Yao accepts playoff responsibilities

I think it's pretty clear Yao's been exhausted these last couple of weeks.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2504256

Yao accepts playoff responsibilities
Postseason magnifies Rockets' needs
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle


His energy wasn't there. His legs were heavy, his shot flat. Yao Ming demanded more and more of himself, but he had begun to feel as he had late last season, when he could not shake off the exhaustion.

He has reminded himself repeatedly that this season, there is more to win, and lose. His responsibility is so much greater. Determined to will himself through his slide, he only became increasingly critical and frustrated when he failed to deliver. A man who considers napping a hobby could not sleep at night.

By the time the Rockets' losing streak reached five games, Yao was beating himself up so relentlessly, coach Jeff Van Gundy stepped in to stop the fight.

Yao lost in a TKO.

The losing streak ended, and with a win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday, the Rockets secured a playoff spot. With Monday's 111-107 win at Seattle, they guaranteed themselves the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Yao knows the Rockets (45-36) will need more of him in the postseason and wonders if he can light another fire.

"I think it (fatigue) has affected me," Yao, 22, said Monday morning. "There are a lot of things I want to do, but I can't get it done.

"I worry that if I play like this, it will affect the playoffs. I feel like I'm pulling on myself. But I worry I'll wear myself out in the regular season and not be able to play until the end.

"Last year, it really was almost over. This year, we have a lot to go. We still have a road to travel. We were prepared to make it to the end of the season. Beyond that, I'm not sure."

But by Monday evening in Seattle, he began to show more of that spark, and his mood brightened. He had 20 points and nine rebounds. Beyond the numbers, he seemed determined to move quickly defensively and decisively offensively.

With the Mavericks at Toyota Center tonight to complete the regular season, they bring a reminder of how sensational a difference-maker Yao can be and might have to be in the playoffs where the maddening craftiness of Sacramento's Vlade Divac or brute force of LA's Shaquille O'Neal awaits him.

When Dallas last was in town, Yao had 29 points to complete his run to his first Western Conference player of the week award. In three games that week, he averaged 29.5 points on 62.5 percent shooting.

"He's very tough," Mavericks center/forward Dirk Nowitzki said that afternoon. "He's 7-5. He's got strong legs. He's going to be a dominant player for years to come. At the beginning, we tried to play him man-to-man and he just ate us alive.

"He had his little turnaround working, his little jump hook working. He's tough to guard. He won the game for them. He's going to be a heck of a player."

Yao surpassed 25 points in his third consecutive game that day. Since then, he has done it in three of the 19 games, including four overtime games.

But scoring is only an indicator. The Rockets need Yao to be agile and alert enough to be a consistent force in the paint on both ends of the floor and stay out of foul trouble. He can keep opposing players from penetrating without blocking shots and can help key the Rockets' offense without scoring. But when he is sluggish, he tends to arrive late in help situations and draws fouls.

"We need him to play big minutes for us," Van Gundy said. "If we're going to beat anybody of quality, he can't be taking the kind of fouls he's been taking. We need him to play at a high energy level over a long period of time. In the playoffs, he's going to need to play 38 to 40 minutes if we're going to beat anybody we play. He's got to deliver late. I think that's critical."

Yao, the only Rocket to have played in every game this season, seemed more lively Monday and happily said he felt more like himself.

"It makes it more fun," he said. "At least I didn't feel like I was wasting my effort out there. I knew what I was doing.

"The first two fouls in Utah, I think I could have gotten there and made a defensive stop without fouling. But I wanted to move my feet to a certain position and just couldn't get there in time.

"Even though this was just a regular-season game, we don't want to carry the way we've been playing into the playoffs. We had to alter that and go in on a better note."

For Yao, Monday's win at Seattle might have been a quick first step in that direction. But Yao knows he must do more. The more he expects of himself, the more difficult he has been to please, and the more he has battled with himself to find a balance between being demanding without becoming overly critical again.

"I definitely haven't found the middle point yet," he said.

Van Gundy will allow him to look and might appreciate that Yao has had to struggle with being too critical. But he doesn't have to beat himself up about it, even if it is a rare occasion in which he can pick on someone his own size.