Thomaz Alexandre (Rio De Janeiro, Brasil): Hey R Dub, long time reader here Come april-may, will Yao be too tired to match up against, say, Shaq in a seven game series like he did in this week's game? Other than that, any news on Darko actually playing? Ralph Wiley: (1:07 PM ET ) Rio? There's a road trip I can live with. See if you can hook me up an expansion franchise, Thomaz. Did ya catch that Yao-Shaq melee Wednesday night. That was the goods. I don't think any team wants to see Houston in the first round of the playoffs. They are flawed, but they have Chairman Yao. He is incredible. Do NOT sleep on Chairman Yao, people. If not now, later. It's really just a matter of time. Excellent
Here's Ralph Wiley's Page 2 piece on Wednesday's game: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=wiley/040213 And Chairman Yao just did Shaq. Oh yeah he did. Rockets 102, Lakers 87. "I don't like the fans having the vote. Yao shouldn't be the starter in the All-Star Game," Chuckster said on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "Although Yao just did whup Shaq's butt last night." Pregnant, ominous, even hopeful pause from Jay Leno and everybody else on the set. "Oh yeah, he did," Chuckster repeated. "He whupped Shaq's butt." I wondered why eberybody else, including the play-by-play guy who actually did the game, acted like it hadn't happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Lakers were at the end of a seven-game roadie and you don't have any legs left at that point, but still, in case you missed it, Chairman Yao served notice on us all, quietly, during that 102-87 thrashing of the Lakers in Houston. Yao Ming did things in that game no one has ever done to Shaq. Basically, he busted that ass, straight up, one-on-one, within the context of a team game, and he did it by flatly out-skilling O'Neal. Let that sink in. Let's put it this way: You don't want to meet Yao and the Rockets in the playoffs. It wasn't such much that 29 points and 11 rebounds compared to the 24 points and 10 rebounds. It was the way Yao got them. Yao can shoot his J right over the top of Shaquille, something no other player can do, with the possible exception of KG, and he was doing that, but that wasn't unusual. What was different was when Yao rolled into sweeping Sky Crane hooks, or pulled a Shaq and flipped a rebound away from behind Big Fella, a patented Shaq more, recovered it, and went to finish. Shaq, tired, feeling threatened, then clonked Yao on the head. Hard. It was a back-down hit, calculated to take a toll on Yao, not on that play, but for the rest of the game. Yao dunked it anyway, and hit the free throw, and if anything, became even more stoic, and effective. Afterward, Jim Gray asked him if that hurt. Of course it hurt, but Yao's reaction was telling. First off, it was in English. That interpreter guy will soon be obsolete. I'm not saying Shaq will be too, but something is changing ... Yao said, "What? Oh. I don't remember it." Did it hurt? "No." Yao went about his business, gliding out to see super-high screens and then diving back into the hole. The Lakers had Shaq on him one-on-one in the fourth quarter, as they tried to mount a patented, superior NBA team "Y'all ready to play now?" comeback. Yao was having none of it. From the left block, moving left with a right-hand dribble, he moved Shaq into the lane, then drop-stepped him, whirled right and finished with the left hand. Shaq blasted him and no foul was called, but Yao finished and ran back on D. Yao dropped 15 points in the fourth quarter -- the equivalent of a 60-point game -- on Shaq' massive dome and the Rockets won going away. Yeah, I'm sure Shaq will get some get-back when they meet again, but the die is cast. It's just a matter of time. Shaq is 31. Yao is 23. People have been saying that Yao's cultural differences will keep him from dominating, and that physical play from the Bad Shaq and all of the brutal Dogmen will keep him at bay, and that he doesn't want it bad enough, which is just a way of saying he is too weak and weak-minded, and isn't physical enough. All I keep thinking to myself is that Bruce Lee came from that same culture. And all I know is, I would not want to draw the Houston Rockets in the first round. But for All-Star Weekend, we have the Five Pillars of Hercules to admire -- LeBron and 'Melo, and Shaq and Yao, and KG the MVP. Hopefully, they will lead us to identify, possess and control the Sixth Element.
WOW ... liked that reference to Bruce Lee ... This has got to wake up the rest of the Rockets that they have got to utilize Yao better than they are. I know everyone was on, and the Lakers were tired, but I like the idea that noone would want to see us in the first round of the playoffs. When was the last time we heard that?
I missed up big time, not taping that game. Ralph is spot on. I would say that the rest of the team is waiting on Ming. Like JVG says the energy level is not always there. The players did not hesitate to repeatedly go to Ming in the 4th when he dropped 15 on Shaq. All Ming has to do, is bring it every night in the next 30 games.
That was a great read. Thanks, ths balla. I love the attention the Rocks are getting because of the Laker game. I know, I wish it didn't take national TV and playing Shaq and Kobe to bring out the best in the team, but the more times they play a team game like that, the more they might, just might, start doing that consistantly. That's the major thing holding them back... having that focus and passion on a regular basis. If they ever solve that problem, look out!
Once Ming can operate within the double teams, I believe he will be a super superstar. One move that really got my excited was when he called for the b all in the 4th, backed in against shaq and spun out.... Does anyone have a clip of that? When I saw that, I knew he has what it takes....
Nice to see props to Yao. I don't like the Chairman Yao moniker however. My grandparents and parents fled with their lives from the communists in China leaving their homeland. The "Chairman" label would be like calling Nowitski "Da Fuerher" - leaves a sick feeling in my stomach.
Actually, Chairman Yao does sound pretty cool. While my parents also left mainland China because of the Communist, it's not like Mao started WWII! Besides, The nickname wouldn't work at all with Dirk since it doesn't sound right. The Ming Dyasnty thing only works AFTER the Rockets win a few championships first!
Chairman Yao is just nice. The person in Whitehouse is still called the President you know, from the years of negro exploitation until now. In fact, I think "Chairman" is better than "Dynasty". Because it gives a feeling of pure power, domination. Heck, it is even close to the sound of "Chairman Mao", the most well-known Chairman ever. But luckily their characters are totally opposite to each other's.
Verbatim: Man, where is your sense of history buddy? Have you not heard of the Cultural Revolution thanks to Chairman Mao and the thousands of Chinese lives lost in "Re-education Camps"? And that's just for starters. But I digress - this post is about Ralph Wiley's props to Yao and I think he is spot on.
My last comment about politics in this thread. Mao was nasty when he was an old man. Okay. But you want to hate the title? Mao liked wearing grey (sp?) colored shirts. So do you dispise grey? Maybe you have stronger feelings about this than me. But I still think "Chairman" sounds cool. And that article by Ralph is the most "kiss-Yao's-ass" article I've ever read.
