Yao Comfortable With 'Too Many Choices'

Yao comfortable with 'too many choices'
from Yao Central

Following Houston's standing army's rout of the Dallas JV squad, Yao Ming, speaking to Chron's own Jonathan Feigen, reassured everyone of his smooth transition to the Adelman offense:

"I felt very comfortable where I was getting on the court and shooting the ball from the paint or out to the perimeter; I felt full confidence," Yao said. "It's very simple and very easy for me. Now, they can't just focus on me. I can shoot the ball. I can make a decision. I can pass to the open man. I can set a screen and roll to the basket. I have too many things I can do. I have too many choices."

Love it. Love Yao being a playmaker and making things happen inside and out. It makes it almost impossible to double-team him. A beautiful thing to watch really. And when he starts getting the timing down it should be even better. With his own admitted surge in confidence and comfort in his new role, Yao continues to make his presence more dominating to his opponents:

"It's been a while since I've seen that much meat on anybody on the basketball court," said Mavericks center Darvin Ham, who sat out the last two seasons. "What impresses me the most is he is not passive anymore. He takes it right at you and punishes you. He is bringing the fight to the post. If Houston continues to play through him, they will be a very tough team to beat. I was thoroughly impressed by how much he has improved."

Hate to say anyone is "just" Darvin Ham, but at 6-7 he's almost a foot shorter than Yao at the center spot, and he hasn't played pro ball in two years. Still, the guy's shattered backboards in NCAA tournaments and a compliment is a compliment. Nice, for an Division and Texas rival. In fact, Jason Terry had this to say:

"I'm out there and I see Mike James and Steve Francis ... and I thought, 'Oh my God, is (Hakeem) Olajuwon going to come back, too.' "

Kind of makes you think all these niceties are just covering for an underlying smugness that says we're getting Kobe.

Mike James was the Player of the Game, finishing with 17 pts on 6-9 FGs. Yao Ming Mania has pics of the game.

The Playoff Hustle: Too Good to be True...

WARRIORS 112-118 DALLAS (GSW leads series 3-2)
Yes, it was too good to be true. We thought Dallas was all but shamed for the year. And not to overstate it, but the Mavs by winning, saved the franchise as it currently stands, like it or leave it. If Dallas gets eliminated by the Warriors at home in 5, then only indiscriminate upheaval would have followed... the whole roster gets dumped with no intention of any workable return, those nifty locker rooms get torn down and Cuban puts the team on the market. Yes, like Major League. Jerry Jones then moves in to buy the team and he'll in turn move the franchise to Vegas just to piss off the Super Malouf Bros. 'Cause it's like that between them. Actually, it isn't. Just made that up. But let it be known, Dirk "previously clutch, then strangely unclutch, now clutch again" Diggler saved the Mavericks franchise... at least, until Game 6.

NETS 98-96 RAPTORS (NJN leads series 3-2)
The Raps just can't get a boost. As moral victories go, this one was phenomenal... for the Nets. It just let the young Raps know that they'll always be there--you're gonna have to play that well every game just to scrape by with a victory. Toronto held a 20-point lead after the 1st quarter. But the Nets, as old men typically do to high school kids in the rec. league, just let the Raps play themselves tired and exhaust their adrenaline high.

This brings us to Vince Carter. With everyone in the arena from the ticket takers to security chanting VC sucks and booing the hell out of him every time he touched the ball, the man played more lackadaisical then Tracy McGrady with a 2-0 series lead. We thought, he's just biding his time to make his move, to go on a scoring barrage and shut up all the haters once and for all, or at least, for the rest of the season. But he didn't. It was the most half-assed 30 points I'd ever seen--except for the last 3. Points 28-29-30 made me stand up. A three-pointer to bring the Nets within 1-point in the final minute. The entire arena gasped at once as if to say Holy shit, not this motherfucker! And right then, I thought it was the Nets game to lose. With no point guard (Calderon's sprain was a result of his extra minutes--freak injuries come from being tired, and he was exhausted from extended minutes he's rarely had to play all season) the Raptors looked done. Chris Bosh, though, hit enough free throws to keep the Raps up two in the final possession, but the ball was in the Nets' hands. Vince Carter's hands.

This is it, we thought. VC's redemption. His chance to do that "shush" thing with the index finger to the lips the players seem to love so much. Instead, he drove to the basket (first mistake) and then kicked it out to Bostjan Nachbar (second and final mistake). Of course, Nachbar missed it, but even if he made it, you have a man in Vince Carter that has no imagination. No flair for the dramatic. No appreciation for the finer (petty) things in basketball like showing up your former team or being personally responsible making tens of thousands of hostile fans cry. If he takes the three at the buzzer, it was win-win. If he makes it, it's legendary status, if he misses it, the Raptors fans still hate him, but game 6 is back in Jersey. Believe that Kobe would have taken that shot if he had to rip the from Bokie Nachbar's cold dead hands.

Is this man a Zen god or is this exactly the reason Raptors fans hate him so much? Good enough to reach into the pocket, but not great enough to pay the bill.

The Playoff Hustle: And Everyone Rejoiced... Except Utah

Finally, some playoff-calliber fire from Houston. It wasn't pretty, and the Rockets looked outplayed at times, even outsmarted, but not outdone. In the playoffs, a W really is a W no matter how you Ginzu that shit.

All this with Yao struggling from the field this series. Yao Central has more on that. But finally, Houston, we have a bench. Luther Head finally did something this series--hitting two big shots in the 4th. I Love Head Fan Club shows him some love. And Chuck Hayes, our favorite unlucky so-and-so, drew the charge late in 4th that pretty much sealed the deal.

The fire T-Mac showed in Games 1 & 2 finally returned for Game 5. As well as the "ugly face," lesser known as the "something smells face," but brought to fame by Lebron James in last year's playoffs. Hopefully, it's there to stay.

We're all gonna watch the Golden State Warriors in Dallas tonight. If not for the Warriors' offensive spectacle that obliterates all that is good and fair in the eyes of basketball purists worldwide, then for our sheer hatred for Dallas itself. It can't be exaggerated how much we are enjoying this.