Yao's presence felt and heard in win
(Houston Chronicle)
Updated: 2004-03-25 13:24

Check the TiVo. Learn to lip-read. The Americanization of Yao Ming took an unexpected, full-throated, did-he-say-that turn Monday.

Yao dominated the last three minutes of regulation and the first three minutes of overtime to save the Rockets from the indignity and damage of blowing another huge lead. But that sort of thing is expected of him in any language.

He rose above his own struggles and the considerable defensive talents of Portland's Theo Ratliff in ways he had not against Golden State's Erick Dampier two games earlier. But that, too, is part of the process of growing from sensation to superstar.

Yao even offered his first American pop culture reference. When asked about Ratliff's defense, he said, "WWF," then laughed about the wrestling match he had won. But Yao often has shown a taste for a one-liner.

The moment that showcased another sign of assimilation into the NBA slice of American life -- and perhaps even an important step for Yao and the Rockets -- came earlier.

Ratliff had blocked a pair of Yao shots, one on a dunk, and Yao had clanged two other dunk attempts. But with a rim-shaking, two-handed slam over Ratliff in the 93-85 win, Yao trash-talked as if enrolled in Gary Payton 101.

What he said really did not matter and is not printable anyway. But with the Rockets desperately needing him to dominate, Yao seemed to recognize the need and the challenge, then announced his intentions.

Just as important, the Rockets saw -- and heard -- that in him.

"He's the guy that's going to take us home," forward Maurice Taylor said. "He's the guy that's going to take control, get aggressive and bring us through these types of games. When he ducked in (to a deep position in the lane), I was going to throw it in every time. I didn't care if he was tired or what; I was going to throw it in there. I believe the ball in his hands makes us that much better."

Taylor was not alone in that belief. The Rockets repeatedly ran Steve Francis around a Taylor screen, forcing the Trail Blazers to cut off the inside pass from Francis or from Taylor but not both. Francis drew a double-team, then sent passes to Taylor. With a big man forced to rotate to Taylor, the forward sent passes inside to Yao, knowing the Blazers were out of big bodies to deny the pass.

"We were running the same play," Taylor said. "We were just basically running the pick-and-roll. If they trapped Steve, or if they `downed' (leaving a big man on Yao, rather than rotating to Taylor) and left me open, we knew what to do."

When Ratliff fouled out trying to prevent a Taylor pass to Yao, Francis ran to Taylor, shouting, "Great pass!"

"Every time!" Taylor shouted back. "I'm throwing it down there every time!"

"Steve did a great job on some pick-and-rolls," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "The second pass led to some baskets. Mo did a great job getting the ball to Yao on the cut in, a great job. We're just trying to get quality shots. We're always going to play inside-out. Yao, after a substandard first 3 1/2 quarters, came alive and did a great job the last few minutes of regulation and overtime."

That said, there were familiar issues before the final three minutes of regulation. After blowing a 21-point lead in a loss to Phoenix on March 15 and a 16-point lead in a loss to Sacramento on Sunday, the Rockets led the Trail Blazers by 17 in the second half and saw it all slip away, eventually facing a six-point deficit.

"We cracked a little bit in the fourth mentally and then gathered ourselves well and defended well the last four minutes and then (played) very good overtime defense," Van Gundy said. "Steve made a few crucial plays defensively. All of our guys did a good job locking in. We let (Damon) Stoudamire get away from us in the third and into the fourth (quarter), but for the most part, I thought our perimeter defense was much better.

"It's just important to win. I liked how we finished."

That leaves the Rockets to do what Van Gundy said they were not doing a week before: learning from mistakes made in victories.

"We did it the hard way," forward Jim Jackson said. "There's positives in it, but there's negatives because we lost a lead again. We came away with a win, a positive outcome, but giving up the lead again has haunted us.

"When you let it slip away, you can easily be down 10 points to a good team and not be able to get back in it. But we regained our poise, which is a positive. And Yao stepped up big."

He also stepped up loudly, having learned another way to announce his arrival.