Posts tagged YaoMing at FanHouse

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Will Yao play mad? On Monday, Chinese coach Jonas Kazlauskas held Yao Ming to seven minutes in the second half. Yao was furious. We assume he's gotten over things. If he hasn't? Yao rarely plays angry; he's an extremely mature fellow, typically calm and reserved, unless he's getting mauled on the court. But he's had a bit of an edge to him this week. He's barked at Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue more than he ever has in Chuck Hayes' presence. He looked like he wanted to punch Kazlauskas when he was removed. He didn't talk to reporters. I've only seen Yao under the spell of bloodlust once, in Sacramento last season as some combination of Mikki Moore and (surprise!) Ron Artest aggravated the snot out of the big guy. He was ineffective and eventually got ejected. I imagine things are fine on Team China now. If there are, however, raw nerves, Yao might either play with a fire we haven't seen ... or he might be distracted into malperformance.

Trade secrets. One more Kaslauskas note: this Coach K is Lithuanian, and coached the Lithuanian national team until 2001, and knows the games of many of Lithuania's top players well. That sort of trade secret thing won't work without talent ... with China has with Yao and sometimes Yi. As a longtime Oakland Raider fan (pity me), remember the Jon Gruden Super Bowl.

During the remainder of the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will give you 5 Things to watch for in each game.

Will Yao play mad? On Monday, Chinese coach Jonas Kazlauskas held Yao Ming to seven minutes in the second half. Yao was furious. We assume he's gotten over things. If he hasn't? Yao rarely plays angry; he's an extremely mature fellow, typically calm and reserved, unless he's getting mauled on the court. But he's had a bit of an edge to him this week. He's barked at Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue more than he ever has in Chuck Hayes' presence. He looked like he wanted to punch Kazlauskas when he was removed. He didn't talk to reporters. I've only seen Yao under the spell of bloodlust once, in Sacramento last season as some combination of Mikki Moore and (surprise!) Ron Artest aggravated the snot out of the big guy. He was ineffective and eventually got ejected. I imagine things are fine on Team China now. If there are, however, raw nerves, Yao might either play with a fire we haven't seen ... or he might be distracted into malperformance.

Trade secrets. One more Kaslauskas note: this Coach K is Lithuanian, and coached the Lithuanian national team until 2001, and knows the games of many of Lithuania's top players well. That sort of trade secret thing won't work without talent ... with China has with Yao and sometimes Yi. As a longtime Oakland Raider fan (pity me), remember the Jon Gruden Super Bowl.

Yao Ming couldn't take out the elite Team USA, and couldn't finish the job against reigning world champ Spain. I have a feeling none of that matters right now.

With a win over Germany this morning, China has clinched a berth in the next round of the Olympic men's basketball tournament. Yao went for 25 points and 11 rebounds, negating a monstrous effort from Dirk Nowitzki to push his country to a four-point victory. The last moments weren't without drama: with China up by one with after a Dirk three with two minutes left, Germany got a stop ... but Nowitzki got called for the offensive foul against Yao. Ming missed a shot but got his own rebound, and Yi Jianlian (!) got a bucket with 30 seconds left to strengthen the lead.

Dirk misses a three, Yao hits some free throws, and ballgame. The addition of Chris Kaman helped Germany get to the Olympics, no doubt, but couldn't get Dirk any further than that. But that can be discussed another time: Yao's accomplishment, while not unique (China made the final eight in Athens and in the '06 Worlds), is huge considering the locale and quality of Group B. After starting 0-2, with Germany and Greece looking strong, no one expected China to get this far. It has to be a marvelously proud moment for the Chinese team.

Yao Ming couldn't take out the elite Team USA, and couldn't finish the job against reigning world champ Spain. I have a feeling none of that matters right now.

With a win over Germany this morning, China has clinched a berth in the next round of the Olympic men's basketball tournament. Yao went for 25 points and 11 rebounds, negating a monstrous effort from Dirk Nowitzki to push his country to a four-point victory. The last moments weren't without drama: with China up by one with after a Dirk three with two minutes left, Germany got a stop ... but Nowitzki got called for the offensive foul against Yao. Ming missed a shot but got his own rebound, and Yi Jianlian (!) got a bucket with 30 seconds left to strengthen the lead.

Dirk misses a three, Yao hits some free throws, and ballgame. The addition of Chris Kaman helped Germany get to the Olympics, no doubt, but couldn't get Dirk any further than that. But that can be discussed another time: Yao's accomplishment, while not unique (China made the final eight in Athens and in the '06 Worlds), is huge considering the locale and quality of Group B. After starting 0-2, with Germany and Greece looking strong, no one expected China to get this far. It has to be a marvelously proud moment for the Chinese team.

Throughout the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will prioritize the games of the day for you in Golden Ticket.

Two heavyweight battles on the docket for the fourth day of the men's tournament, plus a couple other intriguing matchups.

GOLD: United States vs Spain, 10:15 a.m. EST The Group B lead (and top seed, I reckon) will be at stake when the Spaniards and Americans face off. However, a loss for either team wouldn't mean a ton. This might be the only team against which Team USA loses two starters' position battle: Jose Calderon could be better than Jason Kidd, and Pau Gasol might be closer to Carmelo Anthony than you'd think. Of course, the United States has better depth and stronger talent at the top, with LeBron and Kobe. Can Spanish camaraderie bridge the gulf and take Spain to a win? We'll see ... well, Eastern and Central time zone fans will see. Folks in the Mountain or Pacific time zones can either watch online at NBCOlympics.com or catch it on a tape delay. Awesome work, NBC!

SILVER: Croatia vs Lithuania, 2:30 a.m. EST The Croats finally dropped a match with a stinker against resurgent Argentina. Lithuania continues to ride high after salting the Argentines on the opening day, and along with only the U.S. and Spain remains undefeated. The guard battle should be excellent, and you'd suspect plenty of made threes here -- Croatia is still at 50% from deep on the tournament. Lithuania's Linas Kleiza has been an uber-efficient scorer and has pulled seven boards a game.

BRONZE: China vs Germany, 8:00 a.m. EST China could use a big win here to slip onto the path toward the medal round. Yao Ming really dominated against Angola (surprise). Chris Kaman and Dirk Nowitzki should impede the big China frontline a bit more. Both teams have questionable backcourt outfits, as we've said and seen and said again after seeing. Despite the 1-2 record, China's been good, hanging with the States for a hot minute and taking Spain to OT. Germany, however, followed its win over the Aussies with two double-digits losses ... and it hasn't met the U.S. yet. I'll guess China in an upset of minor proportions. (Actually, I might take a nap.)

In other action: Greece vs Angola, Russia vs Australia, Iran vs Argentina.

Throughout the Olympic men's basketball tournament, FanHouse will prioritize the games of the day for you in Golden Ticket.

Two heavyweight battles on the docket for the fourth day of the men's tournament, plus a couple other intriguing matchups.

GOLD: United States vs Spain, 10:15 a.m. EST The Group B lead (and top seed, I reckon) will be at stake when the Spaniards and Americans face off. However, a loss for either team wouldn't mean a ton. This might be the only team against which Team USA loses two starters' position battle: Jose Calderon could be better than Jason Kidd, and Pau Gasol might be closer to Carmelo Anthony than you'd think. Of course, the United States has better depth and stronger talent at the top, with LeBron and Kobe. Can Spanish camaraderie bridge the gulf and take Spain to a win? We'll see ... well, Eastern and Central time zone fans will see. Folks in the Mountain or Pacific time zones can either watch online at NBCOlympics.com or catch it on a tape delay. Awesome work, NBC!

SILVER: Croatia vs Lithuania, 2:30 a.m. EST The Croats finally dropped a match with a stinker against resurgent Argentina. Lithuania continues to ride high after salting the Argentines on the opening day, and along with only the U.S. and Spain remains undefeated. The guard battle should be excellent, and you'd suspect plenty of made threes here -- Croatia is still at 50% from deep on the tournament. Lithuania's Linas Kleiza has been an uber-efficient scorer and has pulled seven boards a game.

BRONZE: China vs Germany, 8:00 a.m. EST China could use a big win here to slip onto the path toward the medal round. Yao Ming really dominated against Angola (surprise). Chris Kaman and Dirk Nowitzki should impede the big China frontline a bit more. Both teams have questionable backcourt outfits, as we've said and seen and said again after seeing. Despite the 1-2 record, China's been good, hanging with the States for a hot minute and taking Spain to OT. Germany, however, followed its win over the Aussies with two double-digits losses ... and it hasn't met the U.S. yet. I'll guess China in an upset of minor proportions. (Actually, I might take a nap.)

In other action: Greece vs Angola, Russia vs Australia, Iran vs Argentina.

FanHouse blogger Enrico Campitelli Jr. is on the scene in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

The very first Olympic event I had the pleasure of attending couldn't have been a more amazing experience. At the games an entire culture has waited 100 years for, their biggest sporting icon took center court yesterday to try and show the supportive Chinese fans inside Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium and all across China a win.

Pau Gasol and his gang of offensive Spaniards allowed China to build up a fairly comfortable lead at the end of the third quarter and into much of the fourth but the host nation couldn't get things going in the fourth and Spain sliced through the exhausted Chinese squad like a chef's knife through a Peking Duck. (Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week, try the mutton!)

FanHouse already covered most of the on-the-court action of the most exciting basketball match of the 2008 games, so after the jump I take a look at the atmosphere along with photos and a video of the impressive Chinese fans.

You know what the Houston Rockets need, now that they've been bounced from the first round again, Yao Ming is recovering from a severe foot injury by playing in the Olympics, and they've added one of the most volatile players in the NBA in Ron Artest?

Drama. And that's exactly what Rafer Alston is here for.

Alston was busted for driving while intoxicated on Friday, and posted a $500 bond. This comes almost exactly one year after he was arrested for public intoxication and assault, though he was cleared of those charges. He was also cleared of charges from August 28th last year stemming from allegations he slashed the throat of someone. Now, Skip To My Lou is the only truly competent point guard the Rockets have, and they're going to need him. But someone might want to tell him not to leave the house during August. At all. Just stay indoors, Rafer!

Take a look. It's in a book. It's Reading Rainbow.

(HT: Dream Shake)

We included China-Spain in the Golden Ticket more for extracurricular reasons than any expectation of competitiveness. To date, the game was the closest fought of any in the Olympics. China, perhaps angry about the insensitive ad the Spaniards took out in a Spanish paper and almost certainly bolstered by a super-spirited crowd, fought hard, leading by 14 early in the fourth quarter.

The Spanish needed a Marc Gasol prayer to get the game to overtime, which is where the Spanish asserted themselves as Yao Ming fouled out and Pau Gasol found himself. Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro started the game on the bench, which might have been a form of punishment for the Marca scandal or could have just been a stupid mistake with the Spanish coaching staff. Calderon never got into a rhythm, and Navarro offered mediocre play in his 16 minutes.

If China had taken the United States to overtime, we'd be in a catatonic state right now. Marca's online header says something in 72-point font about "sweating red China." Yeah, that seems like a fair assessment. Spain plays the U.S. on Saturday, and both teams should remain undefeated ... we think.

We included China-Spain in the Golden Ticket more for extracurricular reasons than any expectation of competitiveness. To date, the game was the closest fought of any in the Olympics. China, perhaps angry about the insensitive ad the Spaniards took out in a Spanish paper and almost certainly bolstered by a super-spirited crowd, fought hard, leading by 14 early in the fourth quarter.

The Spanish needed a Marc Gasol prayer to get the game to overtime, which is where the Spanish asserted themselves as Yao Ming fouled out and Pau Gasol found himself. Jose Calderon and Juan Carlos Navarro started the game on the bench, which might have been a form of punishment for the Marca scandal or could have just been a stupid mistake with the Spanish coaching staff. Calderon never got into a rhythm, and Navarro offered mediocre play in his 16 minutes.

If China had taken the United States to overtime, we'd be in a catatonic state right now. Marca's online header says something in 72-point font about "sweating red China." Yeah, that seems like a fair assessment. Spain plays the U.S. on Saturday, and both teams should remain undefeated ... we think.