Following in his father’s (Rick) and brother’s (Jon) footsteps, Brent Barry said he will sign with the Rockets. That must be an NBA record. Here’s more info in the Chronicle article.

I think it’s a decent pickup, but it doesn’t put Houston over the hump. San Antonio isn’t dumb. If they thought Barry could help them, they would have made sure to sign him. That said, something tells me Barry is on his last legs. And I don’t think he has enough in the tank to provide enough scoring off the bench when Tracy McGrady gets a rest. I don’t think it will be rookie Donte Green, either. At least not this coming season.

One thing is for sure IMHO: Luther Head‘s days in Houston are over. Look for a deal that will package him and maybe Steve Novak.

I still like what Novak can do from behind the 3-point line long-term for the Rockets. Barry will be good for 2008-09 from behind the arc, but he’ll be 37 this time next year, and we all know that’s ancient in NBA years.

Here’s an interesting piece on Yi’s potential impact on the Nets:

“The Nets — who have learned that nothing recedes like success — may have stumbled onto something very appealing in Yi Jianlian, who may be able fill all those empty spaces at Izod Center, judging by what happened yesterday…”

Click here for the entire article.

Below is a video that Raymond found that includes Yao as well as interviews in English of Yao’s trainer Anthony Falsone and Rockets’ assistant trainer Keith Garnett that was produced on Monday, July 7th. Falsone and Garnett (along with Rockets assistant coach Jack Sikma) are in China to monitor and assist in Yao’s rehabilitation efforts leading up to the Olympics.

To read a translated interview with Garnett about Yao’s progress, click here.

In this video Yao, Falsone and Garnett are seen participating in an academic exchange seminar with some sports doctors from Chinese Basketball Association teams.

Check this video out, too…

Here’s a new Chinese Coke commercial that just started airing in China on July 7th:

The first part of the following video is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video above (spoken in Chinese). The white, bald guy lighting the Olympic torch with Yao is Yao’s trainer Anthony Falsone.

Finally, here’s a video of Yao and LeBron James that should be airing worldwide very soon:

Thanks always to Raymond in China for finding these vids.

Raymond has posted in the forum some Olympic posters he has found that are on display in Beijing, including this 11 meter tall statue of Yao Ming that was hoisted yesterday in Wangfujing, the busiest shopping district in the city.

Click here to see more of the Olympic posters Raymond found.

It has been a couple of days since the NBA draft, and I normally would have commented on it by now, but it has been extremely busy with me at work and in my personal life. But now that it’s the weekend, I’ve found a few minutes to write, as well as had some time to digest what the Rockets did on Thursday night, as I’m sure you have.

First, you gotta love what Rockets GM Daryl Morey did in getting 2 pretty good players for the price of one. Trading Nicolas Batum for Donte Greene and Joey Dorsey look like great moves (click here for photos from their press conference on Friday that Raymond has posted in the forum).

But since Greene isn’t that great of a ballhandler and is known to take some ill-advised shots, I’m not all that excited about him being a formidable scorer off the bench this season when Tracy McGrady needs a rest. Although Greene ranked higher than Chris Douglas-Roberts, I was hoping CDR somehow would have become a Rocket because of how tough he made his Memphis team along with Derrick Rose. I never underestimate big-time experience like that and the value of being a winner.

Speaking of Memphis, even though he’s only 6′ 7″, I like the Joey Dorsey pickup as a backup center. I love how he describes himself as a “Ray Lewis with a basketball.” He along with Yao and Dikembe Mutombo should be tough matchups on defense for the Tim Duncans and Amare Stoudemires in the West. It’s also cool to have a bench player on your team who is known to be one of the best in a certain category: like Aaron Brooks with speed, Steve Novak with 3-point shooting, Mutombo with shot-blocking, Carl Landry with dunks and jumping ability, and now Dorsey with defense and intensity.

The big work ahead for the Rockets is getting a backup shooting guard to take over Luther Head‘s spot, who I don’t expect will be with the team this season. The other is getting a legitimate center who can score, because when Yao is taking a rest, the hole in the offense still remains. Something tells me Loren Woods isn’t going to be the answer. But scoring centers are hard to find. It would have been great if the Rockets could have made a trade for one or both of these during the draft, but now look for Morey to work some of his magic the rest of this summer.

Yao held a presser today in China in which he said:

– he’s about 80% healed
– he’ll be able to play full-court basketball in mid-July
– he has a 50/50 chance of playing in the Stankovic Cup starting July 17th
– much, much more

Click here for more details and photos from the press conference.

Sticking with his original plan, Yao landed in China today. Raymond has all the pics here:

Raymond found some great photos of Yao playing some one-on-one with Rockets’ reserve Loren Woods yesterday, as well as some time with weights in the gym. Click here for more photos from Yao’s workouts.