Bob Ryan, and I quote "he deficated on Shaq's head in the whole 4th quarter, and Shaq fouled out on purpose". He also called the game the most important game in the NBA this season. That's great stuff
He was on both... Yao Ming love fest going on. All the guys on ATH (except for dumbass Woody Page..."its only one game") said this was the BIGGEST thing that has happened in the NBA thus far. Wilbon pointed out that NOBODY has ever gone mano-e-mano against Shaq in the low-post (Duncan and KG take him outside), and Yao is on the verge of greatness.
I saw it too and that was absolutely hilarious! I don't think Bob Ryan plans to ever interview Shaq, at least not in person.
He said the same thing on Kornheisor's radio show this morning. Bob Ryan is a huge fan of Yao Ming. He thinks he's going to change the game one day. He was supporting Yao Ming before the talk of him even coming to the NBA began.
I saw it to on Around the Horn. Hilarious stuff! Ryan's "deficated on Shaq's head" quote totally startled me and had me laughing! I tell ya, the media is ALL OVER Yao today! I don't think anyone should play down the significance of last nights game. Clearly it was huge. But time will tell just how huge it was.
Mrs. Jason Kidd should now find it in her heart to finally forgive Bob Ryan after that hilarious quote...
Yao better realize that 'it is on' now. Shaq's manhood has been assaulted - and you know that he is now leaking his chops. Yao V Shaq 5 will be epic.
pgabriel is a rockets fan. He doesn't hate yao and is not anti yao. That would be stupid and defeats the purpose of being a fan of a team and not just a player.
people really need to calm down about yao. geez its not like its that big of a deal. we expect this of yao and the legend of shaq has been built up for too long with the absence of any dominant centers. if guys like dream, ewing, zo, and so on were still around then maybe people would be looking at things differently. but its been so long since there has been anyone who can even challenge shaq that people are completely freaking out now. shaq is great, but he is not in his prime anymore and its not like he played like chopped liver against yao. he had a good game and he could have still played better. yao was getting closer to shaq's level, but he still has a long way to go before he can dominate like shaq can. i'm happy that he played his best game against shaq ever and that he was able to play the best game of his career. yao knows how to step up for the big games, but he has a long way to go.
Last night was a tremendous leap in the right direction, not so much physically but rather mentally. I am so shocked by how Yao kept getting the ball after shooting like 3 for 13 at one point. Yao needs to realize that if his jumper isn't working, he's got to keep demanding the ball down low. Physically, he's going to get there in a year or two. It's this mental block that concerned me the most. But Shaq is still the man. And while I concur that the Legend of Shaq grew in the absence of big men, I still think the Shaq of a few years ago would have taken on all comers.
Actually, no. He'll take any construction of game events to slant it towards Francis over Yao. Any possible construction. You point out that it's completely illogical? He drops it. He refuses to respond to questions about what he knows are losing arguments. But he sticks by his opinions, anyway, and just comes up with a new rationale - sometimes as stupid as the one before. When the rationale is less important than the actual opinion... you know it's bias. Clear as day.
I had some comments I didn't feel like sharing on the game so I didn't come off as negative, or in defense of the Lakers. The Rockets had a good win and I'm very proud of the way our guys played last night. That said there were a lot of things that were against the Lakers last night. Kobe wasn't his usual self. He shot 4-5 with his 4 makes being 3 pointers but the man on most nights gets atleast 20 shots a game. There's no way they'll let Slava jack up 13 shots again and let Kobe only take 5. As for Shaq, as much of a great game Yao had against him offensively he wasn't alone in defending Shaq defensively. He didn't receive a double team almost the whole night the way Shaq did who was getting triple teamed to hell. The Hack a Shaq routine worked like a charm though because it slowed down the game to a lethargic pace in favor of the Rockets even if he did make most of his FTs last night. If there's one thing I'm reluctant to think about is when the Lakers get Malone back because of his quick hands and help defense. Malone's quick hands alone on defense may frustrate Yao in the paint WHEN they decide they'll finally double team him. Not if, but when they do decide to double team him which you know they'll do in the playoffs if we have a head to hear series against them. That alone will create problems for the Rockets offensively. I loved the way they played. Almost everybody on the team played flawlessly and I have all the confidence in the world about Yao's ability but one game where he played Shaq evenly til he fouled out doesn't make up for 3 championship rings, an MVP (? I don't know if Shaq has won MVP or not but I think he did.), and a careers worth of other achievements. The great thing about all that though is even last year we played the Lakers really well. We only split the series with them but every single game came down to the wire, and both games this year weren't that close at all. Historically I think the Rockets even have the upperhand against the Lakers in playoff series dating back to the 80s to present day. Maybe even longer but I do know for some reason we have the Lakers number the same way that the Sonics always seem to have ours in the playoffs. Great win, but as much as I'd love to read into all of it, I'm not going to. I'd much rather stay humble now knowing the Rockets can compete with any team in the NBA, then prematurely announcing Yao as the best big man in the game, and this team a title contender. It makes me blush with joy thinking about it, but I've gotta see more games like this not just in the regular season but absolutely demand it in the playoffs if we have any shot going deep.
Who cares if we double or triple teamed shaq? It's not Yao vs. Shaq. It's the Rockets vs. the Lakers and we are trying to win the game not the individual matchup. No one is questioning if Yao can contain shaq one on one because he can't but since the game isn't played that way he doesn't have to. Rockets won the game, we played well and we should all pray for some consistency from Yao and the rockets. I now want to see Yao do this vs. everyone we play not just when the game is on national tv.
