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Yao vs. Nuggets - 10/30/03

Yao Ming blocks Carmelo Anthony's shot Thursday night as he helped the Houston Rockets in their opening game beat the Nuggets 102-85 in Houston. (Photo courtesy AP).
For more photos from the game, visit this topic in the YaoMingMania.com Discussion Forum.

HOUSTON, Thursday night - In front of a national television audience in their first regular season game in a new arena with their new coach and new uniforms, the Rockets launched a new era with an impressive win against the Denver Nuggets 102-85. [Too bad my local phone service didn't perform as well. Filing this report was delayed for several hours because I couldn't get friggin' dialtone on my phone and access the Internet for the first time in years! What are the odds of that happening?]

Yao Ming had a fairly good game statistically with 19 points (6-of-8 shooting), 3 blocked shots, and 3 rebounds (yes, only 3 rebounds) in just 20 minutes of play. His numbers probably would have been larger if he had not been hindered by getting as many personal fouls (5) as he did. Yao did not seem to agree with the officials on some of the fouls called against him, but afterwards he did not complain. When asked about it, he took the high road and said he had to play through any frustrations he might have experienced due to missed calls by the refs. Yao seems to have learned that you don't want to say anything that could antagonize the refs for future games.

One of the highlights from this game was Yao scoring the first points for a regular season game in Toyota Center history. As excited as they are to see Yao score, the Houston crowd seemed to realize this historical moment by cheering more loudly than they normally would. There was probably relief in the house that it was a Rocket who scored it, not an opposing player. That could have meant bad karma for the new Toyota Center.

From that point forward, Houston played very well and was never seemed to be threatened. After the Rockets built a big lead in the teens, the Nuggets did close the gap to 9 points early in the fourth quarter, but Houston was able to bump the lead up to 22 points to win resoundingly.

We were impressed with the Rockets' much improved shot selection compared to previous games. There was good ball movement, along with less dribbling and jacking up of difficult shots. Van Gundy's disciplined approach seems to be working. And it's showing up in the win column. They have now won their last 5 games, albeit 4 of them were preseason games.

Surprisingly, the leading scorer for the game was Cuttino Mobley, who really didn't play that much during the preseason because of an injury, and who many think will have a more diminished role in the offense since Yao and Steve Francis are the top offensive weapons now. Like we said earlier, Yao would have had a higher scoring total if he had not gotten into foul trouble.

Thoughts from Van Gundy

After the game coach Jeff Van Gundy said in his normal pensive-sounding voice, "I'm happy with the win." The irony of him expressing such a normally gleeful thought with his deadpan demeanor made the press room burst out in laughter. "Get used to it," he suggested as the press continued laughing, suggesting his tone will frequently intonate his team never played quite good enough. Being the perfectionist he is known to be, he still sees room for improvement, such as fixing "blown assignments." Van Gundy continued, "Sometimes there are frustrations that occur within a game and gotta make sure we have a 'next-play mentality,' and forget about the play before and focus in on the next possession."

Regarding Yao's performance: "He had a high number of turnovers tonight [it was a total of three], which we need to make sure we cut down on."

Furthermore, he stated, "You cannot accept in victory what you wouldn't accept in defeat. So we gotta go back and correct things so we can hopefully play better on Saturday (against Memphis)."

Van Gundy was happy with the effort overall, singling out good ball movement, the overall play of Steve Francis, and Kelvin Cato bouncing back from a rough first half (1-for-5 from the field) with a strong second half (3-for-3).

Yao quotes after the game:

On Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony, who was also a high first-round pick in the NBA this past summer:

   "It seems that everybody is going after him right now like they were going after me last year. Everyone wants to score on him or block a shot. I remember that being similar to me last year."

   …and later, "He's a lot better than I was when I started."

How he felt compared to his performance in last year's first regular season game:

   "I have a better feel for the game and I can get into the rhythm of the game. I can get more involved in the game."

How he felt about his performance against the Nuggets:

   "Overall it wasn't bad, but I had too many fouls and not enough rebounds, but I'm always happy to win."

On playing in the new Toyota Center compared to their old arena:

   "Compaq Center was an arena with a lot of history. The Rockets did great things in the past there. We are just hoping we can do in the new arena what the older generation did. I want to remind everybody (in the audience) not to leave so early, or you would have gotten free Big Macs." [Editor's note: I actually believe an attendee of that game gets the free Big Mac if they show their ticket stub at the McDonald's, but we get Yao's point---don't leave the game so early!]

On scoring the first points in Toyota Center for a regular season game:

   "It's definitely special to me."

Comparing (while smiling) his statistics from his first game last year (0 points, 2 rebounds) to his first game this year (19 points, 3 rebounds):

   "At least every category improved from last year, including fouls." [Note: he had 3 personal fouls in last season's game, and 5 in this season's game].

When asked why he didn't get that many rebounds (3) in this game, he shows his wit while responding to one of the criticisms of him...

   "I felt like I was underneath the basket but maybe I was a little slow. Perhaps it's because I don't jump that high."

Regarding the improved play of Kelvin Cato this season and his playing alongside Yao frequently in the preseason:

   "I think this is our most successful aspect (for the team) this year."

Responding to the question on having the same kind of success that Hakeem Olajuwon had at Compaq Center:

   "I really hope that I can have the same kind of success. I'm jealous of his success, and I hope I can get it, too."

How he feels now that he is more accustomed to American culture, not having as many distractions as last year, etc.

   "When I'm playing in Shanghai, it's like I'm playing at home, and it's beginning to feel like that here."

Rockets getting some good pub

While writing this column, I heard color analyst Doug Collins on TNT during the Phoenix-Cleveland game comment that no one is paying much attention to the Rockets as they should be. Collins thinks the Rockets are not getting much consideration to be a threat in the Western Conference, but he believes that Van Gundy's approach and the talent the team has will really surprise a lot of people this season.

Global coverage

I had the chance to talk to a Shanghai news crew at Toyota Center on Thursday night. A reporter by the name of Laurance and a colleague of his arrived in Houston just three days prior to Thursday night's game, and they are living in Houston full-time covering Yao for the folks back home. They have already set themselves up in an apartment, and will be replaced by another news crew from their station in February.

Laurance told me they are the only television media from China actually setting up residence in Houston and covering Yao and the Rockets exclusively. You have to give props to Shanghai television station SMG for spending the money to have them live in Houston to cover their hometown (and national) hero. They plan to send videotape reports back to China after every game via satellite so that it can be there by 7:00pm Shanghai time, or 3:00am Houston time.

Like YaoMingMania.com, they will work for several hours after the game has concluded to get a report filed for their Yao-hungry audience. Good luck to Laurance and his cameraman as they embark on a time-consuming, yet rewarding, endeavor.

A great promotion

Speaking of a loud crowd...in the final minutes of the game, much of the crowd had already left the building since the Rockets had the game well in hand. But when the P.A. announcer reminded everyone the Rockets had a chance to score 100 points and win a free Big Mac for everyone with a ticket, the small crowd got very loud...all the way through Cuttino Mobley's free throws in the final minute to score the 100th point and get everyone some free grub.

Yao Ming was on the bench when Cuttino broke the 100-point barrier, and you could tell he found it amusing by watching the way he slapped hands with a teammate sitting next to him. As I mentioned in the Yao quotes from the game, Yao ribbed those fans who did leave that that if they had stuck around longer, they might have been able to enjoy a lot of the fun.

Which reminds me...I was surprised to see many of the fans leaving the game early in the fourth quarter. Although the Rockets had the game in hand, it really wasn't that late in the evening since the game started 30 minutes earlier (7:00pm). Plus, many of the tickets aren't cheap, so it seems like a waste of money to miss out on good basketball that you've paid a high price to see. Oh well…this phenomenon seems to match what I'll mention a little later on how attending a Rockets game for many patrons is more of an event rather than an expression of love for basketball.

Van Gundy's promotional idea

There was one thing Van Gundy wanted to change, and that was the aforementioned Big Mac promotion. "That free burger should be for holding teams to less than 80 (points, rather than his own team scoring 100 points as the promotion currently provides)."

More Toyota Center tidbits

We reported on October 13th our initial thoughts on Toyota Center. You can read some of our observations of the new arena by reading our summary of the game vs. the New Orleans Hornets by clicking here. We picked up on a few more things this time around against the Nuggets:

In the lower mezzanine there is an area with fancy concessions and a couple of bars with big screens. I found it surprising that during the game, many fans congregated in this area to socialize without even paying attention to the game for long stretches of time. It's kind of a shame that good basketball action, paid for a pretty steep price, can go to waste like this. Oh well, it's a free country and those fans can do whatever they want.
There was more entertainment in this game than during the first preseason game. They had more Power Dancer routines, break dancers, hip-hop like dancers, speed jump ropers, country music at halftime, a concert by rapper Coolio after the game, and much more.
With a sell-out crowd of 18,000+, Toyota Center can get much LOUDER than Compaq Center did. Examples: when Cato dunked one of his several thunderous slams, or when Yao blocked a Carmelo Anthony shot. It was awesome to hear "walls" of roars. Now the Rockets may at least be at parity with some of the other louder arenas in the league, like Sacramento's Arco arena.
One thing Compaq Center offered that very few arenas now seem to offer, including Toyota Center, is theater-like lighting. By that, I mean before the first and second-halves started in Compaq, the house lights dimmed so that most of the light was on the court, not on the audience. This gave it a fairly intimate ambiance. At Toyota Center, the audience is lighted with more lumens, and the intensity stays at the same level throughout the game.
In the upper deck, there is a catwalk that suspends close to the seats almost at eye-level. On this catwalk are some drummers who lead the chant DE-FENSE by banging on their drums. If you're in these upper deck seats, it's somewhat strange to see these drummers in front of you as they "hover" overhead. It's not so much distracting as it is suspenseful. One wrong move by those guys, and you're in for more than a basketball game.

That's it for now! cYAO!

John

Detailed Yao Analysis
vs. Denver Nuggets 10/30/03

1st quarter - Yao starts the game.
11:33	Steal	After the Nuggets win the tip, they bring the ball down on offense. Eventually, Carmelo Anthony gets the ball just outside the lane and tries to whip a pass to a Nugget standing below the basket, but Yao gets a hand on the ball to deflect it and picks it up for the first steal in Toyota Center history (regular season).
11:02		From the 3-point line in the corner, Steve Francis passes the ball to Yao in the post just outside the paint on the right side. Francis then clears out room for Yao by cutting along the baseline, thus taking his own defender out of position to double-team Yao. Yao dribbles once, jump stops into the lane, fades away and launches a soft jumper...and SWISH! Yao makes history by scoring the first two points in Toyota Center history! Yao is already making his presence felt within the first minute of the game! The crowd goes crazy recognizing the significance of the moment! And boy, does it get loud in here! I love how the Toyota Center really amplifies the cheers of the crowd!
10:29		Jim Jackson throws the ball down into Yao on the left side of the lane. Steve Francis, positioned in the left corner, cuts across the lane and once again takes his man out of position from double-teaming Yao. [I love the motion this offense has when Yao gets the ball, which didn't seem to happen often last year.] This time Yao backs himself into the paint a couple of feet, leaving his smaller defender (Marcus Camby) no choice but to give up position. [You can tell Van Gundy's emphasis on getting deeper into the paint is paying off.] Yao then turns to the middle of the lane, jumps high and releases the ball at rim level, which makes it impossible for Camby or anyone else to block. Count the basket once again! Yao is 2-for-2 and has 4 points. The Rockets lead 4-2.
9:58	Free throws	On almost the same play as before, Jim Jackson throws the ball to Yao in the same position as the last play. All of the Rockets have cleared out so Yao can go one-on-one with Camby again. But rather than be predictable and make the same moves, this time Yao spins baseline and leaves Camby behind him! Yao dribbles twice as he goes underneath the basket for a reverse layup using his right hand, and Camby fouls him from behind. Yao makes both free throws. Yao now has all six of the Rockets points, and they lead 6-2.
6:25		Denver's Andre Miller drives the baseline and dishes a pass to Carmelo Anthony, who is on the run in the middle of the lane. Carmelo decides to challenge Yao as he goes up for a dunk. Bad decision. Anthony hits the Great Wall and Yao blocks his shot at the top of his jump! The ball bounces off the rim and Anthony gets the rebound. Once again, he decides to challenge everyone and go up for a shot near the hoop. Realizing he's going to get his shot blocked again, he double pumps and tries to scoop the ball, but Yao blocks that shot! Two blocks in 3 seconds for Yao, and the crowd goes nuts! Yao not only got the first block in Toyota Center history, but the second one, too.
4:14		Yao checks out of the game for Maurice Taylor. He has 6 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field.
2:27	Free Throws	Yao checks into the game for Kelvin Cato. The Rockets lead 17-15. A few seconds later, Yao is fouled as he chases down a ball from a missed Nugget free throw. Yao gets to shoot free throws. He makes the first one, but misses the second. Yao now has 7 points. Rockets lead 18-15.
1:39	Free Throws	Yao is fouled away from the ball and gets to shoot free throws. He makes both, and now has 9 points.
1:04		Yao charges into Denver center Franciso Elson. That's Yao's second personal foul. As a result, Van Gundy replaces Yao with Torraye Braggs.
2nd Quarter - As the quarter begins, Yao has 9 of the Rockets' 22 points in 9 minutes of action. He is 2-for-3 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line. He also has 2 blocks and 2 personal fouls. The Rockets lead 22-20.
5:52		Yao checks into the game. The Rockets lead 31-29.
4:47	Free Throws	Francis passes the ball to Yao deep in the paint. Three Nugget players converge on him, and he's fouled by Nene Hilario as he goes up for the layup attempt. Yao goes to the free throw line and makes both attempts. Yao now has 11 points (2-for-4 from the field, 7-for-8 from the line). The Rockets lead 35-33.
2:57		Once again, from the three-point line Jim Jackson passes the ball to Yao on the left edge of the lane. Francis drives the baseline to clear out room for Yao, who goes to work. With his back to the basket and Nene Hilario guarding him, he dribbles once and fakes like he's going toward the center of the lane, then quickly pivots right, pump fakes, then easily goes up over the 6'11" Nene to bank a two-handed layup high off the glass. Easy! Yao now has 13 points (3-for-5 from the field). The Rockets lead 41-36.
1:02		Yao gets the ball near the left baseline guarded one-on-one by Denver center Nene Hilario. Yao quickly spins and drives the baseline while dribbling with his left hand. He then goes up and lays it off the glass softly for the layup. There's no way Nene can stop him! Yao is doing a great job of keeping his body between the defender and the ball as he dribbles along the baseline. He's so huge, there's no way anyone can stick a hand in there to knock the ball loose. Then when he goes up for his shot, he's so high off the ground hardly anyone can block it. What a beautiful play to get points! Yao has 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting. TNT play-by-play analyst Marv Albert says, "It has been a very long first half for Nene."
:25.1		Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. Yao has 15 points in the game.
Halftime - The Rockets lead 48-42. In 14 minutes of action, Yao has 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, and is 7-for-8 shooting from the line. He also has 2 blocked shots and an assist. Carmelo Anthony is 1-for-6 from the field with 4 points and 5 turnovers.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the 3rd quarter.
10:36		Yao comes way out of the lane to get a piece of an Andre Miller jump shot. It's a rare site to see a jump shot getting blocked from 16 feet!
10:06		Yao fouls Nene Hilario. That's Yao's 3rd personal foul.
9:42	Assist	Yao is double-teamed on the left edge of the lane, where he is double-teamed. With his great court vision, he sees Cuttino Mobley on the other side of the court all by himself at the three-point line, so Yao zips a pass to him where he drains the trey! The crowd roars its approval on the great ball movement! On this possession the Rockets passed the ball quickly 6 different times before Cuttino made his shot. Now this is what the offense should have looked like last year! We love you Jeff Van Gundy!
9:09		Carmelo Anthony is fouled by Yao on a driving layup attempt. That's Yao's 4th personal foul, so Van Gundy replaces him with Maurice Taylor. The Rockets lead 55-47.
4th quarter - At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Rockets lead 72-60. Their largest lead in the quarter was 17 points. Yao only played 3 minutes in the quarter, and added a block and assist to his halftime stats. He still has 15 points, but leads all scorers at this point in the game.
9:23		The Nuggets have cut the deficit to 9 points, so Van Gundy puts Yao into the game.
8:32		From the 3-point line in the corner, Moochie Norris throws a high pass to Yao, who gets it on the left edge of the paint. He quickly just decides to fadeaway and shoot his jumper knowing that Nene Hilario cannot block it. No problem. Two! Yao now has 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Rockets lead 78-66.
7:47		Nene Hilario gets it down low. Yao Ming is playing tough defense on him, but is called for his 5th foul. Yao doesn't like that call, and neither does Jeff Van Gundy! With 5 fouls, Van Gundy substitutes Yao with Kelvin Cato.
3:31		Since Kelvin Cato has played alot of minutes in this game due to Yao's foul troubles, Cato has developed a leg cramp problem. So despite holding a 93-73 lead, Van Gundy puts Yao back into the game to give Cato a rest.
3:01		Receiving the ball just outside the left edge of the lane, Yao powers his way into the lane with a couple of dribbles, then decides to shoot his unblockable fadeaway jump shot from 12 feet. SCORE IT! That's Yao's 19th point on 6-of-8 shooting, and his fourth made shot in a row! The Rockets lead 95-73.
2:12		Yao checks out of the game for Scott Padgett. In 20 minutes of play, Yao finishes the game with 19 points (6-of-8 from the field, 7-of-8 from the line), 3 assists, 2 assists, and 3 blocked shots. The Rockets go on to win their first regular season game at Toyota Center 102-85.

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