Falling short of dominance

Yao Ming entered the NBA amid expectations as towering as his 7-5 stature, but three years later, he isn't close to rivaling Shaq or other top centers.

BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ

igutierrez@herald.com

This isn't where Yao Ming was pictured to be by Year 3, staring up at the chest and chin of Stromile Swift, two hands and a basketball about to come down on him with ferocity, wearing a helpless expression to which only Shawn Bradley can relate.

Instead it is Yao's picture, the snapshot of him most memorable in this his third NBA season, getting dunked on against the Memphis Grizzlies, his right hand in the air and eyes half closed hoping cameras don't capture this exact moment.

By now it was expected Yao would be on the victimizing end of this image more often. More Shaquille O'Neal, less Michael Olowokandi.

He was the No. 1 pick as a 7-5, 21-year-old out of China, immediately considered the nearest competition to O'Neal in the pivot since David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing were in their prime.

Instead, the 24-year-old is finding himself shrugging off incidents like this more often than he would like, fighting off defenders in the paint with less success than a man his size should and walking slouched to the bench with more fouls than points far too frequently.

Still, he is a long way from a failure. Pro scouts search the world daily for big men who can contribute 18 points, eight rebounds and 52 percent shooting nightly.

It's just that he is further from dominant than everyone wanted him to be by now. And, although his matchups with O'Neal still are highly anticipated -- as they will this afternoon at 1 at AmericanAirlines Arena -- Yao is not really considered a true rival to O'Neal.

If this is as good as Yao gets, there can't help but be a sense of disappointment.

''I think people overreacted to maybe a little success and expected a constant upward tick in growth with no down times,'' Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said of his center. ``I don't think that's realistic. You just want to continue to work, improve, try to figure it out.''

In trying to figure out Yao, theories range from the most simple of movements to the most vague of concepts. If he bends his knees more often, will he really increase his ability to dominate? Is it a basic sense for the game that is missing? Does he need to gain strength to better assert himself in a crowded block? Or is a mean streak missing from the mild-mannered Yao?

The answers from his peers and basketball experts: Yes, yes, yes and yes.

''Just watching them out there, he loses his balance so easy,'' one Eastern Conference scout said. ``He's trying to back up on his guy and he falls over. He's kind of a rag doll out there sometimes. Sometimes his sense of the game, the feel, I think lacks.

``I know they're knocking on him because he doesn't play with a lot of tenacity. It seems like you see that a little bit more in the American game.''

HEIGHT ISN'T HELPING

Yao has found that a half-foot advantage on most of his competitors means nothing if he can't stand up. It's a lesson even the most undersized defenders have taught him. Despite surrendering eight inches to Yao, ????er Heat center Brian Grant limited Yao's effectiveness by maintaining leverage against the player. Yao often found himself motioning to officials for help and checking his body for bruises more often than he would find himself scoring.

''He has to be more physical,'' Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal said of Yao. ``Yao has tremendous, tremendous ability to take over games, and obviously in three years he hasn't quite gotten that demeanor yet.''

``. . . Sometimes in the games when he gets upset, he takes guys, catches them deep and just dunks the ball. He has to have that mentality for 48 minutes while he's out there.''

Pete Newell, a renowned mentor of pivot players, said he has noticed a nastiness in Yao that wasn't there two seasons ago, which he considers critical to his improvement. But it takes more than anger, Newell said, for Yao to establish himself in the post.

''I think he's got to learn to play the game lower,'' Newell said. ``They don't move him much. Somebody like Yao, they can bump him because he stays high too much and they can get him off balance.''

Once he can establish himself, the next trick is getting him the ball. Not getting Yao the ball partially was what had Van Gundy less than enamored with Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, each of whom has been traded from Houston within the past year. His numbers were supposed to experience a sudden rise with Tracy McGrady as his new partner on the perimeter, but they've remained relatively status quo.

''One of the things I just don't know is if they run enough offense for him in terms of spacing,'' Newell said. ``All these centers, even a Shaq, he needs his space in there, and he can't have it if the defense is just standing around.''

In his first year with the Rockets and having taken over as the team's starting point guard, Bob Sura is finding that Francis' old job of getting Yao the ball isn't as simple as it sounds.

''No, it's not,'' Sura said. ``Yao draws a lot of attention down there. Guys are trying to keep the ball out of his hands, so you've got two or three guys hanging around him, so it's very difficult. But this year we've got another great player in Tracy that can take a little heat off him and make it easier.''

BEING BULLIED

Even with the ball, though, Yao tends to lack authority. Often his shot of choice is an effective jump hook or turnaround jumper, but he can still be bullied into missing the easiest of shots and rarely gets to the rim with force.

''I think he's too slow and mechanical,'' Hall of Fame coach and TV analyst Jack Ramsay said. ``He's got to become more definitive in what he wants to do, do it quicker, take good position, catch it and go to work.''

But can slow and mechanical ever be fixed?

''Yeah, it can,'' Ramsay said. ``I think he's thinking about it instead of reacting. It could be part of the process, but I don't see a huge improvement in him from his rookie year. I thought after his rookie year he'd be light years ahead of where he is now.''

There's a consensus that Yao should be more of a presence defensively in particular. Even Bradley, a 7-6 toothpick of a man who never averaged any more than 15 points or nine rebounds in his career, was blocking at least three shots a game through each of his first four seasons. Yao has yet to average two blocks a game, and this season is averaging just 1.86 swats a contest.

OTHER COMMITMENTS

No one, however, is blaming Yao's slow development on a lack of desire. The two-time All-Star has worked tirelessly with ????er great Ewing, a Rockets assistant.

But that work has been restricted to in-season training because of Yao's commitments to the Chinese national team during the past two summers. And in-season training limits the type of work Rockets strength and conditioning coach Anthony Falsone would like Yao to do.

Yao has managed to gain about 15 pounds since entering the league (up to about 315) despite the limitations, and he has gained upper body strength to match his natural lower-body power.

''I am concerned about his foot speed, I'm concerned about his leaping ability because he has never had to use that before,'' Falsone said. ``Playing in China, he's the tallest guy by far, so coming up to when he was about 20 years old, he never had to really jump. Now in the NBA, you're faced with tremendous athletes, and Yao is not the greatest leaper in the world. Great leg strength doesn't necessarily make you a great jumper.''

His physical challenges don't stop there. Falsone said Yao has a cardiovascular system that doesn't respond very well, a problem Olajuwon also faced, causing him to lose conditioning and fatigue relatively quickly.

Falsone traveled to China with Yao and trained the Chinese National Team to help Yao's conditioning. Although Falsone said Yao has improved his durability, the center is averaging just 31.5 minutes a game, partially because of fouls, but in some measure because of fatigue.

Without an Olympics or World Championships to prepare for this offseason, the Rockets might have more time to work with Yao this summer, which could make for a marked improvement next season.

Any improvement would be welcome. Because this isn't supposed to be the best of Yao Ming. There has to be a better picture by which to remember him.

''I would hope he's got a much higher level than this,'' Ramsay said. ``I'd be very disappointed if I were he or if I were his coach if this is as good as he's going to get.

``I thought when he was a rookie he would improve a lot. Now, I don't know.''