Yao a WOW in Boston (Globe)

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2006/11/26/we_have_liftoff_for_rocket/

Yao has finally taken his game to new level
By Peter May | November 26, 2006

Yao! As in, wow!

If there was a five-year plan for Yao Ming, the dividends are rolling in here in Year 5. The altitudinous center is playing the best basketball of his career, the Houston Rockets are off to a terrific start, and, well, with Shaquille O'Neal on the sidelines, there isn't a better pivot in the league. (With apologies to Gregg Popovich, we're not counting Tim Duncan as a center, even if he plays one, as Pop continues to remind us Luddites.)

While Yao has never been defined by statistics -- remember, he delivered a doughnut in his NBA debut in Indiana -- he nonetheless is putting up impressive numbers for Houston, which opened with eight wins in its first 12 games. Yao was averaging a career-best 26.2 points a game entering last night, 10th in the league. He was eighth in rebounding at 10.6 per, also a career high.

In short, he has come a long way since his rookie year, when he deferentially reminded Houston general manager Carroll Dawson that he did not dunk during games because it was disrespectful to the opponent. Now, said Dawson, "He feels he belongs out there. Before, I think he felt he was occupying a space out there."

Said Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy, "People always said Yao was laidback, but if anything, it was how he was raised that has helped him avoid some of the pitfalls of the NBA. He is not easily satisfied. He doesn't put himself before the team. But he has become a confident player."

There are a few theories to explain Yao's strong start. The guy finally got to take a breather over the summer after playing nonstop for five years. But even that was a forced idleness because of surgery.

"We kept him here [in Houston] after the [April 14 foot] surgery," Dawson said. "The guy had been going all out for five years and needed a break. Then he played for China in the World Championships and led everyone in scoring [25.3 ppg]." Yao also was fourth in rebounding and second in blocked shots.

Van Gundy does not subscribe to the "Yao needs a break" theory.

"I've never bought into the 'Yao plays too much' stuff," he said. "I saw his practices in China. They weren't over the top."

But both Dawson and Van Gundy emphasize that no one, and they mean no one, works harder than Yao. Van Gundy says Yao is at practice 45 minutes before it starts and is still going 45 minutes after it's over.

"It's not an accident that Yao has improved," said Dawson. "He puts in the time and effort. He feels he has a whole country behind him. He knows that. And he has an enormous pain threshold. That can be good and bad. When he broke his foot, he played another couple of possessions before he came out of the game."

A menacing, terrorizing Yao is, of course, what the Rockets are banking on and what the rest of the NBA is dreading. Even as more teams opt for small ball -- mainly because they don't have talented big men -- there still is a premium on centers.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers owned up last week: He doesn't particularly enjoy coaching small ball, but feels he has no choice. "I'd rather have two bigs," he said.

You can book Greg Oden for the No.1 pick next June, and it isn't because he's a slasher or a leaper. It's because he's a beast.

"To me," Van Gundy said, "Yao is like the Little Engine That Could. He's strong. He's sure. But sometimes he's not that noticeable and then you look up and he's gone from Point A to Point Z and you say, 'How did he get there?

(More in article on subjects not Yao.)