Who says Yao can’t jump? Here, Yao jumps to defend against New Jersey’s Vince Carter as he drives to the basket and misses a wild shot. Yao also did some damage on the offensive end of the court, scoring 25 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing 5 assists, and blocking 3 shots in a fairly easy victory over the struggling Nets. Click here for more photos from the game.

After so many games against tough opponents — the toughest schedule in the league — the Rockets are finally able to get a “break,” play against weaker opponents (like Memphis on Wednesday), work on their chemistry, and get other guys involved in their new offense.

That’s what happened again Friday night in New Jersey as the Rockets easily beat the Nets 96-89, and four Rockets scored in double-digits: Yao Ming (25), Tracy McGrady (24), Rafer Alston (15), and Shane Battier (12).

The Nets could never get anything going as the Rockets held double-digit leads most of the game. That has been par for the course for the Nets at home this season, where they have had double-digit deficits in their last 9 home games, and have trailed at halftime in 15 of their 19 games.

The Rockets kept that trend going through halftime Friday night by leading 48-33 after shooting 54% as a team. McGrady was feelin’ it in the first half. He got hot and the Rockets kept feeding him as he scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half, hitting fallaways and tough shots, including two three-pointers in a row.

By halftime, Yao had 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting, easily being able to shoot over Jason Collins , Jamaal Magliore, and other defenders. No one had an answer for him.

I loved one play at the 8:55 mark in the first quarter after Yao chased down a ball from the high post, dribbled a couple of times toward the basket, then threw a perfect pass to Chuck Hayes for a layup. What mobility in the high post — I love it!

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Yao Ming throws down a one-handed tomahawk jam in the first half of the Rockets game against the Memphis Grizzlies. After 3 days off to rest and prepare, the Rockets’ team shooting improved to 51% for the game for the W. Click here for more photos from the game.

I had to work late on Wednesday night that overlapped with the Rockets-Grizzlies game. Then when I got home to watch the game on my DVR, I got sick to where I’m not able to write a full report like I normally do. But I’ll try to gut this one out.

After losing to the Grizzlies on November 13th in Memphis, the Rockets got some payback by easily defeating the Grizzlies 105-92 on Wednesday night in Houston. I was a bit concerned the Rockets would come out lethargic, similar to the last time the Rockets had 3 days off and didn’t look like they had done any preparation in a loss to Dallas on November 21st.

The big key to this victory was the re-emergence of Bonzi Wells (24 points on 11-of-14 shooting), who many people, including myself, had written off that perhaps he was going to sprial downward the rest of the season.

Bonzi was phenomenal in the second quarter when he scored 12 points, and looked like the same Bonzi who had destroyed the Spurs in the fifth game of the season. Although he had shorter guards trying to guard him Wednesday night, he still looked like a totally different player from the guy who had been missing so many shots during his slump lately.

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Raymond reports that Yao and his new bride Ye Li filmed a commercial for Chinese life insurance company China Life on Monday in Houston. Here’s one photo from the commercial shoot:

Click here for more photos from the commercial shoot.

Raymond also has photos from Monday and Tuesday’s Rockets practice. Thanks Raymond!

I like this article in today’s Chronicle about what Yao thinks needs to happen for his teammates to hit more of the shots they have been missing:

“Come early in the morning before practice. Maybe stay for a half-hour and take a couple hundred shots, like I do every day.

“Before the (last) game, I saw a lot of players doing this. I think we need more.”

Yao isn’t afraid to call it like he sees it. I like it. Keep it going, Yao. You’re a leader now.

It has been about 3 1/2 years since I last took online donations. That’s around the time that I started putting Google Adsense ads on my site. I thought Adsense would generate enough revenue to do away with ads, but I was wrong. It’s barely enough to cover my hosting costs each month.

Recently many readers have expressed a desire to help me out given how much time I have put into the site over the past 5 1/2 years since its inception. One reader asked me today if it was possible to donate, so I went ahead and found some of my old code that allows you to donate using Paypal. And compared to the last time I took donations through Paypal, the good thing is now you can make donations using credit cards through the Paypal payment system (you don’t need a Paypal account).

I figured this is really the best way to collect money rather than making YaoMingMania a “walled garden” only viewable to people who pay a subscription fee.

The donate button is on the right side of the page, or you can donate using this button here:

Thanks again to all the readers who have expressed a desire over the last week to help me out financially, and for all your support and kind words!

In case you didn’t see Yao throw the towel Saturday night in Sacramento that got him ejected from the court, or didn’t see Raymond’s clip in the forum, you can check it out here.

You go, Yao!

Update: the Houston Chronicle has a short article on the complaints the Rockets registered with the NBA league office on the calls that made Yao so angry.

This picture of Yao Ming sums up the frustration he had in Sacramento in a Rockets 107-99 loss. Yao fouled out later in the game, got a technical for showing even more frustration, and was escorted to the locker room because of it. This photo is also an appropriate depiction of the frustration he and his teammates must be having by their terrible defense this season, and the inability for anyone to score consistently other than Yao and McGrady. Didn’t they fix all that during the off-season? Click here for more photos from the game.

On Saturday night in Sac-Town, the Rockets got torched again on defense, just like they did against Golden State two nights before, letting the Kings’ superior athletes get to the rim way too many times on their way to a 107-99 victory.

The Rockets got great point production from Yao (29 points) and Tracy McGrady (40 points), but the gaping holes from the other starters on offense at point guard (Rafer Alston – 5 points, 1-of-4 three-pointers), small forward (Shane Battier – 4 points), and Chuck Hayes (2 points) were too much of a handicap to overcome.

Add little production from Bonzi Wells (8 points), Luther Head (4), Mike James (7), Luis Scola (0), and Steve Francis not being able to play because of a sore back, then you’ve got even more problems.

We can’t really say that Yao and McGrady took poor shots that robbed their teammates of scoring opportunities. The two “superstars” made 22-of-45 shots together, which is about 50%. That ain’t bad. I would have preferred for McGrady to not take so many three-pointers. He made 5-of-10 treys, so he gets a pass from me because shooting 50% from three-point land is pretty damn good.

But it’s the 13-for-37 from all the other guys that was the problem. If they had just made 5 more of those shots, or 10 points, to hit 50%, then you’ve got enough points to win this game.

I had said a couple of weeks ago that I would be okay if the Rockets relied less on McGrady to score points, if he would just distribute the ball to get everyone involved in this newfangled offense Rick Adelman is trying to install. If McGrady does that and they still lose, then fine. I won’t be upset because then the players are either going to get used to this system once-and-for-all, or we’re going to ultimately find out which Rockets are not a fit for this system that can help them go deep into the playoffs.

After seeing what we’ve seen over the last two losses, I think that day is soon coming, and I’m not talking about the former case, but the latter.

Of course, everyone in the world sees one glaring problem being Alston, but every game we see Adelman putting him out there to start. It’s like Adelman is the captain of the Titanic letting Alston continue to take this offense down with him.

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“Every year, Yao is getting better. The Rockets showed their confidence in him, when they go through him at the end of the game like they did tonight. He made some big shots and was tough to stop.”

– Tim Duncan, on the Rockets’ big man who had 28 points and 13 rebounds in Houston’s 89-81 win over the Spurs, 11/06/07

“He’s so much more relaxed now.”

– Steve Francis, on how Yao handled all the hoopla with the media frenzy around Yao’s matchup with Yi Jianlian, 11/09/07

“He handles it so great. I really admire the way he handles himself, the way he carries himself.”

– Rockets’ teammate Shane Battier on how Yao Ming handled himself with all the attention from 200 million Chinese viewers (reportedly) watching him and Yi Jianlian in their first NBA matchup, 11/09/07

“I don’t think there’s a better one-two combination (in the NBA). Tracy is a great offensive player. He’s an all-star who creates his own shots and is able to get to the basket and finish. Yao Ming is basically what they call him, ‘The Great Wall of China.’ Once he posts in the block, he’s so hard to guard. Your best defense against him is to try and not let him get the ball, because once he gets the ball, he’s pretty much unstoppable. Plus, he’s a good passer who sees the floor well and gets his teammates the ball in good positions. That might be the best one-two combination since MJ and Pippen.”

– Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace after Yao Ming scored 34 points on 13-of-15 shooting and 8-of-8 shooting from the line after a Houston victory over the Bobcats, 11/11/07

Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady sit depressed near the end of the game as the Rockets got blown out by Golden State, losing 113-94. Both players only scored 21 points collectively.

I hate to say it, but I did mention at the end of my post last night that the Rockets were certain to lose against the Golden State Warriors tonight. And it wasn’t because of “tired legs,” as the folks covering the game for FSN-Houston kept saying. It’s because I think Golden State is just unstoppable, especially against the Rockets, who still have a ways to go before they can beat them when GSW is hitting on all cylinders. They shouldn’t feel too bad, though, because neither could the Dallas Mavericks in last season’s playoffs.

Because I saw it coming, I’m not as mad as I usually am after a loss. The Rockets just don’t match up with them at all (most teams don’t), having lost for the 3rd straight time against Golden State, this time 113-94.

The Rockets started off just as I anticipated, falling behind quickly 18-3 and making only 1 of their first 10 shots as the Warriors started running-and-gunning.

But the Rockets then went on a 9-1 run to get back into the game. Tracy McGrady did a good job not forcing long jumpers, and being aggressive within 12 feet, taking it to the hole and scoring on a reverse layup that impressed the Golden State crowd.

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Yao Ming shoots a huge jump hook over the Phoenix Suns’ Amare Stoudemire Wednesday night that gave the Rockets a 96-92 lead with 1:08 remaining in the game. Yao would finish with a monster game, scoring 31 points and grabbing 13 boards in the victory. Click here for more photos from the game.

Well, it didn’t take too long for Rocket fans who have been calling for Steve Francis to get quality minutes all season to prove to the head coach they were right all along.

Francis got significant minutes on Wednesday night against the Suns in Phoenix, and he was an important reason why they pulled out a big 100-94 win.

Francis provided a spark by scoring 9 quality points in 27 minutes. All of his buckets were huge at the time because for every shot he made, you knew it was going to force Adelman to give him more minutes in upcoming games, like most Rocket fans have been saying for weeks now.

But those shots he made did another thing – it made Rafer Alston realize that Francis is breathing right down his neck for playing time, and it paid off right away. Alston played much better on offense in this game, but believe me, it’s a fluke because Alston will always be a streak shooter. We’ll get to him more in a minute. Let me finish up on Francis.

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