http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=200&xlc=925919 Improved Yao making Spurs wary By Brent Zwerneman San Antonio Express-News Web Posted : 01/20/2003 12:00 AM HOUSTON — People tend to gape at Yao Ming's lofty head, its top stretching 7 feet and 5 inches into the heavens, as they would an awe-inspiring downtown Houston skyscraper: with neck arched, mouth dropped and eyes wide. Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal tangle in the first half of Friday's game in Houston. Houston Rockets fans express their feelings at the first game featuring O'Neal and Ming on Friday in Houston. But David Robinson recommends you occasionally glance at the Rockets center's ample foundation as testament to at least part of his early, and somewhat surprising to many, success in his rookie season in the NBA. "Watching him on TV, he doesn't look that big, but he's got good-sized legs and hips," Robinson said. "He's got a good base, and that really helps him. If you watched him against Shaq, he held his ground really good." Yao, who pays his first regular-season visit to the SBC Center at 4 p.m. today to play against the Spurs, scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Friday night in his first clash with Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal. But maybe more importantly in Houston's 108-104 overtime win, Yao blocked six shots, including O'Neal's first three attempts of the game. "This was a good game for Yao," O'Neal said afterward. "I was maybe trying a little too hard." If anything, O'Neal — who's about 40 pounds heavier than the 296-pound Yao, but four inches shorter — seemed a bit passive for much of the game after his early head-ons with the Asian sensation. "Yao earned some credibility out there," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. O'Neal, 30, finished strong against a weary Yao, with two Herculean dunks in overtime that came too late for the Lakers to beat the surging Rockets (23-15), who've won four consecutive games for the first time this season. "On the court, Shaq is a lot bigger and stronger than me," Yao said through his interpreter. "I had to respect him every second. If I didn't, he would get under the basket and we would be in a lot of trouble. "It wore me out." Yao, 22, wore out the Spurs the first time the teams met on Dec. 3 in the Compaq Center in an 89-75 Rockets win. In one of his breakout games, Yao scored 27 points and snagged a season-high 18 rebounds against San Antonio big men Robinson, Tim Duncan and Kevin Willis. Yao played his first NBA game against the Spurs — albeit an exhibition contest — on Oct. 23 in the SBC Center. On his first drive to the rim, burly Spurs forward Malik Rose knocked him to the floor. Yao, the top pick in the 2002 NBA Draft and a man dubbed "Dynasty" by his teammates, finished that game with six points, four rebounds and four fouls in only 13 minutes. "Obviously, in his first year he's still learning a lot," Robinson said. "He's going to get better, but it's not hype. He can play. If I had to compare him to anybody, it would be like a Rik Smits type of player. But, potentially, he could be better than Smits. "He's so long that you're not going to block a lot of his shots. And he's big enough that he's not a guy that you're going to easily push around, either. From the first time I played against him to the second time, I saw a big improvement. And obviously, he's just continuing to get better." Smits retired in 2000 as the Pacers' all-time block leader with 1,111. The 7-foot-4 Netherlands native averaged 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds over a dozen NBA seasons. Yao, who's averaging 27 minutes per game, is among the league leaders in field-goal percentage (52.6), and he's averaging 12.8 points, eight rebounds and 2.11 blocks per game (with 80 blocks on the season). "The maturity of this kid has grown leaps and bounds this season," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich of Yao, who only arrived in the USA from China three months ago. O'Neal finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds Friday night, but Rockets guard Steve Francis led all scorers with a career-high 44 points. After the Rockets play San Antonio today, they'll travel to Dallas, where the Mavericks own the league's best record. "There are going to be a lot of tests for us, for Yao, for everybody on the team," Francis said. "We just have to continue to play hard." bzwerneman@express-news.net Express-News sports writer Johnny Ludden contributed to this report.
Did I post it here or was it moved here? I was sleepy this morning when I posted it...damn, I'm getting old.
