<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">BELGRADE (2004 FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament) - Yao Ming is a dominating force in the NBA and he's proving a handful for the teams he'll be facing at the Olympics. In successive days, the Houston Rockets centre has imposed his towering frame on Serbia & Montenegro and Australia, leading the Chinese to victory over the latter. Against the Serbo-Montenegrins, who are the world champions, Yao had 21 points and then on Sunday he poured in 28 as China won 84-82 over the Boomers. It remains to be seen if he is going to be able to help raise the level of play of his team-mates, though. Against the hosts of the Belgrade tournament, they were knotted at half-time before falling away over the next two quarters. Then against Australia, Yao and Co were in complete command but in the end only won when Australia's Anthony Ronaldson missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. "We were lucky to win, even after having a 15-point lead in third quarter," said China's new American coach, Del Harris. "We knew Australia wouldn't give up until the end and they proved that they are team with huge motivation, even when they are losing." The one chink in Yao's armour, at least on Sunday, was his free throw shooting. He made 12 of 17 shots and that helped the Aussies get back in the game. "We ran a lot of plays in some crucial actions at the end for Yao Ming, but even he missed some free throws. It didn't help our opponents enough, though." Australia coach Brian Goorjian was disappointed with his team's first-half showing. "We have travelled almost 40 hours and played most of the time as if we were still on the plane," he said. "Still, in the second half we were able to get back into game and we've shown that we have the right basketball character. "Just like against Serbia & Montenegro, we tried with tough defence on Yao Ming, but the referees didn't tolerate that like the day before, so free throws decided the winner in the final moments of fourth quarter."</div> It seems like Yao has yet again improved his game, and doesn't sound tired at all. Two consecutive 20 point games against World-class squads have to be very morale-boosting. Best of luck to China and Yao in the upcoming Olympics!
Well it's very good news that Yao is improving his game, I just hope that nothing bad happens to him[like an injury] in these games coming up, so he can be 100% on opening day and throughout the season for the Rockets.
China ended up 4th place in the tourney, but Yao was able to walk away with the MVP honors. http://www.asia-basket.com/chn/chn.asp
