Yao Ming gave Jeff Van Gundy the production he wanted, although the Houston Rockets' first-year coach probably wants his center to stay on the floor longer. \nYao scored 19 points in a foul-plagued 20 minutes as the Rockets cruised to a 102-85 victory over the poor-shooting Denver Nuggets in Van Gundy's debut with the team. \nIt was a special night for the Rockets as Van Gundy became the 10th coach in team history in the first game at the US$202 million Toyota Center. \nThe former New York Knicks coach has made it a mandate for the offense to focus on Yao over Steve Francis, and the Chinese center responded with 15 points in the first half before foul trouble slowed him over the final 24 minutes. \n"I thought I played pretty good, but I got into foul trouble and I know I can play better," Yao said. "I just had way too many fouls and I would have liked to play more." \n"When you look at the fouls, some are going to be 50-50 type calls and there are others that we can help him avoid," Van Gundy said. "We need to get guys in front of him keeping the ball out of the lane so he is not in a vulnerable position." \nCuttino Mobley led Houston with 21 points and Francis added 17 and six assists. The Rockets took control with a 13-5 spurt to start the second half, capped by Mobley's dunk off a feed from Francis for a 61-47 bulge with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter. \nFrancis also finished with six assists, adjusting to his role as more of a distributor than a scorer as Houston moves away from its free-wheeling style. Francis and Van Gundy were rumored to have clashed during training camp about the team's new offense. \n"There wasn't a whole lot of guys trying to do a lot of things on their own," Francis said. "We got into sets, moved the ball around well and everybody got their shots. This year we know it's not about anyone getting a certain amount of points -- it's about wins and losses." \nThe Nuggets missed their first seven shots of the second half and also endured a drought of more than six minutes in the fourth quarter. Denver shot just over 31 percent (11-of-35) after halftime. \nYao, who had three blocks, and Kelvin Cato helped anchor a strong defensive effort by Houston. Yao provided the signature moment of the game when he rejected Anthony twice in one sequence in the first quarter.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is buying the Forum for US$400 million, ending the billionaire’s legal fight with Madison Square Garden Co (MSG) and clearing the way to build a new arena for his NBA team down the street in Inglewood, California. Ballmer on Tuesday announced his cash purchase of the venerated arena. Ballmer, a former Microsoft executive, and Clippers vice chairman Dennis Wong are making the transaction through CAPSS LLC, a newly formed entity that would continue to operate the Forum as a live music venue. “This is an unprecedented time, but we believe in our collective future,” Ballmer said.
DISSENT: The US track and field body joined sports officials in Norway and Brazil, as well as Indian athletes, in calling on the IOC to postpone the Tokyo Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 organizers have started drafting possible alternatives to holding the Olympics this summer, two sources familiar with the talks said, in contrast to the Japanese government’s stance that postponement is not an option. While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted sports events around the world, Japan has been steadfast in saying that the Games would go on. A Japanese government spokesman on Wednesday said that Tokyo was not preparing for postponement. “Finally, we have been asked to make a simulation in case of a postponement,” said one of the sources, an official close to the organizing committee who is involved in drafting the
EXPENDITURE: Tokyo Games organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said that ‘additional expenses are going to be quite massive’ to reschedule the Olympics The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-to-August window next year for the postponed Tokyo Olympics and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. John Coates, head of the IOC’s coordination commission for the Tokyo Olympics, told the newspaper that the Games would have to be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, scheduled to end in mid-July, and the US Open, which starts in late August. “We want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks’ time,” the newspaper quoted Coates as saying. Coates, who is also
PROUD, BUT BOWING OUT: The Dallas center missed all of 2018 due to Guillain-Barre syndrome, but Travis Frederick returned to be a standout again last season Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick on Monday stunningly announced his retirement. Frederick, who turned 29 on Wednesday last week, was a Pro Bowl selection in five of his six NFL seasons. Frederick revealed his retirement in a lengthy letter, beginning it by writing: “After much consideration, discussion, and reflection, I have decided to retire from football. This was not an easy decision.” Frederick cited his bout with autoimmune disease Guillain-Barre syndrome as a factor. He missed the 2018 season due to the illness in which the body’s immune system attacks the nervous system, but he returned to be a standout again last
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