Below is one of my favorite pictures of Yao from Friday’s All-Star events in New Orleans. Not him being interviewed by the press (although he had to do that earlier in the day) which we have seen time and time again. Not reading a children’s book with just as many photographers as kids around.

No, it’s of Yao outside in cold rainy weather getting his hands dirty lifting and planting sod with actor Jet Li. It’s so representative of Yao’s hard work ethic to take on this assignment. Bravo, Yao.

Click here for more photos of Yao with Jet Li volunteering. Scroll up on the following page to see Yao and other NBA players getting interviewed.

Thanks go to Raymond for the pics!

Yao Ming, Shane Battier and other Rocket teammates congratulate Steve Novak after he hit a game-winning 3-pointer to save the game for the Rockets. Houston had blown an 18-point 4th quarter lead before Novak’s shot. Yao led all Houston scorers with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game.

The Rockets narrowly escaped disaster Wednesday night and an All-Star break where they would have been torn up inside thinking about one of their most devastating losses of the season. Also…

Thinking about how their recent hot streak might have been a fluke.

How they were chokers when it came to winning close games.

How they weren’t really that good after all, despite winning 7 games in a row coming into the game.

That maybe some trades need to happen before the February 21st trade deadline after all to change the chemistry on the team so that nothing like that happens again.

That’s what they might have been thinking if they had lost Wednesday night. After all, when you’re leading by 18 points against a sub-500 team, you’re expected to close the deal if you’re a good team. Especially after the Rockets had lost in similar fashion to the 76ers at home on January 15th when they had blown a 16-point fourth quarter lead.

But the Rockets miraculously pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat when seldom-used Steve Novak rescued the Rockets “Robert Horry style” by hitting a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining to give the Rockets an 89-87 lead. It was one of the biggest shots hit by a Rocket at Toyota Center in years.

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Yao gets a hand on Portland’s Lamarcus Aldridge’s shot Monday night in Houston. Yao would lead all scorers with 25 points as Houston won its 7th game in a row, 95-83. Click here for more photos from the game.

Although the Rockets won their 7th game in a row Monday night against a team they are battling for a playoff spot, there are still enough issues the Rockets need to correct considering how they played in a 95-83 win in Houston.

Not to be a spoil sport, let’s first talk about the things they did well Monday night. Yao was the force in the middle we expect him to be against a smaller front line of Joel Pryzbilla and Lamarcus Aldridge, leading all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 11-of-13 from the line, and grabbing 7 boards. Just another day at the office for Big Yao.

Houston’s defense was great in the second half, holding the Blazers to 15-of-34 shooting. Shane Battier really put the clamps on All-Star guard Brandon Roy, holding him only to 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting (it didn’t hurt that Roy missed 5-of-10 free throws).

The parts I didn’t like about this game, even in victory, were the following:

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Yao Ming scores two of his 28 points (12-of-17 shooting) Saturday night in Houston against the Atlanta Hawks. Houston beat the Hawks easily, at one time holding a 33-point lead. The Rockets have won 6 in a row to get their record to 30-20 and are in the thick of the hunt for a playoff spot. Click here for more photos from the game.

Coming into Houston on Saturday, the Atlanta Hawks were on the second night of a back-to-back (losing at home to Cleveland the night before), and had lost 9 of their last 10 road games. But the Rockets showed no sympathy by playing one of their most complete games of the season, drilling the Hawks 108-89 to win their 6th game in a row and go 30-20 for the season. After the Rockets were a mediocre 13-15 just 7 weeks ago, it’s getting really interesting in Houston these days.

The Rockets had 29 assists against Cleveland on Thursday, and Saturday night they racked up a season-high 32 dimes while scoring 44 field goals and shooting 54.3% from the field. They shared the ball so well and had guys cutting to the basket for easy shot attempts, it reminded me a lot of the Sacramento Kings during their heyday under Rick Adelman. Or dare I say it, the Spurs during their championship runs.

It’s very rare when a team achieves that level of chemistry where the Rockets get as many assists as they’ve had the past two games. I remember back in 1994 and 1995 when the Rockets won their championships, a lot of it was the result of unselfish basketball like what we’re seeing now. It’s still early yet, but if the Rockets keep this up, it going to start getting really fun in H-town.

While everyone was passing the ball, Yao Ming was being his dominant self by scoring 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting (10 in a row at one point), 4-of-4 from the line, and blocking 2 shots. He also had 3 assists to join the passing party.

The Hawks had no answer to the Big Man, either down low where he scored multiple times with left-handed jump hooks off the glass (he seems to really have perfected that shot). And they could only watch in awe as he hit two long jumpers from the top of the key to finally break his shooting slump from out there.

And did you see that play where Yao got the ball behind the 3-point line, then dribbled it a couple of times toward the basket taking giants steps to get all the way to the basket for a layup attempt? Although he missed the shot, it showed yet another move in his arsenal that has to keep opposing defenses guessing.

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Yao Ming blocks a dunk attempt by LeBron James on Thursday night in Houston. Yao led all Houston scorers with 22 points. He also grabbed 12 boards in a 92-77 Houston win, their fifth in a row. Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for photos of Yao at the pre-game shootaround.

Since Thursday’s night game between the Rockets and Cavs was nationally televised in the U.S., many of you probably saw the game, so you probably don’t need me to rehash alot of it. So I’ll just mention some of the key takeaways from the game along with a few other thoughts.

Coming into this game, I was a bit worried that the Rockets were finally facing some tough competition — last year’s NBA Champion runner-up — compared to the Milaukees, Indianas and Minnesotas of the world. Cleveland also has a very similar record as the Rockets, and the Rockets have a worse record at home than they do on the road. So there were enough red flags here to be concerned.

It really hurt the Cavs that Drew Gooden, Anderson Varejao, and Sasha Pavlovic couldn’t play. Because of that and the fact they gave the Rockets plenty of chances to take the game, the Rockets took it, winning their fifth game in a row by beating Cleveland 92-77 despite not playing that well at times.

Here’s what the Rockets did poorly, but still overcame in the end:

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Yao Ming scores with Minnesota’s Al Jefferson looks on Monday night in Minnesota. Yao would only score 16 points and grab 5 boards in a game that went down to the wire, which the Rockets won 92-86. Click here for more photos from the game.

Before the Rockets ever played the Timberwolves on Monday night, I knew the Rockets were going to be in for a fight. Although Minnesota had a 10-36 record entering the game, they had won 4 in a row at home, 5 of their last 7 games, and had beaten Golden State and Phoenix during that stretch.

That was enough to strike fear in my heart. This is the type of team the Rockets have given away games so many times in the past, and I knew the risk of them losing this game was going to be extremely high.

So during the first 3 quarters of play, I was just happy the Rockets hadn’t blown the game already. They led 24-18 after the first quarter, 47-42 at halftime, and 66-63 headed into the fourth quarter.

Things were looking great when they opened up a 10-point lead, 75-65, with 7:25 remaining in the game. I was ecstatic the Rockets appeared to have taken care of business, even if it was an ugly game getting to that point. But who cares, a win is a win, right?

Except this is the Rockets we’re talking about. Rather than cruise to a victory, they absolutely fell apart on the worst display of basketball I have seen since…well, the Rockets blew that 12-point fourth quarter lead to the 76ers on January 15th at home.

You know the saying in basketball, “live by the three, die by the three?” That applies here to some degree since Tracy McGrady hit a late 3-pointer to pull the game out to help the Rockets win 92-86. But I have a twist to that old adage: “live by the ‘T,’ die by the ‘T.’” When I say ‘T,’ I do mean Tracy.

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Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian battle for position Saturday night in a much anticipated match-up. The game didn’t turn out as expected, with Yao and Yi both struggling from the field. Click here for more photos from the game. Click here for pre-game photos of Yao and Yi. Click here for photos of fans while watching the game.

Although the Rockets beat Milwaukee 91-83 Saturday night, the much anticipated rematch of Yao vs. Yi turned out to be a dud.

Yao had a below average game, getting outplayed by another #1 draft pick, Andrew Bogut. Bogut looked like the All-Star, scoring 20 points on 10-of-20 shooting, most of them made over Yao. I wonder if the Australian continent tuned in for this one?

Yao only scored 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, was shockingly only 2-of-5 from the free throw line, but did rack up 3 blocks. He had his moments in the fourth quarter as the Rockets finally pulled away after the Bucks had taken a 69-68 lead early in the quarter. He had a huge dunk with 8:02 remaining to make it 72-69, and also had a block with 1:25 remaining to keep the Bucks from making a late charge.

Coach Rick Adelman was still supportive of Yao, saying, “He had a lot of good opportunities and good looks. You’re not going to be good every night…It’s all about winning. It doesn’t have to be about points.”

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Yao Ming blocked Mike Dunleavy’s layup attempt with 4 minutes remaining in the Rockets’ game against Indiana. Although Yao ‘only’ scored 17 points in the game, this block was huge since the Rockets were still trailing at the time 99-97. Rookie Carl Landry scored a game-high 22 points to help the Rockets pull out a close game in the fourth quarter.

The Rockets started their 3-game road trip in Indiana realizing the pressure was on them to win all 3 of these games against teams who probably won’t make the playoffs (Milwaukee on Saturday and Minnesota on Monday). If they don’t win these very ‘winnable’ games, the Rockets’ chances of making the playoffs themselves will take a huge hit.

So you think they would come out determined to put the clamps on early against a struggling Indiana team that had lost 4 in a row and 14 of their last 18, right? Not so.

They ultimately got the job done by winning the game 106-103, but the star who pulled them through wasn’t Yao or Tracy McGrady. It was rookie Carl Landry, who came back to the state where he played college (Purdue) and was a monster in the fourth quarter.

Rarely do you see a rookie make his first homecoming (of sorts) and be the X-factor in a game in front of his college team’s fans, former college coaches, and teammates. But that’s what Landry did. Landry scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter and 3-of-4 from the line for 13 points.

There is no doubt there is something really special about this kid. That’s what we had heard from the Rockets’ coaching staff and teammates about Landry in practice while he bided his time on the bench earlier this season, and by what he has showed us over the past couple of weeks since getting some playing time.

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It was announced by the NBA today that Yao was named the Western Conference Player of the Month (LeBron was the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month). As this press release states…

Yao led the Rockets to a 10-4 month averaging 22.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists. In a 111-107 win over Golden State on Jan. 29, Yao tied his season-highs in points (36), rebounds (19) and free throws made (14). He matched his career best with five consecutive double-doubles (Jan. 19 – Jan. 29) and is the only player in the Western Conference to be averaging at least 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks this season.

Here’s a recap of Yao’s best games in January:

Jan. 5 vs. New York: Had 30 points, eight rebounds and a season-high six assists in a 103-91 win over the Knicks.
Jan. 9 @ New York: Had a season-high 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in a 101-92 win over the Knicks.
Jan. 19 vs. San Antonio: Recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds in an 83-81 win over the Spurs.
Jan. 21 vs. Seattle: Scored 30 points and grabbed 17 boards in a 96-89 win over the SuperSonics.
Jan. 29 vs. Golden State: Had a season-high 36 points and 19 rebounds in a 111-107 win over the Warriors.

If Yao gets another couple of Player of the Month awards, along with leading his team to the playoffs, then Yao could get serious consideration for NBA MVP honors. But we’ll take it one step at a time.

I’m a little bit late, but Raymond has translated another article from Titan Sports that was posted in the forum Friday morning. He says several interesting things (as always) including his preference for the Rockets guards to penetrate into the lane since it makes it more likely that if they miss, he can grab the rebound.

I just wish all the Rockets guard would take Yao’s preference to heart. Thanks for the translation, Raymond!