[Houston Chronicle] Suddenly, everything's all about Yao

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/4332535.html

Suddenly, everything's all about Yao

By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle


For all the praise heaped on Rockets center Yao Ming lately, including being named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday, the greatest compliment was an insult.

The Big Diesel essentially coughed a puff of smoke in Yao's face.

After being outplayed, outrun and overwhelmed in Sunday's impressive Rockets win at Miami, Shaquille O'Neal said Yao was "pretty much" the same as always.

He lumped Yao with all the other pretenders for Shaq's crown as the best center in the league, saying he wasn't motivated by those who contend that Yao has surpassed his greatness.

He ignored the obvious. He harrumphed. And that was as good as passing the scepter and cloak.

Yao is the best, and we're not just talking statistically anymore. He is the most dominating big man in the league, having tossed 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting and 14 rebounds in O'Neal's face in the early-season showdown.

Payoff comes in June

The title means nothing, of course, without playoff successes and championships. It is merely a mythical crown until May rolls into June and the Rockets ride Yao's spin moves and fall-away jumpers to playoff victories.

But what we have seen from Yao thus far — and will see this week in rigid tests against an assortment of styles — will go a long way toward completing the transformation of not just his stature but his team's.

In consecutive games, Yao will have faced O'Neal's brawn and San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan's guile and lethal bank shot. He then faces the Chicago Bulls' burly, athletic Ben Wallace, who has given Yao fits in the past, and the Detroit Pistons' assortment of inside-out big men, including Rasheed Wallace and Nazr Mohammad.

When Yao played in just 57 games a year ago, we believed the Rockets were still Tracy McGrady's team. On some nights, it again will have to be that way. But this is a stronger, quicker and more complete Yao.

He must stay out of foul trouble and certainly do more than put together a week or two of unstoppable play. But still just 26, Yao is entering the prime of his career.

His team, his time

Clearly, this is his team, his time and, soon, with respect to Cleveland's LeBron James, his league.

Statistics matter, of course. And on that front Yao had it over every other center, including O'Neal, a year ago. Yao is putting up head-spinning numbers again, ranking seventh in scoring (27.3 points per game), ninth in field-goal percentage (.593), 14th in rebounding (10.0), 10th in blocked shots (2.0) and sixth in free-throw shooting among players who have taken at least 40 freebies (.879).

McGrady matters, too. A lot.

But while statistics don't separate good players and good teams from great ones, other immeasurable things do. The Rockets are 5-2 for the season and through seven games look like contenders to challenge the Spurs in the Southwest Division despite McGrady's awful shooting, Bonzi Wells' continued absence from the lineup and marginal help on the front line.

The Rockets look legitimate because Yao has another kind of look. Certain players walk onto the floor with an air of confidence and command of the night every night. They have a way of always involving teammates yet having the ball in their hands when it matters most.

They have a way of never being satisfied, setting an example by outworking everyone and always trying to reach a higher level.

King James has that look. So does Phoenix's Steve Nash, Miami's Dwyane Wade, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Duncan.

They have something else, too. Their voices matter as much as their play. When they speak, whether it is in the confines of the locker room or on a public stage, people listen.

That may be as much a part of why the Rockets now have found the Yao everyone expected to see from the day he was drafted No. 1 in 2002. He doesn't demand anything. He earns it.

To McGrady's credit as well as coach Jeff Van Gundy's, T-Mac has deferred to Yao this year as well. As with Shaq's reluctance to admit what Yao has become, that is another significant testament to Yao.

This 1-2 punch of McGrady-Yao could well be a volatile, crippling mix if either player thought too much of himself not to know when the other guy deserved the ball.

Remember the Shaq-Kobe Bryant marriage? That was a relationship that should have lasted a decade at least, filled with sweet nights, sparking rings and utter dominance. But after a few happy days, O'Neal and Bryant no longer could coexist for a number of reasons, namely Bryant's ill-conceived belief that he was more important that O'Neal.

Irreconcilable differences in the locker room have wrecked more NBA marriages than locker-room groupies.

But here, perhaps as much because of a failing jumper as lingering tentativeness from the back injury that sidelined him last year, McGrady has recognized Yao's growth. He has willingly become James Worthy to Yao's Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale to Yao's Larry Bird or, more precisely, Kobe to Yao's Shaq.

T-Mac is shooting just 38.6 percent from the floor and 63 percent from the free-throw line. He will snap out of it and win a lot of games for this team. He will have nights when he goes off for 40 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Yao's impact will be an afterthought.

But if the Rockets' reach the NBA's highest level — and another great test comes tonight at Toyota Center — McGrady's greatest quality will be knowing he won't have to carry such a load.

McGrady is no less a player than he ever has been. In fact, in the most important way, he is a better one. He knows the most dominant player in the league is just one pass away.

john.lopez@chron.com