Yardbarker: Yao Ming

SLAM #69

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:20:35 -0500

Originally published in SLAM 69 The 6th Man: They couldn’t be more different. Yao Ming, the 7-5, 22-year-old rookie center is steady and deliberate, performing his shockingly complete array of post moves with all the flair of an assembly-line robot. Some of this is due to it being his first year in a new country, some is due to his being exhausted from playing competitive basketball continuously for over a year, some is probably just due to his being a rookie. He still gets stripped sometimes...

Yao Deserves a Rest in 2009-10 Season

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:43:24 -0500

The good news: Yao Ming is doing well after surgery. The terrible? He's "vowing" not to play next season, despite some time-tabled glimmer of hope that he might. To flip it further, the Facts of Life "take 'em both and then you have": Yao's confident that this extended recovery will allow him to come back for 2010-11 at full strength. For the Rockets, this hardly comes as a surprise. Nor should it really affect their strategy all that much. They knew that the...

Luis 'MVP' Scola does it again. Can he do that for the Rockets, too?

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:37:44 -0500

Yao Ming takes his jump shots from a chair, will likely miss the season and probably has completed his national team career. Tracy McGrady is still working his way back from his microfracture surgery. The Rockets cannot know when McGrady...

Wes Unseld Wants More Yao Mings

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:04:57 -0500

Upon discovering that he played against Yao Ming’s father during his visit to China 30 years ago, Wes Unseld pleaded with the Chinese to get busy in the bedroom and start making more Yao Mings to send to the NBA, preferably in the Wizards’ direction. Chinese officials promptly snickered and told big Wes not to worry. [...]

Yao Ming to have left foot surgery

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:32:30 -0500

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has elected to undergo surgery in order to repair the broken bone in his left foot. The surgery, which will be performed next week by Rockets Team Physician Dr. Tom Clanton at the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute, will involve a bone graft in the navicular bone of Yao’s left foot [...]

Did Yao Throw Artest Under The Bus To Bucher?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:45:23 -0500

There’s been a palpable euphoria here in Los Angeles since the Lakers locked down free agent Ron Artest last week. Purple (& Gold) Kool-aiders of course love the deal, but Wednesday ESPN NBA reporter Ric Bucher quietly made a serious claim about Artest on middle-of-the-night national radio that might delight the Laker haters among you. (Co-Author [...]

Could The Sixers Move Dalembert to Houston?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:28:53 -0500

With the unfortunate news that Yao Ming, the pride of China, could potentially never play another game in the NBA, the Houston Rockets may all of a sudden be in need of a center. Rumors circulating around the Internet says a Sammy Dalembert and Willie Green for Tracy McGrady deal could be a possibility. Mr. Rabbit is quite excited about the prospect of McGrady's expiring contract coming to the Illadelph. From the Delaware News Journal:According to an NBA source, the Sixers might lo...

Report: Yao Ming Could Miss a Full Season With Broken Foot, or Worse

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:02:00 -0500

Dire news out of Houston, if reputable Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! has the right information. The Rockets announced last week that Yao Ming would remain out "indefinitely" -- in other words, the broken foot suffered in the playoffs that was set to be healed by now has not healed. But there's plenty of time until opening night, right?Maybe not enough time. Woj reports the prognosis could have Yao on the bench for all of 2009-10, and there's a chance his basketball career is ...

Yao Ming could be out for all of next season, maybe longer

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:01:00 -0500

Yahoo.com's Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Rockets executives are telling people privately that Yao Ming may miss the entire 2009-2010 campaign and perhaps longer, thanks to his broken foot. Some even fear that Yao may never play again. Yao had surgery to repair the broken foot a year ago, when three pins were inserted, but he cracked it again this year in the playoffs. Sources say it isn't healing well.

Yao Stars With Supermodel in New Animated Film

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:15:17 -0500

Yao's lending his voice to a new Chinese animated film, “The Magic Aster”. He doesn’t need the money, of course, so his share’s going to the Shanghai Special-care Foundation. A charitable man, that Yao. But the real story might be the fact that he’s probably the third-most interesting member of the cast.

Obama Still Has a Lot of Work to Do?

Mon, 18 May 2009 12:17:25 -0500

Recently I was shocked to learn that our President, Barack Obama still had a lot of work do before being presented with an honorary doctoral degree from Arizona State University where he was asked to speak for its graduation. Just so you know, most often when a high-profile official speaks at ASU’s graduation, he or she is awarded an honorary doctorate. Let me get this straight, Obama graduated from Columbia and Harvard Law School, was Senator of Illinois and became the first Black President of the United States but isn’t good enough to get an “honorary degree” from Arizona State? What else does he have to do, turn water into wine?

I read the list of other speakers who’ve spoken at ASU’s past graduations and received degrees and was even more shocked! They’ve given out these degrees to newspaper publishers, successful movie directors and even generous donors. Another person who was awarded an honorary degree was Jerry Colangelo, owner of the Phoenix Suns and the person who helped return USA Basketball back to prominence (and this was before he started working with USA Basketball). No offense to Mr. Colangelo but I don’t think you can compare what he’s done (or many of the others who've spoken have done) with what Obama has accomplished so far.

ASU’s excuse for denying Obama’s honorary degree was because his “body of work is yet to come.” Someone needs to step up and take responsibility for the real reason why Obama was denied the degree. Maybe it was because Arizona is John McCain’s state or because McCain has donated a lot of money to the school or even because it’s a Republican state. Whatever the real reason is, don’t lie and tell us that it because Obama isn’t good enough. That’s like saying LeBron James isn’t good enough to play on your REC league team or that Yao Ming isn’t tall enough to play on your squad!

Over 63,000 people showed up to hear Obama speak at the graduation so that tells you something. It wasn’t like there was football game or sporting event at ASU. All of those people didn’t just show up to show their support for the graduates – they came to hear Obama. In my opinion, he’s the most credible speaker they’ve ever had and they should have been honored to have him as an honorary graduate of their university. Denying him that degree was a terrible injustice and I think they should go back, change their minds and give it to him.

Me and my friends have been talking about this for the past few days so I figured I throw it out there on the Yard and see how you guys feel about it. Holla at me!

Lakers Lack Heart Of A Champion

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:29:02 -0500

Fourteen years ago, then-Rockets (and future Lakers) head coach Rudy Tomjanovic reminded us to never underestimate the heart of a champion. Well, the 2009 Lakers won't be champions because they lack the heart.

For about a week, I've heard all the crap about the Lakers not having that killer instinct to win the title. How they couldn't stomp out a team when they were down.

I would then point back to the 2000 Lakers. They were trying to get their first championship and they had the same exact rap. They led the Sacramento Kings 2-0 in their first round series (then a best-of-five). The Kings handily beat the Lakers twice in Sacto only to get blown out of the gym in Game 5 by 27 points.

In the second round, the Lakers got a 3-0 lead on the Phoenix Suns. Then the Suns won Game 4 by 19 points. The Lakers would go on to end the series the very next game by winning by 22.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers held a 3-1 series advantage over the Portland Trail Blazers. That's nearly impossible for Portland to overcome once you remember that the Lakers still had two home games. Yet, they choked away Games 5 and 6 ... and nearly Game 7. If not for a furious fourth-quarter comeback, Portland would have advanced to the Finals.

Even in the Finals, the Lakers struggled to finish off the Indiana Pacers. Holding a 3-1 lead in the Finals, the Lakers were blown out by 33 points in Game 5. The Lakers would come back home and finish the series off.

That Lakers team was 4-6 in games that they could eliminate their opponent. Think about that. They lost 6 times when they had the chance to end the series right then and there. Yet they still won a title.

The difference between then and 2009 is that I don't see this Lakers team having the hunger nor the heart to win a title. How in the heck does a Rockets team without Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady blow out the Lakers twice and force a Game 7? How? How?

The Chewbacca defense. It doesn't make sense. I love the Lakers, but the loss tonight to the Houston Rockets felt like the end of the series. LA still has a chance to go home on Sunday, win and advance to play the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. But does anyone have any faith that they will win?

It is ridiculous that this series has gotten this far. So, to me it is ridiculous to believe that the Lakers can beat the Nuggets ... let alone the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Rockets Have The Heart That The Lakers Are Missing

Mon, 11 May 2009 06:27:23 -0500

If you didn’t enjoy the Houston Rockets - Los Angeles Lakers game on Sunday, than you’re clearly not a fan of good basketball. The Rockets, a team already without Tracy McGrady that had just lost their best player in Yao Ming for the playoffs, dominated a heavy favorite Lakers’ team in game four. The Rockets not only showed no fear against the Lakers, they simply embarrassed them. The Rockets are filled with underdogs and overachievers who showed more heart that I have seen from a team ...

Sans Yao Ming, Rockets blast sleepy Lakers

Sun, 10 May 2009 22:55:03 -0500

Well, the Lakers are on their way to the NBA Finals to face Cleveland and give us a legendary match-up, oh wait a second…Seems the Houston Rockets, sans Yao Ming, weren’t quite ready to give up the ghost on this series. At least for one game, they showed the Lakers that they were able [...]