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Yao Ming
"I need more weight training. [Anderson] is so strong. He was so physical. Maybe I can get stronger than him."
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Richard Anderson
'His upper body is what [Yao] needs to work on. The first time he grimaces when you give him a little shove, you know you can play with him."
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One game in North America and Yao Ming is once again all the talk of the basketball world.
And the results gave ammunition to both the optimists and the pessimists as Yao hit all of his shots from the field (6-6) and free throw line (5-5) for 17 points, 5 boards and 5 blocks, but was also pushed around some by a no-name center on the Canadian team, Richard Anderson.
Anderson is just 6-foot-6, but packs a punch with arms that look like Karl Malone's.
Eyewitness accounts from those in the Clutch BBS, who were in attendance in Vancouver, said Yao got a lot of his points off of dunks and that the guards on the Chinese squad are terrible. They simply couldn't get the 7-foot-5 big man the ball in the 94-66 loss to Canada.
Yao and the Chinese squad get an even bigger test this Thursday as they face the United States. If Richard Anderson was bad, Ben Wallace should be a brutal test. US coach George Karl admits the players could get fired up in "welcoming" Yao to the NBA.
"NBA players have a lot of pride," said Karl. "There is no question that in our first game, players are going to come out with a little extra juice and energy."
Other Notes:
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Sonics and Rashard Lewis have been unable to bridge the financial gap in their contract talks. Lewis has been in Seattle hoping to get a deal done but is expected to return home to Houston today ... the New York Post mentions this morning that the New York Knicks have looked at a lot of options to fill the center position, and had talks with the Rockets to acquire Kelvin Cato earlier in the summer.
