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- 2004-02-16
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by Steven Higashide
Columnist
It was one of the defining moments - perhaps the defining moment - of Yao Ming's brief NBA career to date. Close to the basket, Yao drove the lane against Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who rose preemptively and, knowing he was beaten, came down with an arm outstretched like a tree branch on Yao's head. The Houston center took the hit, kept on going, made the dunk, drew the foul and buried the free throw.
The statistics from Feb. 11 game between Houston and Los Angeles only hint at how well Yao played that night: 29 points to Shaq's 24, 11 rebounds to Shaq's nine; a Rockets win to a Lakers loss. On The Late Show with Jay Leno, Charles Barkley said, "Yao just did whup Shaq's butt," and repeated it for good measure.
Barkley, however, was complaining about the All-Star fan voting. Among other things, he insisted that despite his performance in that game, Yao shouldn't have started the All-Star Game over Shaq.
This may be true, but it's not too hard to understand why Yao was voted to his second All-Star Game in two years. It's not only because of Chinese votes. Those who believe that theory should know that Yao got less Internet votes than Shaq, and only beat him in the voting because he received more paper votes - votes from people who filled out their ballots in American and Canadian stadiums, movie theaters and retail stores.
It's not that votes from China didn't help, but Yao has become immensely popular in America through cute advertisements and friendly dealings with the media. Shaq, who used to be known as a gentle giant, lost much of that image when he mocked the Chinese language last year and recently said the f-word twice during a post-game press conference carried live on local television.
Yao's game is entertaining to watch, as well. With an offensive repertoire of smooth jumpers, fakes and spinning baseline drives, Yao is in constant motion. In contrast, many casual fans think O'Neal is an untalented bull who shoves defenders out of the way, even though he is actually quite skilled and is excellent at moving without the ball.
Everyone wants to drive a sports car; no one wants a bulldozer. On his best nights, Yao bobs and weaves like Muhammad Ali, his moves both graceful and deadly.
One of those best nights was Monday, when the Houston Rockets narrowly beat the Atlanta Hawks in triple-overtime. Matched against mere mortals, Yao dominated to the tune of a career-high 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. He scored eight of his points in the final overtime, including a jumper with 23 seconds left that won the game. Those kinds of games are the ones that will show whether or not he is a truly great player - one who can dominate a game in crunch time.
When Yao was voted to last year's All-Star Game, he looked nervous and invisible on the floor, scoring only two points. This year, the big man played loose and had fun, attempting three-pointers and finishing alley-oops; he even flipped a no-look pass to Houston teammate and fellow All-Star Steve Francis, who soared for the dunk. Unlike last year, he looked like he belonged in a game with the rest of the NBA's elite. During the fourth quarter, Yao sat on the bench while the best players on both teams, including Shaq, took the floor.
In a few years the two centers may be switching places. •
Columnist
It was one of the defining moments - perhaps the defining moment - of Yao Ming's brief NBA career to date. Close to the basket, Yao drove the lane against Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who rose preemptively and, knowing he was beaten, came down with an arm outstretched like a tree branch on Yao's head. The Houston center took the hit, kept on going, made the dunk, drew the foul and buried the free throw.
The statistics from Feb. 11 game between Houston and Los Angeles only hint at how well Yao played that night: 29 points to Shaq's 24, 11 rebounds to Shaq's nine; a Rockets win to a Lakers loss. On The Late Show with Jay Leno, Charles Barkley said, "Yao just did whup Shaq's butt," and repeated it for good measure.
Barkley, however, was complaining about the All-Star fan voting. Among other things, he insisted that despite his performance in that game, Yao shouldn't have started the All-Star Game over Shaq.
This may be true, but it's not too hard to understand why Yao was voted to his second All-Star Game in two years. It's not only because of Chinese votes. Those who believe that theory should know that Yao got less Internet votes than Shaq, and only beat him in the voting because he received more paper votes - votes from people who filled out their ballots in American and Canadian stadiums, movie theaters and retail stores.
It's not that votes from China didn't help, but Yao has become immensely popular in America through cute advertisements and friendly dealings with the media. Shaq, who used to be known as a gentle giant, lost much of that image when he mocked the Chinese language last year and recently said the f-word twice during a post-game press conference carried live on local television.
Yao's game is entertaining to watch, as well. With an offensive repertoire of smooth jumpers, fakes and spinning baseline drives, Yao is in constant motion. In contrast, many casual fans think O'Neal is an untalented bull who shoves defenders out of the way, even though he is actually quite skilled and is excellent at moving without the ball.
Everyone wants to drive a sports car; no one wants a bulldozer. On his best nights, Yao bobs and weaves like Muhammad Ali, his moves both graceful and deadly.
One of those best nights was Monday, when the Houston Rockets narrowly beat the Atlanta Hawks in triple-overtime. Matched against mere mortals, Yao dominated to the tune of a career-high 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. He scored eight of his points in the final overtime, including a jumper with 23 seconds left that won the game. Those kinds of games are the ones that will show whether or not he is a truly great player - one who can dominate a game in crunch time.
When Yao was voted to last year's All-Star Game, he looked nervous and invisible on the floor, scoring only two points. This year, the big man played loose and had fun, attempting three-pointers and finishing alley-oops; he even flipped a no-look pass to Houston teammate and fellow All-Star Steve Francis, who soared for the dunk. Unlike last year, he looked like he belonged in a game with the rest of the NBA's elite. During the fourth quarter, Yao sat on the bench while the best players on both teams, including Shaq, took the floor.
In a few years the two centers may be switching places. •
