As impressive as Yao was last night in the fourth quarter after struggling the first 3 quarters, what kind of dampens it for me was that the Rockets already had the game well in control. There really was no pressure on Yao at all. No one was expecting Yao to outplay Shaq. The Lakers looked exhausted and had already given up. Yao’s teammates were all playing great enough to pick up any slack in case Yao continued to struggle. The game was pretty much over. It’s a lot easier to play well under that type of circumstance. The Magic game was a little more impressive to me. Just because he pretty much single-handedly carried the team for the whole game and not just during garbage time.
I can't call this his best game... important? Sure, going toe to toe with Shaq as a second year center is a big deal but as its been said before Yao is 7'6" and he only had 1 block. I missed the game and maybe he altered some shots but only 1 block and 11 rebounds doesn't do it for me. I'd need a boost in one or the other to vote for this game... or at least some steals to tip the scale. I'm glad of the result and agree it was an important game but not really his best in my opinion.
I liked the game against the spurs in the first season, that was amazing. It was not just against Duncan, against Duncan and Robinson. Great game
A couple of observations: ** few can stop Yao when they don't front him and allow him to get the ball wherever he pleases. Shaq played behind him and rarely followed him to the high post. That's one of the reasons we match up well against the Fakers...how they defense Yao. Yao got basically anything he wanted offensively - if he had been "on," he could have gone off for 35-40 points. ** more importantly, you could just see Yao gaining confidence against the one player deemed the anti-Yao, the class bully. He had no fear, kept going at Shaq, and didn't back down from physical play. When he got whacked in the head, he stuffed the ball and didn't so much as flinch. I see it as a major stepping stone in his development. D R
This was very close to me but I had to go with the Spurs game. Putting up those numbers against Duncan, Robinson and Kevin Willis is huge. The Lakers game last night was so close, but I'm not sure it matches that performance. It may have been more important for his confidence though. He has to realize now that if he can do that to Shaq nobody should be able to stop him. I also agree with the importance of the fact he didn't give up and his team mates didn't give up on him.
I agree with many of the other posts here- there are other games like vs. Mavs and vs. Spurs where he played better, shot more accurately, etc. But last night's game was huge both for his confidence, the team's confidence, and the team's confidence in him. For that reason I had to vote for it.
Just found a website you can download yesterday's game: http://bt.ydy.com/torrent/HOUvsLAL-02-12.torrent
We led by 10 entering the 4th quarter, and I don't think anyone can say the game was over, especially against a team like the Lakers. Yao scored the first 4 points for the Rockets in the 4th. And even Walton mentioned at around 7 min mark that the game was far from over. We have seen too many times that when Lakers were down by 10 or so, they made a run and tied the game within 3-4 minutes. The game was over when Shaq was fouled out. At that time I knew that we had to game in hand unless we did a total choke job at the end.
l voted for the big win vs Laker because of his amazing confidence and attitude!Its a big surprise for me,for his teammates,for JVG,for everyone who ever doubt whether he will be dominate.Last night is the answer!
the link is broken. got another? When you say you can downlaod teh game do you mean vidoe highlights or what?
It looks like a BitTorrent seed. So it's probably the whole game. and you need to install BitTorrent to use the link. btw, I love BT. I have downloaded all the latest movies, games and so forth. You just need big HDs, a reasonable connection and patience.
It is the whole game. You have to load a software called bittorrent (http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/) first. I don't know if this is against NBA or not.
I think as far as performance goes, this last game probably doesn't rank even on Yao's top 3. But it might be the most impressive game ever. The way he was abusing Shaq in the post in the 4th quarter was just astonishing. You know, this might be an important game in history, in that it's the last game we'll ever see an opposing team single-team Yao.
