Yaozer: Small Hands, Big Body Must Carry Rockets with Tracy McGrady Gone

LeBron James has enjoyed similar nights in his young, hype-filled career. Few have been as embarrassing as his latest outing in Houston.

Thursday night was a LeBrick.

Just days after he torpedoed the banal Milwaukee Bucks for 55 points, he drew blanks at Toyota Center. If he fired any missiles, they lost their smart targets and U-turned to blow up in his face.

He missed 14-21 shots, pulled down a season-low one rebound and failed to assist for the first time in his career. Ron Artest spent most of the night haranguing LeBron into Hail Mary shots while Shane Battier played the part of the defensive sidekick. Both played a hand in jamming up the superstar's athletic game.

If the incredible individual efforts of Battier and Artest on James muddied up the show, they didn't steal it. Yao Ming did.

Just two months earlier, it was James finishing off the Rockets with a weak side swat of a Yao drive to the basket.

Thursday night, it was Yao who delivered the exclamation points. In the third quarter, Yao took a superb feed from Aaron Brooks and slammed it with two hands over King James for a three-point play opportunity.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the Cavs trying one last time to ignite a spark, James drove past two defenders and then met Yao at the rim. The big guy sent James' shot flying toward the three-point line. Brooks sped down the court and fed Von Wafer for a three-pointer to push the lead back to 18.

The soldout crowd erupted as it rarely does during regular season matches. On many nights, the arena's lower bowl is half-filled, cheers during the starting introductions are halfhearted and it takes a spectacular play to get anyone interested in making audible noise.

Thursday was different. The Houston fans showed up in force for contests against the league's elite. It helped that the Rockets gave the fans a lot to cheer about.

Such as, holding Cleveland to its two lowest scoring quarters of the season—11 in the first, 10 in the third.

Such as, harassing the league's fifth best shooting team into its worst performance of the season—a 33 percent effort.

Such as, holding a team that averages 100 points efficiently to a hard-earned 74—a Cleveland season low.

The roaring ovation after Yao's symbolic block is why I spend money to attend basketball games. Nothing beats a raucous NBA crowd's reaction after a tremendous play.

Yao stood tall as the centerpiece of the Rockets rout. With microfracture surgery sidelining Tracy McGrady for the rest of the season, and perhaps most of the next, this is now his team.

For better or worse, the Rockets will go as far as Yao can take them. It is a fitting formal transfer of leadership, since McGrady always wanted to deflect that responsibility to Yao anyway.

McGrady's career in Houston has been one extended dribble session. He is an underrated playmaker, one of the natural gifts that makes him one of the top five talents ever to wear a basketball uniform.

But, "T-Mac" rarely realized his superstar potential with the Rockets, so now it's Yao's turn.

With the distraction that was McGrady's nightly in-and-out status shelved for 6-12 months, the team knows what its focal point must be for the next few months.

As great a passer as McGrady was, he stopped the ball at the end of many games and jacked up contested jumpers. This instead of giving the rock to his center.

Notice the past tense discussion of McGrady's abilities. The fans can only hope he has played his last game in a Rockets uniform.

After McGrady's annual vilification as the ultimate playoff loser, now the folks who say Yao gets an unfair pass will get their chance to berate him.

Hold off on those insults.

As Yao demonstrated in Thursday's 93-74 win, he comes packed with many flaws, some considered unacceptable by big men purists. He also does more than enough to sandbag those shortcomings.

The Rockets brass insists it would still have selected Yao with the first pick in the 2002 draft knowing what it does now.

Here's why:

• He scored 28 points, 26 of them in the first three quarters, on 13-15 shooting.
• Every shot he tossed up was a high percentage look, and his effectiveness drew double teams and two triple teams on second half possessions. Yao sees a lot of these in every game, especially after becoming the team's leading scorer in fourth quarters.
• The Cavaliers threw every defensive scheme imaginable at Yao, and he shredded them all. Mike Brown elected to not front him for most of the contest. The two times Zydrunas Ilgauskas or Anderson Varejao did, the Rockets guards found the wide open perimeter shooters.
• He recorded zero assists but made numerous hockey passes. The recipients then passed around the rock until it found an open three-point shooter. After missing their first six treys, the Rockets made eight of their remaining 13 attempts. The attention given to Yao afforded the shooters many of those great looks.
• He used his space and size in the lane to help Battier and Artest contain James' penetration. The Cavaliers scored 22 points in the paint, but many of those came with Yao on the bench or in a hazardous position where an over contest would have resulted in an unnecessary foul.

As usual, Yao made a number of mistakes.

Here's a few:

• He coughed up the ball five times. His three-turnover-per-game average is always a concern. In a perfect world, he would always bring the ball up and quickly shoot it like Kevin McHale did.
• One of his miscues came when he secured deep post position on Ilgauskas. He hesitated and then put the ball on the floor again instead of just flipping in the shot. Varejao, the help defender, scrambled over and swiped the ball.
• Yao was out of position on one sequence in the second quarter where he surrendered an offensive rebound to Ilgauskas and then let Wally Szczerbiak drive in for an uncontested layup.

Why he errs:

• Yao may be 7'6", but his hands are small, which makes it tough for him to secure rebounds in a crowd.
• His large frame limits his mobility. He is not Hakeem Olajuwon part II. They are different players.
• Opponents often double and triple team him in the post to contain his production. Against the Celtics Nov. 4, Yao read the swarming defense horribly and finished 4-13, mired in a foul-trouble funk. Thursday night, he read situations beautifully and made the right moves, even if he committed five turnovers.

Yao's best moves:

• He loves to shoot 10-15 feet turnarounds after doing his own version of "the Dream Shake." Rockets TV play-by-play man Bill Worrell calls it "the Shanghai Shake." He utilized this pet move four times and made three of those attempts. He drilled one of them with 43 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead to 68-50.
• His jump-hook with either hand is unguardable. If he misses, it's usually his fault. He attempted six hook shots against the Cavs and swooshed four of them. That's what I call reliable.
• He dunked the ball four times, including his thunderous jam over James.

Four realities of "the Great Wall":

1. He will likely never morph into China's version of Dirk Nowitzki. He could shoot 20-25 footers and treys if he practiced enough, but that would negate his work down low.
2. He is a low post player and needs to get the ball no more than 10 feet from the hoop to be at his best.
3. Yao will never become a great pick and roll defender. Teams that run the play ad nausea or with precision will continue to exploit his struggles to stop this play.
4. He will not transform into an athletic shot blocker. Ever.

Four reasons why Yao is a player worth building around:

1. He has earned the respect of every coach under which he has played and his teammates love him. His work ethic and earnest attitude make him a coach's dream. It's also obvious to this Rockets fan that even Artest has fully embraced Yao and what he can do. Artest called Yao "dominant" in a post-game interview Tuesday night.
2. As his sterling field goal percentage in Thursday's contest shows, when he gets the ball close to the basket and avoids turnovers, count it for two.
3. He shoots the highest free throw percentage of any starting center on a playoff team—86 percent. That means the Rockets can dump the ball to him at the end of games and count on makes at the line.
4. Shaquille O' Neal has always been a lousy pick-and-roll defender, and he boasts four championship rings. I am not equating the two players, just saying that it is possible to win a title with a big man who does not guard that play well.

A lot to like about Rockets, Yao in win over Cavaliers:

I flashback to that early January evening in Toronto when the comatose Raptors spanked these same Rockets 93-74. McGrady stood at the free throw line while Jamario Moon whizzed by him for a dunk at the end of the third quarter. He quit that night and so did the rest of the team.

The difference: these are not the same Rockets. Much has changed since what was perhaps the most disgusting display of basketball in franchise history. When GM Daryl Morey acquired the effervescent Artest, like so many, I pictured these Rockets on the right side of the above score.

Thursday, they were.

A healthy and intelligent McGrady would seem to make this team a true championship contender. However, maybe the knowledge that McGrady will miss the rest of the season is why the Rockets finally look like the outfit management promised in August.

The players waited for T-Mac to swoop in, cape and all, and save them instead of saving themselves. They clung to the idea of the 2008-09 McGrady as a superstar when it was clear this hobbling version of the guard was not one.

The team has won nine of eleven and sits a game behind the Denver Nuggets for third place in the Western Conference. The Rockets also swept a six-game home stand, the most consecutive home games won in a row since the franchise moved from San Diego.

I will repeat what I said about this bunch in an earlier piece after a home bout with the New Jersey Nets. They look like they enjoy playing with one another. Basketball now seems more like a passion to these guys than a dreaded job.

I scorned the Rafer Alston trade last week because I did not understand it. Now I do. The Rockets are 11-1 with Brooks as the starter.

Brooks and Lowry each registered seven assists against the Cavaliers. Lowry bombarded the rim on the fastbreak in ways Thursday Alston never did.

That's why Morey is the general manager and I'm a moron.

This version of the Rockets plays spirited, inspired and tough-nosed basketball. With a focused Artest now in the fold, winning a first round series is doable.

The center of it all, of course, will have to be Yao. The Rockets success in this crucial stretch run and the postseason depends largely on how the big guy with small hands tackles the pressure.

Thursday, he provided the lasting image of LeBrick's big flop.

Zero-for-three in the playoffs? Now it's time for Yao to steal an even bigger show.