Rockets Lose Opener, China Ready for 'Next Yao'

The title was already used at Yao Central but we just liked it so much...

Yea, we looked right past the season opener to the far more interesting home opener versus the Mavs tomorrow night, but we did write an Opening Day piece about the Jazz-Rockets debacle for new blogger, Jim Dunn's Opening Day Fiasco on Detroit Pistons Today. Yep... that was before the game.

So, in perhaps related news... China has taken this opportunity to announce that they are ready to unveil to the NBA the "next Yao Ming," Yi Jian-lian, even though we're not quite done with this one. Anyone who's seen Yi play should know that he is really nothing like Yao Ming. He's a decently mobile forward (6' 11" 225 lbs) that has slightly above-average athleticism (for the NBA) and limited offensive ability, but this little vid is what's generating all the hype.

Yi might be a, uh... Tyson Chandler... or optimistically, a Jamaal Magliore... is that not optimisitic enough? The guy was an All-Star... albeit controversially... anyway, Golden State of Mind has other ideas.