 |
|
China’s Yao Ming, right, blocks a shot by Nick Collison of the United States during the fourth quarter of the exhibition game Aug. 22, in Oakland, Calif. Yao finished the game with 13 points and six blocked shots. Photo by The Associated Press.
|
Yao Misses the Shot
By Eric Lai
Special to AsianWeek
The most impressive physical feat by a Chinese person at last Thursday night’s USA versus China exhibition basketball game occurred during the halftime show, when a smiling Chinese lady riding a 10-foot high unicycle launched six bowls perched precariously on her right leg into a perfect-10 landing on top of her head.
The least impressive physical feat at the game — a warm-up for the World Championships to be held in Indianapolis at the end of the month — was by No. 1 draft pick Yao Ming, who blew an uncontested one-handed dunk in the lane, jamming it against the back of the rim, despite standing at 7 feet 5 inches, a height so great that the 21-year-old center probably just needs to stand on his tippy-toes to slam-dunk the ball.
Yes, the Big Yao was distinctly unimpressive at last week’s blowout, won by the U.S. 84-54, despite recording a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) and six blocks. Yao was manhandled on offense, with his shots blocked in the lane before he could get the ball up, traveling while dribbling the ball after stealing an outlet pass, and by the early second half, winded and bent-over from all the fast-breaking.
As the Chinese team’s sole defender in the lane, Yao gave up a ton of layups and dunks to the much-stronger U.S. team, which played purposefully, if not sloppily, against the overmatched Chinese. In the game’s highly symbolic final score, No. 2 draft pick Jason Williams dunked with five seconds left, Yao not even close to contesting it.
But let’s give Yao credit where it’s due. The guy can flat-out shoot, though his 5-of-12 percentage may not have suggested so. He’s still the same age as a college senior; his game, as the cliché goes, has plenty of upside potential. At many moments of the game, Yao, who weighs between 253 and 296 pounds, seemed to be taking on the whole U.S. team (whose combined weight equals a Ford F-150 truck). Unfortunately, potential alone is not enough to do the job. Take the first offensive play of the game by Toronto center Antonio Davis: Davis threw in an egregious hockey hipcheck while driving in for a layup, and needless to say, Yao stumbled and the ball circled the rim lip before falling in.
The Detroit Piston thug rebounder, Ben Wallace, had made loud pre-game proclamations to the press about wanting to beat Yao up.
“We’re going to beat him up pretty bad,” elaborated Wallace, who seemed to be channeling his Scottish namesake, William Wallace, by talking trash about the opponent in some made-for-ESPN remake of Braveheart. “Welcome to the league, welcome to our country. This is our playground. This is how we play.”
Yao coolly professed not to care (“That’s their business,” he told a translator), but Wallace had his chance to deliver his message full force in the fourth quarter when in attempting to launch a shot, he fell and landed intentionally with his 240-pound bulk on Yao. Elbow jabs were exchanged, though apparently no trash talk — unless Wallace has recently taken a Berlitz course in Mandarin we don’t know about.
That’s the spirit we need to see, though. The NBA, for better or worse, is a playground where machismo and intimidation rule, where hazing the rookies, especially the over-hyped first-draft pick, is business as usual. Sensitive souls, no matter how gynormous, should find alternate lines of work.
Yao did show a grim, unflappable demeanor on that peach-fuzzed face. In that way, Yao struck me a bit like Tim Duncan or Pete Sampras — great players who are underappreciated because they don’t readily show the fire in their bellies.
Yao will eventually become at least a serviceable, possibly even good NBA center. Without the bulk of his Mongolian teammate Mengke Bateer, Yao’s got to learn to be a cunning, passing-oriented center in the Divacs-Sabonis mold, who plays up his strengths — outside shot, quick-release jumper, relative quickness — and disguises what he’ll never be able to develop.
To become a great center, Yao doesn’t need to bulk up like Shaq and shoot five-foot baby hooks. But he does have to learn to intimidate. And part of that will involve Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich teaching Yao some street-level English, Ebonics accent and all. That way, after he sinks a silky 3-pointer at the top of the key over Shaq, he can start jawing about the nasty cheese sauce in those Shaq Attack meals at Burger King, and how he’d much rather be eating a bowl of wonton noodles. Delivering insults at the press conference after the game through a translator just doesn’t have the same panache.
Yao’s aggressiveness on defense, in marked contrast to his offensive play, is heartening, at least. It must be noted, however, that at least half of Yao’s blocks were administered on a gritty-but-doesn’t-seem-to-learn-quick Raef LaFrentz, the 6-foot-11 Dallas Maverick forward. Maybe LaFrentz thought he could dunk on Yao the same way he does in practice on that other 7-foot-6 beanpole, Shawn Bradley. But LaFrentz’s strong-to-the-hoop, two-handed attempts were swatted away by Yao, who suddenly turned into Ming the Merciless in the basketball lane.
But let’s take that with a grain of salt. After all, LaFrentz is the token white dude on the U.S. team. Blocking LaFrentz when you’re half a foot taller than him is like bragging you beat up Doogie Howser in the boxing arena.
All in all, Yao isn’t a total disappointment, and at the end of the day, having all eyes on an Asian basketball star may be the best part of this game.
|
