There is a bball god

["Greg Odegaard" <grodeg@xxxxxxxxxx>]

IMHO.

To have seen the look on Clanks face with those early blocked shots, notably
the one that put him on his back.  Yesterday was the first day of the rest of
your hoops life Chank Fu, deal with it.

Of course Bryant bringing his D game to big show didn't hurt either.

Here's to a new rivalry and a solid reason to believe that the Fakers won't
catch the Celtics 16 title record any time soon, if ever.  There are just too
many young and strong guns in the west to even see the purple team even
getting back to the finals soon.

Of course having the Celtics get to 17 remains the ultimate goal.

Eat it bucks!!

Have a great weekend folks,
Greg


      Francis boosts Rockets in clash of the titans
            Jan. 18, 2003
            SportsLine.com wire reports




      HOUSTON -- All it took was 3 minutes for Yao Ming to show Shaquille
O'Neal that this would no mismatch.

      Yao blocked O'Neal's first three shots, altered Kobe Bryant's attempt at
the end of regulation and dunked with 10.2 seconds left for the biggest basket
of the night as the Houston Rockets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 in
overtime Friday night.


            Steve Francis has a dominating performance when the big men were
supposed to take center stage.(AP)
      The game turned out to be worthy of all the hype it received for being
the first meeting ever between the 7-foot-6 rookie center from China and the
7-foot, 360-pound three-time defending champion.

      "He's a classy guy," O'Neal said of Yao. "I was looking forward to
playing him. He's a great player. It's another challenge for me."

      O'Neal finished with the better statistical line -- 31 points, 13
rebounds and four assists to Yao's 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.

      But it was the Rockets that walked off with a victory -- their
season-high fourth in a row -- while ending the Lakers' longest winning streak
of the season at five games.

      "How should I put it: We beat the Lakers today, but Shaq is still Shaq,"
Yao said. "He's like a truck."

      Steve Francis led the Rockets with a career-high 44 points, and Cuttino
Mobley added 29. Kobe Bryant shot just 5-for-21 and finished with 22 points,
11 rebounds and nine assists for Los Angeles.

      Yao, 22 and eight years younger than O'Neal, made three of his first
four shots, missed his next seven - all of them turnarounds and fadeaways, and
made his last one - the dunk that gave Houston a 104-100 lead. Mobley made
four foul shots the rest of the way to help ice the win.

      O'Neal scored the Lakers' first six points of overtime, all of them with
impressive power moves against Yao. The final one was a dunk with 1:27 left
that cut Houston's lead to 99-98.

      O'Neal then committed a flagrant foul against Francis, and coach Phil
Jackson got a technical for arguing. The three free throws made it 102-98.

      "The unfortunate thing is it had to be decided by them," O'Neal said of
the officials. "A whole bunch of people who paid a lot of money had to see a
game that was decided by someone who doesn't make a lot of money. That's
unfortunate."

      Yao was called for a foul trying to block Robert Horry's dunk attempt
with 33.6 seconds remaining, and the two free throws made it a two-point game.

      Francis then made the pass of the night, finding Yao alone to the left
of the basket for a dunk.

      "Once I went up and saw Robert Horry and Shaq, I knew Yao had to be
open," Francis said. "It happened so slow to me, watching the play, and I was
so happy to see him dunk the ball."

      Yao and O'Neal exchanged handshakes and a brief hug as they walked off
the court.

      Yao couldn't have asked for a better start, dominating the first three
minutes to the delight of a sellout crowd that included former Rockets centers
Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone sitting courtside.

      O'Neal got the ball on the Lakers' first possession, made a crossover
dribble move on the baseline and went up strong. Yao blocked it, and O'Neal
wound up laying flat on his back.

      "At the beginning of the game I think I was trying too hard. He's 7-5,
he's supposed to block shots. Everybody gets their shot blocked," O'Neal said.

      The Rockets got the ball to their big guy deep in the low post, and Yao
scored on a jump hook just 24 seconds into the game. After Yao missed his
second shot, he blocked yet another dunk by O'Neal and then beat him downcourt
for a layup.

      Yao scored on a turnaround over Shaq with 9:27 left in the first, but
his next field goal did not come until 4:22 remained in the fourth quarter as
he expended most of his energy defending O'Neal.

      "It wore me out," Yao said through his interpreter. "I don't know how to
describe it because I've never encountered somebody that strong before."

      Bryant made two free throws with 1:03 left before Francis tied it with a
driving layup. A jumper by Bryant was followed by a Rockets turnover on a
disputed out-of-bounds call, and Bryant made just one of two from the line
with 18.8 seconds left to leave the Lakers ahead by three, 92-89.

      Francis then took a pass from Yao, dribbled once to his left and hit a
straightaway 3-pointer to tie it with 13.4 seconds left.

      Bryant drove around Mobley for the final shot of regulation, but James
Posey and Yao were there to force Bryant into a bad shot that missed
everything, sending the game to overtime.

      Prior to the opening tip, O'Neal walked up to Yao and said something
into his ear, drawing a smile and a nod from Yao. The Rockets usually have
Eddie Griffin jump for the opening tip, but this time Francis motioned to Yao
that be should do the honors against O'Neal.

      Referee Dick Bavetta tossed the ball up, and O'Neal won the tip. But the
next three minutes were all Yao's.

      Notes
        a.. Francis' previous career-high was 39.
        b.. Yao banged his left index finger knuckle midway through the first
quarter, but it did not cause him to miss any time.
        c.. Rockets F Eddie Griffin went down with a mild neck sprain late in
the first quarter but returned to the game shortly thereafter.
        d.. Rockets F Maurice Taylor returned after missing three games with
Achilles tendon soreness.