| by Kenny Tanemura |
| Yao Ming's Houston Rockets are officially out of the playoff picture. They are among the five worst teams in the Western Conference, and they share that honor with the Golden State Warriors. I remember last week when the Rockets were playing the Los Angeles Lakers, and they still had a slim shot at stealing the 8th and final playoff spot. The Lakers had already secured a playoff spot thanks to Kobe Bryant's spectacular play. It was good to think that Yao had reinvented himself as a dominant player when the Rockets were in serious trouble of dropping out of contention. Yao was criticized earlier in the season when costar Tracy McGrady missed 8 games due to injury. The Rockets lost all 8 games Everyone expected Yao to carry the team or at least lead the Rockets to a few wins. The story of the last month of the NBA season for the Houston Rockets is the emergence of Yao as a dominant player-unfortunately, it turned out to be too little too late Still, for Yao fans, it was good to see him make moves he seemed incapable of making just a few months ago. Yao and the Rockets won't make the playoffs this year, and we'll have to wait a year before we have a chance to see him and his team compete with the best teams in the most entertaining part of the season./ During the last stretch of the season, fans had a brief chance to relish the emergence of Yao's dominance. He played like we always wished he would play and hoped he could play but were never entirely sure he could play. In the month of March, Yao has had 5 games in which he scored 30 points and pulled down 10 rebounds No other player in the NBA kept up with him. Yao was in an elite group of only 4 players in the league who were averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds. It's been a disappointing year for The Rockets. Rockets fans have spent the last couple of months checking the scoreboards daily, and keeping their eye on the standings, hoping their team would climb the ladder and become competitive again. Week after week, month after month. But injuries have defined the Rockets fate this season. It's time to stop going into denial and take what you can get. "Over the last couple of months, Yao Ming has been the most valuable player in the league," Scottie Pippen said. "He's probably the best center in the league right now, and he's developed himself into a dominant player." In last week's game against the Lakers, Yao already had his average of 22 points and 10 rebounds, and it was still half-time. It was one of those games where he could have topped his season high, set new standards for himself, and broken some of his old records. An Asian athlete was the best player on the court that afternoon, even with Kobe Bryant having a strong game. Yao was representing well-with quick, strong moves, unwavering determination, and big numbers. I felt like he was representing me, and Asian Americans in general. I grew up in Japanese American suburbia, without any sense of connection with other Asians. But in my adult life, I perceive Yao as a representative Asian male, in the same way that I see Tiger Woods or Ang Lee as representative. Ethnically, they're kind of like me, except that they make life a little more interesting for millions of people in the world. Although I'm not Chinese, this fact is not necessarily evident to whites, blacks and Hispanics. Once I found myself in a pick-up game at a basketball court in Florida. I ran up to the player who was handling the ball and lunged to block his shot. "Yao!" he yelled, before dribbling back out and away from the basket. It's a kind of respect I never received from other players when growing up in the Japanese American basketball leagues that were part of the Buddhist Churches of America. Our team had been organized for us by our Sansei parents, because, overall, we couldn't make our school teams. It was an opportunity to give us a chance to play and compete. And it was an opportunity to foster community. But most of us were not taken seriously as basketball players at our high-schools. Now, with the emergence of Yao Ming (who turns the Warriors games in Oakland into Asian American events), politics and entertainment, identity and sports converge in a symphonic movement that's bigger than community, and closer to what might be called culture. |
| Yao reinvents his game |
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