I feel like that's how he played against Wizards. He started going aggressively toward the ball on serveral rebounds and ripped the ball away from Wizards players on serveral occassion. WOW! Imagine he keep doing that all the time. Who is going to stop him?
umm... excuse me... but I believe Yao has been playing this well for over a month now, and instead of retreating (as you correctly suggest is his previous patter), he looks to be stepping up more. Remember since the Boston debalce, he has been on a tear - only having two of 17 games scoring under double figures (and one of those was against the ATL, when JVG had to use his horse squad to get them out of a 4th quarter mess the entire team's poor play got them into)
On the difference between this year and last year, Yao said: "I can relax. Yes, this is the way I like it." "Now it is mostly about basketball. Now I feel like just one of the team. I can talk about the game with them, about practice, about music. We can joke around, and we are all just NBA players." "Everything about this feels better now. Everything is not such a new experience. It doesn't feel so strange. I feel like I belong. "The main thing that I think I've improved on this season is my assertiveness and aggressiveness on the court. At the same time, I think it is the area where I still must improve the most." "My time here in Los Angeles isn't as much in demand as last year in Atlanta. I have more freedom. But I would still like to be able to get away and do a few things on my own. I wish I could just take a walk on the beach. Maybe go to some movies, go to a video arcade. That won't happen though. I know it. It's the same reason as back at home in Shanghai. Size."
Ever notice that late in many games, especially if we have a lead that is quickly shrinking, that Yao starts to get the ball a LOT more often?
TECH I think he's gotten the ball about the same amount when he's been out there. 2ndly he's a lot more active when he's out there now toward the end of games vs. being winded.
