Boston Globe: Two cultures, one popular sport

Isiah Thomas said ''One of the reasons Yao is flourishing now is because now he has Cuttino [Mobley] and Steve Francis to get him the ball. Yao has never played with guards like that in China.''

Is he serious? I think he must be the only person involved with the NBA who thinks Yao is succeeding because of Cuttino and Francis. Most people think Yao is succeeding despite Cuttino and Francis. Since when has it been a priority for either of them to get Yao the ball? I think if Yao were on almost any other team in the NBA, he'd be averaging closer to 20 ppg. Nothing against Steve and Cuttino, they both great players but their game isn't about getting assists, it's about getting shots for themselves.

 

Well read the quote probably Isiah were comparing them to the Chinese guards!

 

Z-like player.I heard someone hurt him in one of Chinese Nt practise.great leaping ability,could dunk from ft line...and so on...

 

Mourning-like

 

55 yuan is closer to 7 bucks, im sorry, but it hurts a guy's credibility when he cant do lower school division for a major newspaper.

 

Someone confirm me on this, but isn't Qiao Dan a direct phonic translation of Jordan into mandarin???

 

Yes, it's phonic translation. But Chinese is a very speical language. There are different Chinese words with the same pronounciation. So Chinese like to put together words to add "meaning" to their names. This is the 1st time I heard that Qiao Dan actually has some meaning though.

 

I think he played for univ of Utah for a couple of seasons. He was in clipper trainning camp, didnt know he was actually drafted by hawks. He is right now a very popular basket ball commentator in China, sort of like Bill Whalton. He had more atheletism than Yao Ming or Wang Zhizhi in his prime, and a 7 footer (or close) too.

 

Yeah, the writer didnt know what he was writing about.

 

Did Yao's agent know something we don't?

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/055/sports/The_Tao_of_Yao+.shtml

CHINA AND BASKETBALL

The Tao of Yao

Hard work, respect, fun are guiding principles of Rockets phenomenon.

By Jackie MacMullan, Globe Staff, 2/24/2003

Second of a three-part series



HOUSTON - The cameraman groans as he cranes his neck. Two reporters jostle for position, then resort to standing on folding chairs. Their precarious position, they determine, is worth it. Houston's Big Man is speaking today, and he might just say something they haven't heard yet.

Yao Ming waits patiently as a chain of bodies coils around him. He stands 7 feet 6 inches and looks down on the proceedings like a blue heron resting on a branch. His translator, Colin Pine, a full 18 inches shorter than his employer, is not so fortunate. He is smothered by the onslaught.

China's crown jewel speaks passable English, but he has concerns about miscommunications and delivering an improper and potentially newsmaking statement. Better to let Pine filter his thoughts and water them down if necessary.

This affords Yao the unusual luxury of becoming a detached observer of his own celebrity. He rarely speaks for himself, and yet it doesn't stop the questions from coming.

He has grown weary of it, and on this January afternoon, a week before the All-Star Game, his team, the Houston Rockets, has decided only eight minutes will be allotted for the burning questions of the day.

It begins with an American with a radio microphone and a booming voice who stands inches from Yao yet completely turns his back on the gifted center.

''What does he eat?'' the inquisitor shouts at Pine, as if Yao were an exotic pet in a zoo and Pine his trainer.

Yao, who clearly understands the question, seems perplexed by its relevance.

''He likes chicken,'' says Pine, after conferring with his friend in Mandarin.

''How old was he when he started playing basketball?''

''He was 9,'' answers Pine without hesitation. He has fielded this question hundreds of times.

''How does he feel about the chance to be China's first billionaire?''

Yao rolls his eyes.

''I still eat three meals a day,'' he says through Pine.

The man with the radio microphone cuts in quickly.

''Does he have a car?''

Yao and Pine laugh. Yes, Yao does have a car, a brand new Toyota Sequoia. Only four days earlier, he christened it by denting the rear fender when he tried to back out of the Rockets' parking lot.

''Before I get my next car, I better get some insurance,'' Yao says through his translator. ''If I hit someone, I will have to pay a lot of money.''

''So he has a car!'' shouts the radio man, clearly pleased with himself.

Thus, the day's headline is secured: YAO DRIVES!

Here's another news flash: He eats, sleeps, and dreams, and he becomes tired, cranky, and homesick. He is not a curiosity; he is a man who carries the weight of a large Asian country on his surprisingly slender shoulders and will try to lead Houston to victory tonight against the Celtics at the FleetCenter.

He's been here before

Yao, 22, has not come from out of nowhere. He has come from a loving home in Shanghai, where families live in apartments, have one child, and rarely purchase cars; from a communist culture that frowns upon trash-talking, finger-pointing, unnecessary slam-dunks. He has become an instant hero on two continents, bridging a cultural gap between East and West that seemed insurmountable as recently as a decade ago.

Although to most Americans Yao did not exist before he became the No. 1 pick of the Rockets in the 2002 draft, he had, in fact, been to the United States numerous times before that historic day last June.

He played in a Nike All-Star game in Indianapolis in 1998, then scooted West to Santa Barbara for an audience with Michael Jordan at his Flight School, then was off to another Nike Camp in San Diego. Two years ago, Yao and the Chinese national team were guests of the Dallas Mavericks, working out at the Landry Center and scrimmaging against a number of the Mavericks' rookies.

While those US stops have been duly recorded, his longest stint in the US was the one that flew under the radar. It was in 1999, when he was 19. He spent three weeks in Eugene, Ore., training with the Chinese national team at Bruce O'Neil's United States Basketball Academy. O'Neil, the former Hawaii coach who has carved out a niche as the adviser and American basketball conduit of Yao's homeland, delighted in watching the young big man loft jumpers as soft as raindrops from all over the floor. His passing skills were superior, his court sense impressive.

''You could tell he was a very intelligent player,'' O'Neil says.

Here's another shocker: Yao drove a car then, too.

''I let him use my Ford Explorer,'' says O'Neil. ''He didn't go very far in it. He looked kind of cramped.''

Who can say exactly when Yao began to blossom into the most intriguing big man since Shaquille O'Neal. His development was consistent yet unspectacular in the beginning. His friend, Shanghai native Frank Sha, watched him grow up in a typical basketball climate, the child of two former national team players who was singled out for his size.

''He always had talent,'' says Sha, sitting in a hotel lobby in Shanghai, ''but it was his temperament that set him apart. He was patient. He knew he did not have to rush greatness.''

His greatness, O'Neil maintains, was suppressed by a system that requires waiting one's turn, even if one is ready to advance.

''I had watched Yao for a number of years in China,'' O'Neil says. ''They kept him on the junior national team forever. They had Wang Zhi-Zhi on the national team, and they were focusing on him, but we all knew Yao was the one. Even so, he was the stepchild for a long time. They didn't want him to shoot. They needed Wang to shine first. Yao was just the young guy, learning the ropes.''

O'Neil was not the only American who had spotted Yao's potential. Tom McCarthy, a Boston native who was an assistant coach both at Boston College (1978-83) and Boston University (1985-87), originally moved to Asia as a marketing rep for Etonic. He soon started his own company, Dynasty Sports Marketing, and became involved in promoting the Asian Junior Championships.

''The first time I saw Yao, he was with his mother,'' says McCarthy. ''He was about 6-9 at that time, with caved-in shoulders. He had no strength at all. He hadn't developed any real skills yet, but he glided when he ran. He was only 14.

''I pulled him out of the drills and talked to him about commitment. I showed him how to do fingertip push-ups, and told him he needed to build his upper-body strength.''

McCarthy, who has lived in Shanghai for 12 years, and O'Neil continued to monitor Yao's progress. By 1999, nearly every basketball insider knew there was something special about the young center, who arrived at O'Neil's facility in Eugene with an insatiable thirst for basketball knowledge.

''When I first saw Bruce, he reminded me of Santa Claus,'' says Yao. ''He was very nice to me. I couldn't understand English very well then, so I couldn't watch TV or anything. I was a little bored. I was also really tired every day. We worked very hard in practice.''

Like Wang and Mengke Bateer of the Spurs, who had attended O'Neil's academy before him, Yao was shielded from the press. There were no distractions in Eugene; no big-city nightclubs, no wild parties, no booze.

''It was a valuable place for our players to learn the very basics of the game,'' says then Chinese national coach Ade Jiang. ''I have great faith in Bruce O'Neil. He has our interests at heart.''

A developing story

The development of Chinese basketball has taken a quantum leap in concert with Yao's stunning success. As his country reaps the benefits of his worldwide appeal (the government receives an unspecified percentage of Yao's contract, reported to be anywhere between 5 percent and 25 percent), Yao learns to adapt to a faster, stronger, more ferocious NBA game.

''You think he's good now,'' gushes Bill Duffy, his agent. ''Wait until he starts stepping back, and hitting threes. I'm telling you, he's only scratched the surface of how good he's going to be.''

Sha says what has impressed him most about his friend has been his ability to focus on the game while his popularity has soared.

''The beauty of Yao is he is so stable,'' Sha says. ''He is always thinking about the right thing. That is not always easy when so many people are pulling at you from so many different places.''

Yao's success, believes Sha, already has paved the way for the next Chinese prospect.

''The Chinese basketball market has matured greatly,'' Sha says. ''There's not so much government control any longer. It is possible for players to now reach for the next level.

''China has this huge population. If it was not Yao Ming, it would have been someone else.''

So who is the next Yao? There are two 7-footers who have been cultivated: Tang Zheng Dong, 18, who has limited mobility; and Qong Jor, whom McCarthy dismisses as ''a poor man's Bateer.'' Neither has the agility, quickness, desire, or touch of Yao.

The next NBA prospect is 16-year-old Yi Jian Lian, who is 6-11 and plays for the GuanDong Tigers. He has been likened to Croatian import Toni Kukoc, the 6-11 former Bulls star and current Buck, because of his shooting ability, ballhandling skills, and versatility. He has good speed, loves the transition game, and already has caught the eye of the major US sponsors in China. Last summer, Yi spent one week at an Adidas camp and another at a Nike camp.

''He is a major talent,'' O'Neil says. ''He is young, still growing, and he's very agile. He will not be a center, like Yao. He's more of a small forward, but he has the skills to take him to the NBA.''

Of the 12 NBA officials contacted for this story, only one - Dallas assistant Donnie Nelson - had heard of Yi. Nelson is somewhat of a folk hero in China for his efforts to bring Wang overseas and is years ahead of other clubs in regards to connections and contacts. The status the Mavericks enjoy because they drafted the first Chinese player cannot be understated.

''Let's just say we've made some friends over there,'' Nelson says.

Boost for Rockets

The Rockets can relate. They provided Yao with a glittery international stage, and the Chinese people have taken note. Even before Yao signed with Houston - a three-year deal worth $4.1 million per year with a team option for the fourth year at $5.6 million - general manager Carroll Dawson and coach Rudy Tomjanovich sensed they enjoyed a special status when they went to Shanghai to meet with Yao and the Chinese government.

''We were walking down the street, and the people all recognized Rudy,'' Dawson says. ''They were grabbing his sleeve saying, `Coach Rudy! Coach Rudy!' It was amazing. And the greeting we received from the Chinese basketball officials was just as positive.''

McCarthy confirms that Dallas and Houston have become NBA favorites in China. Had things worked out differently, McCarthy says, the preferred franchise could well have been the Orlando Magic.

''I knew of this [one] kid,'' McCarthy said. ''He wasn't a complete player, but he could shoot from the parking lot. His name was Hu Weidong, and he wanted to go to the NBA.''

Because Hu was 27, he was not subject to the rules of the NBA draft. He could have been signed at any time by any team as a free agent. McCarthy called Magic general manager John Gabriel and offered to broker a deal that would land Hu in Orlando - before Dallas had the chance to draft Wang.

''We talked with Tommy about it,'' Gabriel says. ''The idea was to build relationships with people over there, and he thought the first step might be to give one of their players a trial run as a free agent.''

McCarthy, who had developed a friendship with Xin Lancheng, the secretary general of basketball for China, convinced him to secure government approval. Then he called Hu and told him it looked promising. McCarthy and Gabriel still were negotiating a 10-day contract that would pay Hu in the neighborhood of $18,000 when McCarthy checked in with Hu to update him.

''I'll never forget it,'' McCarthy says. ''I called Weidong to tell him I thought we were all set. He starts crying. I said, `What the hell are you crying about? You're about to be the first Chinese player in the NBA.' He says, `I was so excited about my chance to go to America I did a very hard workout last night. I broke my leg! I can't play!'

''I couldn't believe it. It ruined my day in history. It ruined his day in history, too.''

Risk of burnout

It is hard to imagine any other Chinese player having the same impact as Yao. There's a new radio show that airs every Saturday in Houston - in Mandarin. He has become an endorsement king for Apple Computer and Visa (watch out, Gatorade is next), and a symbol of the new, changing face of China. It doesn't hurt that Yao has a killer smile, and a game to match.

''I think we've done a good job of humanizing him,'' Duffy says. ''He's very intelligent, and he's handled some of the situations he's found himself in with some amusement. But, at the end of the day, the US is still a foreign country for him. Everyone follows him around. He can't go anywhere anymore.

''And, from what I understand, it will be even worse when he goes back to China.''

The risk of burnout looms large. Every day, a chain of reporters starts out in search of its prey. One other thing: Yao has not had a month off from playing basketball since he was 15. Rockets officials are understandably concerned how much longer he can serve two masters - his national team and the Rockets.

''We understand that there are certain national commitments he must make, but at the same time, we have a strong interest in his development in the NBA,'' explains Houston president George Postolos. ''He's got to be here for training camp, and preseason. Summer workouts are critical, too. So far, he's had limited opportunities to do all that. The first year, we understood. But moving forward, we're going to have to examine it.''

Yao does not want to discuss these potential difficulties. He is fiercely loyal to his national team but has grown to understand the immense burden of his role as the newest NBA dynamo.

''It is hard to pick out the one part that has been the hardest,'' says the big man. ''I've had ups and downs like the waves of the ocean.''

The ocean never rests; it only ebbs and flows. When Yao enjoys a private night of dining with Duffy and his friends, he converses with them in English, hoping to build on his comfort level of a strange and difficult language.

His American friends have their own fantasies about that. They relish the day the radio man turns his back on this gentle giant and demands to know, ''What does he eat?'' only to be answered by Yao, in perfect English: ''What do I eat? I eat food. Same as you.''

 

We have a great reputation as an one-on-one team huh?

http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/celtics/cs02242003.htm

C's quandary: Stop Yao, but how?

by Mark Murphy
Monday, February 24, 2003

There's a lot more than basketball to consider when Yao Ming is the subject.

Consider those commercials and endorsements, for example.

Antoine Walker can certainly relate. The Celtics co-captain has done a few of his own commercials and even he has to admit that the computer gig that paired Yao with Mini Me of ``Austin Powers'' fame is a winner.

``I like his,'' Walker said after yesterday's practice. ``He has the little short guy, that really works.

``I think he's great for the league. He has a great personality.''

And tonight, the Celtics get their second chance at dismantling the 7-foot-6 rookie's game.

The Rockets come in for tonight's game with a 29-26 record that only hints at the improvement Yao's arrival has made to their already potent mix of perimeter players.

Mark Blount, about to start his second tour of duty in a Celtics uniform tonight, played against Yao twice this season while with the Nuggets.

It doesn't take much for a player to understand that this isn't your typical, classic big man.

``You really have to watch him in the post,'' Blount said. ``If you play up on him too tight, he can spin off of you and he's a very good passer.

``With his height, he's almost taking an eight-foot shot when he goes to the basket. But I think he's a really good passer, definitely a good passer. He's gonna be a very good player and he's gonna get better.''

The Celtics faced Yao for the first time during a loss in Houston on Jan. 13.

``I don't recall him being out there for that long,'' Celtics forward Eric Williams said.

In truth, Yao played 31 minutes, scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and, most important, blocked five shots.

The Celtics, who have not had great success against opponents with strong defensive interiors this season, get another shot at attacking, or finding a better alternative.

``We have to make sure we respect his size offensively,'' Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said. ``You have to attack, but if you don't have that shot in close, you have to be able to pull up for the shot.

``I think he's a traditional kind of center, but he's a much better passer than traditional centers. He's above everyone thanks to his height and he can see everything on the floor. He's like a tall quarterback in that respect.''

``What you have to remember is that they're one of the best one-on-one teams in the league,'' Walker said. ``And when you put Yao in the middle, and you put all of those shooters around him, they can really hurt you from inside and outside.

``He's 7-6, but he's not your typical 7-6 guy. He may not be as dominant as Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) is body-wise, but he's getting there. He's very long and he's very skilled, the total package.

``Right now he's trying to fit into the NBA. And next year he's going to be even better. He's good. There's no doubt that he hurt us in the first game.''

 

the player you're talking about is Ma Jian and he's 6'7. Song Tao is actually another player. He is the first Chinese player who had the chance to play in the NBA. He definitely had more atheletism than Yao and Wang as another poster mentioned he could take off frome the FT line and dunk the ball. but I don't think he was as skilled as Yao. Also he's 6'10.

 

yes ,Jonhty.It is Ma,and ma is not Bil Walton in china too ,that is big xu ,haha.
Song is a Zo-like player, strong ,great blocking ability.
Now he live in Taiwan ,his wife is a well-know basket player in china too.

someone (one of my Bball friends,who played for 18 -21(?)chinese NT teams )said¡° I know their complot is to hammer his leg¡±. Rumor!?Maybe!
Hawks like to pick Song_style 's player,I still remmember Song 's
360 Dunk...sigh.

 

I didn't realize Yao had an idiot for an agent.

 

Let me clarify that...I meant about Yao shooting the 3's.

 

There is nothing wrong with Yao hitting 3's as long as he doesn't camp there like EG does. It spreads the defense and makes the opponents honest. I don't understand why Yao doesn't shoot the ball more often when he is left alone at the top of the key. If he hits it more often then the pick and roll would more effective since the opposing center can't back off of him and help out on Stevie. It also makes the guy covering Stevie have to go around Yao and the other center.

 

Right on the mark! Keep on this fact till changes are made, please!

 

I agree with your take on Yao's outside shooting. When that becomes part of the game plan, it'll keep the opposing defense honorst and create better opportunities for other players. That said, I also understand why Yao doesn't take those shots now.

It's obviously not in the current game plan. And that's a good decision. From what I observed so far, Rudy wants him to fully develop his low post moves. Yao Ming has a long way to go to establish himself as a consistent low post force. It's in the long-term benefits of both the Rockets and himself. Yao's plate is full with all those low post assignments. Until he is consistent at the low post, I don't think occasioanl outside shots will help the team that much.