August 11, 2004
Yao Ming's Olympic Journal #1

Friend and Fans:

It is almost time for the Olympic Games to start and my teammates and I are very excited about being part of this wonderful event. We have been working very hard with our coach Del Harris to bring the team to its peak level of per????ance as the games begin.

In the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Belgrade, we finished fourth and itˇs given us great confidence that we can play with anyone in this tournament. While our goal is to advance to the medal stand, we have a very tough road ahead of us. Only the top 4 teams from each division make it to the medal tournament and we have some tough games to play.

Our group is called Group A and it includes Serbia Montenegro, the defending World Champions and really good teams from Italy (They beat Team USA in practice), Argentina, Spain and New Zealand. Our first Game is Sunday against Spain, then Tuesday facing New Zealand. Iˇll let you know more about the games, players, teams and the entire experience being in Athens.

I am very excited about this team. We have a lot of international experience and Menk Bateer, who was on the Spurs, is one of my teammates. Menk was with the Chinese Olympic team in 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sidney and he will help us a lot.

Next time, I will tell you about the Opening Ceremonies and our first game! I canˇt wait.

Until next time.
Yao

August 18, 2004
Yao Ming's Olympic Journal #2

The Olympics have finally arrived and I am very happy to be here! We arrived in Athens, which is a pretty amazing place. It's incredible to see all these different people here because of their love of sport. And, it is cool to see that so many of them recognize me!

It was a great surprise and honor to learn that I was selected to be the flag bearer of the Chinese Team! It was a special honor because the captains of all the other Chinese teams picked me. I felt proud to be the one in the arena carrying the flag! There was a great excitement to see all the different countries coming in; everyone had cameras in their hands and were overjoyed to be there. It was great to see the USA Basketball Team too. When the Greek sailor lit the Olympic cauldron, the place went crazy.

Our first game was against the team from Spain. They have Pau Gasol with the Memphis Grizzlies. They are a really experienced team and we knew that we would have a tough game. Unfortunately we lost. I didn't have one of my better games and our team seemed pretty tight but we started to settle in as the game went along but the game was pretty well out of hand when I fouled out. We are going to have to do a lot better next time.

Our next game is tonight against New Zealand; I think we will be able to win. If we can beat them, we have a pretty good chance with the rest of our group. I hope we can step up our game and make a good showing.

Thanks for following my journal. I hope to have better team news to report the next issue.

August 19, 2004
Yao Ming's Olympic Journal #3

I feel much better about writing this to you guys today. And I guess you know the reason. We beat the Team from New Zealand, a veteran international team, last night for our first Olympic victory! It was definitely a close game most of the way, and I suppose if we didn't keep our concentration, it could have gone the other way.

We had a new game plan for this game and that was to take the ball inside. We are a much taller team all around and we wanted to take advantage of our height. There are 4 players on our team over 6'11" and that is a tough problem for a team like New Zealand.

I scored 39 points! I'm very proud of that accomplishment. But I had to do well in this game because I challenged my teammates after the loss to Spain, and I couldn't let them down. We have three more games in our division, and with some very tough teams. If we can win two out of the three games I think we will make it into the Medal Round. That has always been our goal and two more good games will do it.

I've got to tell you that it is strange playing to a half empty arena! For some strange reason the Greek Olympics didn't sell many tickets; I think it may have been because of the Greek holiday that just past last weekend and because most of the town's people are still on vacation. In the NBA there is always a pretty good crowd. Maybe more will show up for some of the later games. I hope so.

See you next time.
Yao

August 24, 2004
Yao Ming's Olympic Journal #4

Greetings from Athens Greece again. I wasnˇt looking forward to filing this report after the awful game that our team had on Saturday against Italy. The really made us look very bad. We were tense. We had a rough time getting the ball across midcourt and setting up our offence. And we were flat. Nobody shot the ball well that game. The result was a bad loss, over 30 points, and facing a game with Serbia Montenegro that would end our Olympics. Things looked very bad.

But we won! Against long odds we beat the ????er World Champions and earned the right to go to the medal round! I was very proud of my team and the way we hung in there and never gave up. We were behind for most of the game and down by 7 points with seven minutes to play. We then played some very good defense and we were able to beat them by 1 point. I played the whole game! Let me tell you I was very tired after it ended and I slept really good last night!

Coach Harris kept telling us to hold on. He said you should never give up no matter the circumstances. And he was right.

So we are in the medal round for only the 2nd time in our history. Of course our first game might be the toughest. We face Lithuania. They are unbeaten and figure to be a big favorite. But so was Serbia Montenegro. So we are just going to have to play our type of game and hope for the best. Some people say that we have achieved our goal, but I think we can do even better. Iˇll let you know on Thursday.

We have practice today, but some time off too. I am looking forward to seeing more of Athens. Wish us luck!

Yao

August 27, 2004
Yao Mingˇs Olympic Journal #5

As you probably have read, our team lost in the quarterfinals to Lithuania. It really wasnˇt a close game. We were down so far at half time even though we tried our hardest we could only play them even the rest of the way. Lithuania was a team that was really on their game today. I see that quite often in the NBA where The Rockets are playing a team that we think we should beat, and that team just has a wonderful game where everything connects and they win. Lithuania was connecting today. They shot over 50% for the game and a very good player, who should be playing in the NBA, Arvydas Macijaukas, made all his foul shots, all his 3 point shots and almost all of his others! We couldnˇt stop him.

We play a consolation game on Saturday to figure out the final order of the tournament. Not what we wanted to do, but weˇll continue to do our best not to disappoint our fans and Coach Harris.

I have been following the media frenzy surrounding the US team. I know all these guys, and my feeling is that is very difficult to always be the favorite. It seems like everyone in Athens would be happy if they fall. It is really not fair, but I guess predictable. Iˇm sure that the fans of diving hope that the Chinese miss a dive and donˇt win all the time.

So it is time for a little relaxation, practice for the last game and sightseeing around the city. The people of Athens have been very nice to me ,and I hope our fans can return the favor when we host the 2008 games in Beijing.

Iˇll talk to you guys soon after the finals and closing ceremonies.

Yao

August 30, 2004
Yao Ming's Olympic Journal #6

The Athens Olympics comes to a close. It was such a wonderful event. Even with our disappointments as a team, the Olympics were a great experience for me. Did you see the closing ceremonies? Watching them pass the Olympic flag to the Chinese delegation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was really special for me.

I talked to a lot of the Chinese officials and the organizers for Beijing, and they are very well prepared at this stage for the games in 4 years. It means a lot for my fellow athletes, countrymen, and me that the games are going to be in China.

I think our basketball team is going to be much better in 4 years. The new developing stars will be pointing toward the games and I intend to be much better too! We will have to be because the worldwide competition is really getting better. Just look at Argentina, the gold medal winner. And Italy, Spain, all the Eastern European teams. And they are all getting better. As the NBA continues to be the premier professional league you can expect that there will be many more international stars like Gascol and Ginobli who will continue to develop and get better.

During the Olympics, my teammates and I played some good competition and our team had its bright moments and made it into the medal round. I got to see Athens and enjoy being with all the other athletes from around the world. I enjoyed playing for Coach Harris. He is one of the finest coaches and motivators that I know. I got to carry the Chinese flag at the opening ceremony and that was a real privilege. And, given the small amount of time off, tried to absorb all of the atmosphere of the games as I could.

Thanks for sharing the Olympic journey with me. I enjoyed bringing my adventure to you.

Stay with my fan club web site, www.yaomingfanclub.com because we will be doing some exciting things this year.

Your friend,
Yao