"Are you the stats guy?" he asked.

I thought for a moment about what benefits might come to me if I replied, "Yes. That's me -- stats guy." Unfortunately though my actual answer was disappointing for both of us.

It's a good thing I got there with time to spare because coach Rick Adelman ended practice early. In fact, some of the media had not arrived yet.

It was fascinating to watch the media just glue themselves to Yao's every move.

The big man (and when you see him in person the "big" is really reinforced) was off in one corner of the gym shooting free throws with an assistant coach. Cameramen and reporters all just got as close as they could without stepping in to the area of play, just waiting for Yao to come over.

Adelman walked over and made himself available. Some of the media didn't even bother to come over... they stayed on Yao. Others, while huddled around Adelman, would motion to their camermen - "Keep your eyes on Yao -- tell me exactly when he comes over."

When Yao finally did stop shooting, he walked the length of the court, grabbed a towel, then came back towards us. This huddled mass of media just shuffled their feet and followed him from one end to the other. It was a scene that I'm sure Yao has seen thousands of times.

While Yao was working his way through the crowd, he bumped into me. So yeah, I'll be selling my right shoulder on Ebay China.

Yao was recovering from a cold that he picked up back East, but he was in good spirits. When I asked him what it was like playing with "Steve" again, he smiled and asked, "Steve Novak?" When it got to business though, he was optimistic about the changes to the offense.

"We will be must faster, which will be a challenge for my conditioning," said Yao. "There are a lot of cuts, off ball movement, lots of outside shots, but not just three-point shots. Particularly I like those off the ball cuts, which will create some easy baskets."

On playing again with Francis:

"It's great, I have a lot of fun," said Yao. "I still remember my first few years with him. He took care of me as I was a new guy coming to the United States. He's a really funny dude and everybody knows he has a tough heart."

Yao's new coach praised the big man's versatility.

"He really looked good," said Adelman. "He picked things up so easily. He's going to be hard to guard."

Both Rafer Alston and Tracy McGrady thought Yao looked "great".

"It's good to have him back," said McGrady. "He obviously knows the offense. He didn't ask any questions [so] I guess he's been studying."

We did not see any scrimmage today ... when we came in the players were just doing shootaround. I didn't even see Steve Francis today -- he likely went straight to the weight room.

No late lounge chair today -- Tracy McGrady was active on the court today when we walked in. The shorter practice may have had something to do that with. T-Mac was taking shots from the free throw line then moved to the baseline and was hoisting threes from basically out of bounds.

I was able to catch both Chuck Hayes and Rockets GM Daryl Morey afterwards for interviews as well. Audio for both is available in the media player.

My impressions overall from camp? Mike Harris always seemed active and involved to me. Luis Scola's shot was a touch off when I saw him, but he too looked very active (and I think he will be the most important addition of all the new players). Luther Head drew praise from teammates and coaches on more than one day.

But it wasn't really overwhelming impressions about specific players that I left with. It was more like a confirmation that the Rockets are stocked with talent this year. I realize that the past two to three training camps I would have said the same thing, and it always ended up that the Rockets were a player or players away from being title contenders.

However, this year it feels different, and with the kind of depth that they have, there is a great deal of competition here. As a result, players are busting it harder than usual.