Yao Dominates Warriors: What The Houston Rockets Could Learn From Thomas Paine

Isn't it nice when your hometown team gets a clue?

As former play-by-play announcer Gene Peterson would say, "how sweet it is."

Sometime in the third quarter of the Rockets high-scoring 131-112 rout of the hapless and defensively challenged Golden State Warriors, the Rockets realized they had a player no one in a visiting uniform could guard.

When Yao Ming was done pouring in 19 points in the fourth quarter to cap a 33-point, 14-rebound night, the Rockets had discovered common sense again. The 7'6" center drained 8 of his 12 shots, found three point shooters off double teams or made the hockey assist and swooshed 17 of 19 free throw attempts.

He fouled out Ronny Turiaf and Andris Biedrins. He gave a few rookies and Brandon Wright some rude lessons, too. Yao will never be Hakeem Olajuwon and may never live up to the standards some think a 7'6" center should meet.

To compare the two players seems like blasphemy, but that's OK.

No one will ever confuse Tim Duncan with a slam-dunk champion or the league’s best free throw shooter. No one will accuse Kevin Garnett of being the best fourth quarter performer in NBA history.

Great teams accept what they have, maximize and milk it.

Complain and whine all you want about what Yao does not and may never do well--defend the pick and roll consistently, race down the court, run to contest outside shooting big men or rack up blocked shots. Stay healthy also seems high on that list.

There are many things Yao does, and when the Rockets take advantage, no one can argue they aren't a much better team.

Jeff Van Gundy used to fume at the Rockets in his halftime speeches when they failed to feed Yao the ball.

"I would like to introduce you to Yao Ming, the most dominant offensive big man on that court tonight," he would say.

More than 16 months after Van Gundy's ouster, the Rockets have yet to consistently acknowledge that Yao exists. Amnesia is a terrible disease, huh?

Chide Yao also for not demanding the ball in the same fierce way Olajuwon did with Sam Cassell and Kenny Smith. "Get me the damn ball."

Should Yao's court mates need to be yelled at to know he's there?

It has occurred too often for the mostly turvy Rockets this season. Against the Spurs in San Antonio, Yao sparked a 6-0 run in the third quarter of a 77-75 loss with a dunk and two layups. His teammates rewarded him by giving him the ball once the rest of the game.

In another close loss to the Indiana Pacers, Ron Artest decided that he should dribble down the clock and chuck up contested fadeaways in the final frame's last three minutes instead of playing through his 7'6" teammate.

When Artest hit up Yao in the post against the Warriors, he usually spotted his man running to the paint to save one of the foul-plagued bigs. Hey, Ron Ron, it works. Three-point field goal. Swish.

Artest compiled his best offensive performance in a Rockets uniform, 28 points on 9-for-21 shooting, and began the explosive affair with a Sports Center-worthy jam over two defenders.

McGrady often fuels the problem when he dribbles and dribbles some more only to finish a bad possession with a contested heave from the top of the key.

The same guy who can shoot the Rockets out of a rough patch can also stagnate the offense into the abyss.

In the team's best first quarter in Miami, Rafer Alston and Artest dished to Yao on every possession, and he either scored or found a perimeter player to knock in a long ball.

The ball swung, and as Artest and others discovered, they didn't lose many shots, and the ones they took were wide open.

Van Gundy and Rick Adelman have something in common. Neither minds their players jacking up perimeter shots, as long as they come from penetration or Yao Ming.

There will always be arguments about how Yao stacks up against Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard in the center hierarchy.

Shaq, in his prime, and Howard are superior shot blockers, and boast far more athleticism. But neither of them could nail 17 free throws, including pressure ones to seal a game.

Just as the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat found ways to win with Shaq's abysmal free throw shooting, the Rockets can win with Yao and his deficiencies. That is, if they get him the ball.

Who knows if Yao will survive this season without a major injury? He's missed more than 80 games in his last three seasons, right? Who besides Trainer Keith Jones and the medical staff should care?

They have him now, healthy as he's ever been, and they would be stupid not to use every minute of it to their advantage.

For most of the shootout against Don Nelson's crappy Warriors, the Rockets forgot to play defense and threw up long shots that allowed Golden State's speedy athletes to grab the long rebounds and take off for five-second fast breaks.

When the so-called contenders finally found Yao on the low block, and reposted him, too, the Warriors had no chance.

The game was over faster than any of the refs could eject Stephen Jackson and Don Nelson. They might have preferred cold beer in the locker room to watching this slop fest.

The difference for the Rockets, reflected in the team's highest offensive output in more than three seasons? When they discovered Yao amongst the defenseless rubble, the sloppy 'you score, I score' festival turned into a thing of beauty.

Shane Battier knocked in another three, Artest sunk his fourth and Rafer Alston completed a fast break with a dazzling give and go.

Allowing a pathetic team to rifle in 112 points on 54 percent shooting at home will not win the Rockets a championship. Common sense, however, can get them on the right track.