Yao Watch '05-'06: Yao Tires, Rockets Lose... Again

Yao's mad as hell and can't take it anymore... Stro' and Jon Barry are afeared.

In the 3 losses since T-Mac has been injured, Yao has been called out to carry the load.. . obviously. The chubby oracles of TNT have agreed: Yao must dominate these games for the Rockets to reach the next level.

While Yao has put up good numbers (20 and 10 so far this year), admittedly, he hasn't exactly dominated. But he looked good last night, effectively dominating the first half, keeping the Rockets ahead, and even throwing it on Zo (obviously still reeling after Vince's how's-your-father).

But like the rest of the Rockettes, he disappeared in the 4th. He looked tired, but they stopped going to him for most of the fourth, even when he had position, only giving it to him late in the shotclock and further from the basket. You almost get the feeling his teammates don't trust him in the clutch...

And they will be Rockettes until daddy T-Mac returns.

On a lighter note... Yao makes the cover of Time Asia. Included on the website is an excerpt from Operation Yao Ming by Brooke Larmer:

"The faint whispers of a genetic conspiracy coursed through the corridors of Shanghai No. 6 Hospital on the evening of Sept. 12, 1980. It was shortly after 7 p.m., and a patient in the maternity ward had just endured an excruciating labor to give birth to a baby boy. An abnormally large baby boy."

More conjecture?