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[STLtoday] Harris, Yao see best of both worlds on Olympic stage

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Matador, Aug 18, 2004.

  1. Matador

    Matador Member

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    http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Bryan+Burwell/38868308C2E8692F86256EF40038F843?OpenDocument&Headline=Harris,+Yao+see+best+of+both+worlds+on+Olympic+stage

    Harris, Yao see best of both worlds on Olympic stage
    By Bryan Burwell
    Of the Post-Dispatch
    08/18/2004

    ATHENS, Greece - When the silver-haired American coach and his imposing 7-foot-6 Chinese center stood together on the sidelines of Helliniko Indoor Arena, the snapshot immediately became one of the most fascinating portraits of these 2004 Olympic Games. Monday afternoon during the opening rounds of the men's basketball competition at the Athens Olympics, Del Harris and Yao Ming were the most unlikely basketball brothers in arms this side of the Aegean Sea.

    In the midst of China's dispirited 83-58 loss to Spain, Harris, the former NBA head coach hired to guide the Chinese national team to bigger and better things, and Yao, the Chinese superstar hired by the NBA's Houston Rockets to guide them to bigger and better things, were the only ones speaking the same language on China's bench.

    Toward the end of this blowout, Yao did a very un-Chinese (but exceedingly American) thing as the teams returned to their bench during a timeout.

    He stomped off the floor, yelling at his teammates.

    He waved his arms wildly, pointed his fingers demonstratively, screamed angrily, and stomped his feet repeatedly as his stunned and frozen teammates looked on. His face was furnace red, and his eyes were sizzling with anger.

    The problem, it seems, was that Yao's inexperienced teammates - well, how can I put this gently? - went paws up and quit in the fourth quarter of the 25-point blowout. They weren't playing any defense, they weren't running any of the plays, and they weren't passing the ball into the post to Yao. They hoisted up so many ugly jumpers, it almost looked like Yao was playing with America's Olympic perimeter players.

    "Yao kind of warned me there was a possibility that this could happen," Harris said after the game. "That's what he was yelling about. He was basically saying, 'If the coach calls a play, you run it!'"

    For an NBA lifer like Harris, who has coached in the pros for 28 years, this was a slice of coaching heaven. He knew he had a true leader in his midst, a fire-in-the-belly competitor who was more than willing to grab his teammates by the scruff of their necks and lead them down the proper competitive path. And so now here they both stood at this figurative intersection, watching their hoop dreams converge. Both the American who coaches in China and the Chinese star who plays in America long to bring a little slice of the best of their adopted country back to their native land.

    Harris would love to coach NBA players who act like Yao and his Chinese teammates, who have a healthy respect for their head coaches. Yao would love to see his Olympic teammates learn a thing or two about passion for the game from the Americans.

    But there is a slight little problem with both their dreams, it seems.

    Resistance is as high and long as the Great Wall.

    The folks in China are not too familiar with this behavior . This is a culture built on respect and deference. Asian athletic customs result in compliant, humble athletes who bow a lot and speak only when spoken to.

    So while most American journalists at the postgame news conference were talking in glowing terms about Yao's assertiveness , which had never surfaced in the NBA, the Chinese sporting press had an entirely different view of the "new" Yao.

    "Considering they are your teammates, do you think this sort of behavior is appropriate?" a Chinese television reporter asked him in a scolding manner.

    Remember now, Yao is as American as you can get, and also a clever, quick-witted independent thinker. So in a few seconds, Yao smiled slyly.

    He rubbed his chin for a second, then said, "There is a very famous (Chinese) saying. 'If you live with the silence, you will die with the silence.'"

    In basketball terms, Yao's sarcastic reply was the eloquent equivalent of a hoop and a foul.

    And this is just one reason Harris loves this new coaching environment. "Yao is just a great, great, great person," Harris gushed. "Seriously. You have no idea what a great guy he is."

    Even though Harris' working conditions are bordering on Dark Ages-like (he has no assistant coach, does his own scouting, film editing, and just recently had the Chinese team doctor learn how to tape ankles), he couldn't be happier.

    "They treat me like the king of China," Harris said of his players. "It's truly amazing when you think about it. They won't let me pick up a bag. They won't let me carry a bag. 'No, no, you are the coach. We will do that. Put it down please.'"

    Oh, but it gets even better than that.

    "I'm still trying to go through a door after them," he said. "No, seriously. They refuse to let me go through a door last. They are always deferring to me. They are always opening the door and holding it for me. I keep trying to go second, but so far, no luck."

    And then Harris smiled again and beckoned a few American sports writers closer as if about to reveal the true meaning of an ancient Chinese proverb.

    "True story," he said. "I am sharing a suite in the Olympic village with Yao and five other guys. We have two rooms with two bathrooms. One room has its own private bathroom with a tub and shower. The other room is small, cramped and has a tiny bathroom with a shower that's about 3 feet by 3 feet, with only one small shower curtain and a shower head that's maybe 3 feet off the ground, which means it hits all these 6-11 and 7-foot guys somewhere around their knees.

    "And when they do turn the shower on, the whole bathroom floods and water goes out into the hall. If someone takes a shower, the rest of them have to wade down the hall to take a pee. I keep telling them, 'You guys have to use my bathroom.' It's crazy, and I keep trying to tell them, 'Yao, you're too tall. Take my room. Take my bed.'

    "'No coach, that is for you.' I keep begging them to use their bathroom only for the toilet and take a shower in mine because it never floods. But so far, no luck. They keep telling me, 'You are the coach. You must have your own room and bath.'"

    Harris kept shaking his head like he was in some alternate hoop universe, which, of course, he really is.

    "That," he said, smiling wickedly, "happens all the time in the NBA. 'Ohhh coach, pul-eeze. Take my hotel suite. Take my first-class seat on the plane.'

    "Yeah. R-riiiii-ght!!"
     
  2. micah1j

    micah1j Member

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    Yao learned that from JVG ;)
     
  3. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    Sounds like Athens is doing a bang up job with the accommodations over there. :rolleyes: That city should NEVER get the Olympics again.

    Great article though, thanks for posting it.
     
  4. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    So Who got the olympics that we were just kicked out of?

    Rocket River
     
  5. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    :confused:
     
  6. Rockets2K

    Rockets2K Clutch Crew

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    It's pretty understandable for Yao to be disappointed in his teammates passion for the game after playing with Steve and Cat....who I think everyone will admit have a huge amount of passion for the game.

    Must be frustrating as hell to come off of two seasons of playing with guys who never give up and love to play the game just to be stuck with guys that will give up in the 3rd...

    and then....we dont even want to discuss the fact that while half the board was ragging on Francis and Mobes about freezing Yao out, now his own countrymen wont pass to him and insist on jacking up crap shots instead...


    I wonder how many of you Yao fans would rather see Francis and Mobley as the starting guards for the CNT at this point?
     
  7. Blatz

    Blatz Contributing Member

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    2012 hasn't been decided yet. It's between Paris, London, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Madrid, New York, Istanbul, Leipzig and Cuba.
     
  8. NetsFan2002

    NetsFan2002 Member

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    If CNT got CM5 and SF3, they would be the world championship in the olympics.
    SF3
    CM5
    Zhu Fangyu
    Yi JIanlian/Mo Ke
    Yao Ming

    Wow, what a team!

    To be honest, I believe even Moochie can help China to advance to top 8 easily.
     
  9. dharocks

    dharocks Contributing Member

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    That team wouldn't stand a chance against

    Wade
    AI
    Marion
    Odom
    Duncan

    People say that the athletes who can't shoot are killing team USA... What, exactly, is Stevie? No doubt that team would advance to the medal round, but win the gold? Please.
     
  10. g1184

    g1184 Member

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    This article is stupid. Del Harris is a r****d. Prune-face is obviously excited about the attention and respect he's getting (who doesn't like attention and respect) and pretends to refuse the amenities the players offer him but in reality accepts them with arms wide open.

    I dont think the CNT realizes the quality coaches they're missing out on when they got stuck with Del Harris. Yao is easily the focal point of their team but Del's so stuck on the Mavricks style of play that Yao repeatedly ended up the last person on the offensive side. Del's substitution pattern was phenominal also, maybe next game Yao can play all 40 minutes straight and Mo "I've never hit a shot in my life" Ke can double his playing time.

    Needless to say, if JVG was running that ship they wouldn't have plays and players breaking down like they did.
     
  11. dharocks

    dharocks Contributing Member

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    That was a dumb post. But would you like Harris more if I were to tell you that his first name is really "Delmer"? :D

    How can you dislike someone named Delmer?
     
  12. ragingFire

    ragingFire Contributing Member

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    Will you forget about Steve and Cat?! ;)
    What does the Chinese's inability to play have anything to do with them?

    It's like saying the US team could have beaten Puerto Rico if we had your 2 beloveds.

    Everytime anyone in the world of BB failed at anything, Steve and Cat can do better ?!
     
  13. Nikonism

    Nikonism Member

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    Nice find , Matador!

    Now try google "del harris yao bathroom" ...
     
  14. rocket3forlife2

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    nobody on the american team shoots better then cat and iam sure steve would do a better job then the cnt guards.plus they would have better chemistry then this dream team has.
     
  15. g1184

    g1184 Member

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    Sorry dharocks, I can't get over not liking the Mavs in any way, shape or form.
     
  16. Rockets2K

    Rockets2K Clutch Crew

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    :rolleyes:

    now, why in the hell did I take that putz off my ignore list again?
     
  17. dharocks

    dharocks Contributing Member

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    That's not saying a whole lot.

    How? The only player that they've played together with, other than each other, was Yao. Steve and Cat have never played in international competition. When you consider that the talent level isn't the same (everyone on the CNT except Yao is terrible, Steve and Cat aren't considerably better than any of the US guards), the US would kill the CNT, even if they have Steve and Cat.
     
  18. ragingFire

    ragingFire Contributing Member

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    So darn sad ... if you had not uttered non-sense , you would have had better reply than putting me on your ignore list , putz ;)
     
  19. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Contributing Member

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    Actually, I think he learned it from SF and JVG.
     
  20. tycoonchip

    tycoonchip Member
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    I'd like to see JVG coach the Chinese team. That would be fun to watch.
     

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