Sheepishly, almost imperceptibly, the former student at the Shanghai Language Institute said, in English, "The referees guard the court."
 | |
| Houston's 7-5, 296-pound Yao Ming still is finding his NBA comfort zone.(AP) |
Sure, on this particular night, Yao struggled, as did all the Rockets in their 77-71 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The referee comment was the result of a question about NBA officiating after he was whistled for two fouls within the first 1:57 and didn't play the rest of the first half. He did finish with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, with two rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 18 minutes, but he was 4-for-10 from the free throw line, and it was quite obvious coach Rudy Tomjanovich is still feeling his way with the 22-year-old wunderkind.
He is a talented rookie playing on a team that will likely be on the playoff bubble all season. Then there's his adjustment to the American and NBA cultures and how to deal with the rigors of an NBA schedule.
"It was an ugly, pound-it game, and we had guys doing pretty good, so I figured, what the hell, save the guy for the second half," Tomjanovich said. "He does a good job of getting guys shots. He swung the ball around. We've got to develop a rhythm.
"He's a rookie and it's, 'Hey coach, what do want from me?' Set a pick, whatever. He's a good guy who tries to do the right thing, to do whatever you want him to do. It's going to be an up-and-down thing just like any other young player."
Maybe. Then again, maybe not once he gets his NBA legs under him. Yao missed the first half of training camp while playing for the Chinese National Team and sorting out the political ramifications that finally cleared enough for him to sign a four-year, $18 million contract.
From what people saw of him in Sydney at the 2000 Olympics and during the World Championships this summer, there's little doubt that he's special. He showed it in the second half against the Blazers with a beautiful turnaround jumper from the baseline, plus a couple of dunks. He also had a rough time with one of his idols, aging Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis (all 7-3, 350 pounds of him), who, shall we say, manhandled him a few times.
"I need to eat more," Yao said through interpreter Colin Pine.
A sense of humor no doubt. This is a guy referred to as the "Michael Jordan of China." There have been photographers and reporters from China with the Rockets, but nothing like the madness the Seattle Mariners experienced when Ichiro Suzuki first came from Japan in 2001.
The Rockets have just one beat writer, Jonathon Feigen, from the Houston Chronicle and a Chronicle sports columnist, Fran Blinebury, is on the current West Coast swing as well. So at the moment, he is handling the coverage with total aplomb, although hardly getting overwhelmed by interview requests. Feigen has spent some quality time with Yao away from the locker room, but it's still very early in the season.
"We all know the only way to get to know players at all is to travel with them so they get used to your face," Blinebury said. "Yao is very accommodating. Very comfortable with who he is. Maybe that's because he comes from a totalitarian government, he's used to doing what he's told."
That was Blinebury humor, but the point was well taken. Pine, a 1996 graduate of James Madison, moved to Tibet for three years after graduation, then to Washington, D.C., when he got a job with the federal government as an interpreter. He intended to go to law school this fall, but a friend told him about this job. He applied via e-mail and became Yao's interpreter, moving to Houston in mid-October, the day before Yao arrived. He now lives in a house with Yao and his parents, both of whom were standout basketball players as well. His father, Yao Zhi Yuan, is 6-7 and mother Fang Feng Di is 6-3.
"He's a great person, has a great attitude, and he's funny," Pine said. "He takes things in stride, and he likes to joke around with his teammates a lot. The one story I've been telling people: We were at shoot-around at the Compaq Center in Houston, and the equipment manager found a baby rat in a shoe. Yao looks over and yells over at (diminutive point guard) Moochie Norris, and yells in English, 'Hey Moochie, your brother is over here.'"
Yao is the third player from China in the NBA, although far more talented than Wang Zhi Zhi of the Clippers and San Antonio's Mengke Bateer, neither of whom play more than spot minutes.
Despite playing in China all summer and missing virtually all of training camp, he had a streak last week of scoring 10, 20, and 30 points, making 31 of 35 field goal attempts in the process. He is averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 19.3 minutes a game so far, and that most assuredly will go up. His 30 points and 16 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks rocked the NBA world.
"He's not just a big guy, he's a player," said San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who has two pretty good big guys on his team named Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
"He has polished basketball skills, and once he gets adjusted to the NBA game, he's going to be a force every night."
All-Star teammate Steve Francis is trying to be patient but sees the skills and can't wait until he reaches that level on a consistent basis.
"It will come, and he's getting better all the time," Francis said. "He's starting to feel more comfortable and confident with the basketball."
The game must come to him, and he knows it. The game was all about him in China. His approach appears to be perfect, with a love for the game and the "team guy" attitude that makes him just one of the guys.
But there is also enormous pressure on him from his country to succeed and make the kind of impact Ichiro made for Japan. It's international politics at its finest ... and an expensive import, considering the $18 million investment.
"Everything's still pretty hectic," Yao said. "Flying back and forth between cities on the road, getting ready for competition. It's completely different (than China). I prepared for it before I came here, so I really believe everything will be fine."
No, he doesn't just eat Chinese food, and he loves to find the great steakhouses in every city. Of course, next on the agenda for him is grasping Thanksgiving, the traditions of turkey and a little bit of American history.
"I did mention something to him about Halloween," Tomjanovich said. "And he just looked at me, like, 'Huh?'"
Which leaves us the ultimate question about Yao: Trick or treat?
