He called his friend Yang Yi after the game. He sounded very excited about the win. He said the defence of Celtics was very tough on him and it was like the Korea War. He defended the guards and said it was too difficult to pass the ball to him under such tough denfence on him. He bought a bottle of XO (over $200)for Francis to celebrate his birthday. He said Francis was very happy and "reborn" from the injury because of his gift. He is very confident that Rockets will beat Sun when they meet again. http://sports.tom.com/Archive/1019/1042/2003/2/25-46281.html
I really like Yao's positve attitude. He always defends his teammates!! I also like his unselfishness.
Atleast yao knows what going on, some of these ignorant so called "fans" are talking about the guards freezing yao out, thats ridiculous.
Another thing he mentioned in the interview: He said coach told him not to stick his men to the outside on defence because Wright or Battie cannot shoot. But both of them shoot well in the game. He is a little surprise.
Actually, Battie cannot shoot. Him going off tonight from the outside was an abberation. The guy is tough inside but his game from 10 feet and out is non-existant. Yao should've been surprised. Hell, everyone else in the arena was.
Yang Yi teased him: "I couldn't see the game. But from the stat, it seems you're once again a super audience on the court". LOL
Is that website Chinese? I can't read Chinese......But I really like Yao defending his teammates. What a guy!!
It's funny that Shawn Bardley also shoot well from the outside when he faced Yao. Yao inspired their shooting touch. KH
Now the centers in other teams are learning to make shots from the outside while Yao begins to forget how to do it.
He also said that it's because he needs to help out EG for the opposing PFs (Gasol etc). EG is the only one he can openly put the blame on I guess.
I decide to translate it, since it has lots of "insider" stuff. Yao Ming called Yang Yi after the Celtics game today. <b>Yang Yi's Interview with - Yao Ming: Opponents Defend Me Like the in Korean War </b> Yao Ming: Did you watch the game? Yang Yi: Not yet. YM: We were down 15 points with 6 minutes to play in the fourth, but managed to take it overtime and win. YY: I checked the box score. The two guards scored mainly. Were you on-the-court fan again (not involved in the game)? YM: No. Their defense is tight on me. In the fouth quarter it wasn't as tight and I got some points. YY: No one was passing you the ball? You didn't seem to score in the first half? YM: I cann't blame my teammates. Their defense were right on me as soon as I stepped on the court. Double-teaming too. Besides, you know all about #33's passing ability... [A shot on EG! ] YY: Why just 3 boards? YM: I cann't get any boards. Celtics all shot from parimeters like crazy. They basket were bouncing all over the place. They were double-teaming to box me out. I got special treatment tonight, especially that guy. Felt like the Korean war agaisnt the Americans. YY: Can you tell me who is "that guy"? YM: Celtics #4. He didn't even know Wang Zhi Zhi. When I was shooting free-throws, he kept telling me I was the first Chinese player in NBA. YY: It's Battie. However, he scored a lot. Last time when you played the Grizzlies, the opposing center also scored a lot. YM: But both team got good PF, Gasol and Walker. I need to help Griffin defending the PF spot. If I go out to defender the center, the paint will be empty. Both centers shot well the last two games. Before the Grizzlies game, coach told me not to go out defend my man. But somehow he scored a lot. YY: Francis wake up again tonight. YM: Yes. I bet he is tired. He shot terrible the last two games. Last Saturday was his birthday. I spent $200 to buy a bottle of XO for him. He was happy. Now he recoverd tonight. ...
