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.
Standout Filipino college basketball player Ricci Rivero said he wants to start his professional career by playing in the P.League+ as opposed to other leagues in Asia because of the sizeable Philippine community in Taiwan, his new team the Taoyuan Pilots said on Monday. “There are nearly 150,000 Filipinos living and working in Taiwan, the mere thought of playing in front of them and being the first to represent them in one of Taiwan’s best basketball leagues is already a big motivation for me to choose Taiwan over other Asian basketball leagues,” Rivero said in a Taoyuan Pilots statement. Although
Taipei Municipal Fulin Elementary School’s baseball team yesterday beat South Korea in the regional final to win the right to represent the Asia-Pacific region in this year’s Little League Baseball World Series. The Taiwan team’s 1-0 victory over hosts South Korea was largely down to the excellent performance of starting pitcher Liao Kuan-shu, who pitched six scoreless innings, in which he only gave up two hits at Hwaseong Dream Park in South Korea. After Taiwan earned a single in the bottom of the second inning, Liao in the third hit a two-out double, helping to eke out a 1-0 victory, as they
Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying was knocked out of the Malaysia Open yesterday, losing her women’s singles semi-final against Chen Yufei of China 19-21, 21-13, 21-15. Despite two previous victories for second-seeded Tai against Chen this season — including her win in the final of the Thailand Open — fourth-seeded Chen dispatched the world No. 2 in 1 hour, 8 minutes at Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena, securing a spot in the Super 750 tournament’s final. Tai won the opening game of the last-four matchup, scoring two consecutive points after the score was tied 19-19. However, she had a horrific points drought after the
Tennis star Nick Kyrgios is due to face a court in Australia after being summonsed to face a charge of assaulting a former girlfriend. The 27-year-old Australian is to appear in court in the capital, Canberra, next month. Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Policing on Tuesday confirmed that Kyrgios had been summonsed to face a charge of assaulting his former girlfriend. It relates to an incident in Canberra in December last year. “ACT Policing can confirm a 27-year-old Watson man is scheduled to face the ACT Magistrates Court on [Aug. 2] in relation to one charge of common assault following an incident in December 2021,”
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