12 years, and 7 years for Yao, finally the monkey off the back

4-2, finally, Yao’s in second round, after 7 years, as the No. 1 draft pick, 7 times all-star, hovering around 20-10 for a few seasons, after 3 major injuries. Despite being in heated discussions whether he’s the best center in NBA for a few years, he was still a second round playoff virgin till last night, a very disheartening fact, a simple fact really matters. Now, he’s finally over that hurdle, and can look forward for better future.

It was a frustrating first half, because the exciting but stupid triple overtime of the Boston-Chicago game, we had to “watch” the first half via text or video stream over the internet, for one of Yao’s most important games.

It was a nervous first half, Rockets starters, You included, were more nervous than the young, supposedly inexperienced Blazers. The show Roy put on in the first quarter and this series, shows you what superstars are about, and how far away Yao is from being one.

It was an exciting game and a game about our second unit, because the bench really brought their A game in the second quarter. Big plays after big plays from Lowry, Wafer, and Landry laid the foundation of this most important game. At the fourth quarter, when Blazers were on a 5-0 mini run, when Rockets were in an offensive drought, Von’s jumper turned the momentum, we cruised to a blowout after that, never looked back.

Yao Ming was great defensively, average offensively. He wasn’t the one leading the charge from minute one offensively, but he was the one to set the defensive tone, with his early blocks. He did lots of small things can’t be seen on the stat sheet, like he altered lots of shots, boxed out Oden/Pryzilla/Aldrige/Outlaw multiple times, stripped ball out of bound to stop Fernandez’s fast break, directly or indirectly caused a few steals, his presence in the paint, those are great things at the defensive end. He played truly big in own paint. For the first time in his career, I can see some authority and ownership pride of the paint, starting from the second half of this season. He’s picked up defensively this series. Offensively, those 16 shots he took were good shots, but they weren’t sinking as usual, maybe some nervousness did affect his game. But his 3 offensive rebounds were huge, and they were all momentum changers. He contributed greatly to the win, but as a franchise player, he isn’t the player of the game, coz that would be Ron Artest. As a franchise player, he isn’t the player of the series, coz that would be Luis Scola. As a franchise player, he isn’t the best leader on and off court in this series, coz that would be Shane Battier. It’s a great sign that we have different players step up when it’s needed, but it’s a little bit disappointing, that Yao wasn’t the leader supposed to be in many occasions.

This is certainly no bashing to Yao, but we want him to further improve, basketball wise, and mental toughness wise. He’s too easy to be taken out of a game. Yes, officiating him wasn’t always fair; his teammates especially the point guard sometimes tend to ignore him mainly due to incapability. But he’s got to meet those challenges head-on. As old as the cliché might be, he’s got impose his will on the game. I will be really pissed if he still does not have the guts to decline unnecessary national team activity this summer. He has to work on his games in the off season. He has to work on the face up game and high post games, develop a constant mid-range jumper and extend the range to 20 feet. 30 some percent is way too low for his shooting touch. If he could shoot like Brad Miller, Kurt Thomas, he will be easily 25-10, without fighting too hard down low for the whole game, and his teammates will have an easier time to pass to him. We can’t expect an entry passer with TMac’s court vision, passing skills, and size all the time. He has to come to meet the ball, and learn to put the ball on the floor. There is no point arguing about new NBA rules to punish big guys, there is no point blaming AB isn’t great PG material, there is no point arguing officiating. Yao has to grow more skills in his repository in this off season, the clock is ticking.

Finally, that huge monkey is off the back. Hopefully Yao and the Rockets can approach the next series more relaxed, and play with more fun and confidence. Nobody is really giving them a chance, so they don’t need to worry about losing, go at the Lakers right out of the gate, stay humble and stay hungry. Results aside, I expect Yao to play a better series against the Lakers. It’s a good opportunity on the big stage, national TV coverage, all eyes on (mainly on Kobe).

Yao has showed flashes of dominance, even from his rookie year, throughout the past 7 years – 30 points against Dallas, dominance over the twin tower in Spurs, his 44 points against Atlanta and his basket attacking triple teams, his 41 points basket exchange with TMac, which literally lured TMac over to the Rockets, his “you can’t fxxxking stop me” taunting to Kamen. The list goes on and on, but the only time he brought IT to the game on a consistent base is his 25-12 stellar performance for more than a month shortly before his injury in 2006. That’s too brief and too little for Yao. Yesterday, I posted a video clip I stole from clutchfans, game 1 of the 86’ final. In Olajuwon’s second year, he led the Rockets to the finals to meet Celtic in full strength with Bird, McHale, Parish, Walton, and Ainge. It’s a true beauty to see Dream slide 2 7-footers to go to the rim. Those beautiful moves from both McHale and Olajuwon can no longer be seen in today’s big men. I don’t expect Yao to be Dream, but he has the tools to change the game. He has to grow mentally, truly believe that’s his team, just like he’s in the Chinese National Team.

At the time happiness and relief, one can hope for better things to come. Go Yao! Go Rockets!