Houston, he asked his cousin to send Zhang Bujun an autographed basketball of his, and a check of US$ 5000 for his parents. And Yao Ming followed up with CBA/FIBA Stankovic Continental Champion Cup torunament organizer to send VIP tickets to Zhang Bujun for the FIBA Stankovic Continental Champion Cup.

So on August 11 morning, the day China played Germany, when Zhang Bujun arrived Nanjing from Suzhou, he realized his wildest dream to meet Yao Ming in person. Yao Ming encouraged him and wished him the best of luck.

Here is a photo of Yao Ming hand-shaking with Zhang Bujun.

 

YUP.... Chen Jianghua, the 17-year-old. Maybe he is too eager to prove himself worthwhile of a ticket to the World Championship. He just could not control the tempo of the game, but he got lightning speed, good ball handling and penetration, something that the other guards lack.

The latest news is that he might finally make it to the final roster for the World Championship.

 

YUP....Yi Jianlian continued his great form. 12 points now by 1H, and quite alot of rebounds too. I guess he had at least 2 ~ 3 dunks, one of them from an assist from Yao Ming. And one of his shots is from an assist from Wang Zhizhi and he scored from the baseline, almost a 3-pointer....but with his feet on the line.