Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Sports Roundup

Sharapova reaches second round at US Open
Agassi advances to open 20th US Open campaign
San Antonio Spurs sign Van Exel
Defending US Open champion Kuznetsova falls in first round

Holiday mega-matches on new schedule

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

People don't really circle dates on calendars anymore.

Do they?

Better, then, to consider these dates to punch into your handheld.

We're still working on ESPN.com software that takes them straight from this page to your electronic event-listing device of choice, but that doesn't prevent us from unfurling our annual list of standout games on the just-released 2005-06 NBA schedule.

Nov. 1, Opening Night
The San Antonio Spurs get championship rings for the third time in seven years before hosting the Denver Nuggets, who will be without suspended coach George Karl for the season's first three games. Dirk Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks visit old pal Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns in the nightcap of TNT's season-starting doubleheader, and the only other game to launch the season sends Milwaukee and No. 1 overall pick Andrew Bogut to Philadelphia for Bogut's NBA debut, which also serves as Maurice Cheeks' debut as Allen Iverson's new coach.

Nov. 2, Opening Night for everyone else
The Miami Heat have an interesting little opener in Memphis after the megadeal that sent Eddie Jones to the Grizzlies while bringing Jason Williams and James Posey to South Beach. ESPN's first doubleheader serves up Philadelphia at Detroit in Flip Saunders' first game as Larry Brown's successor, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers at Denver to officially end Phil Jackson's one-year hiatus. Brown, meanwhile, takes the Knicks to Boston to tip off his dream job.

Nov. 3, Indiana Pacers at Miami Heat
The Pacers, just by getting Ron Artest back and by signing Euro king Sarunas Jasikevicius, are having the best offseason in the East on this scorecard. Here's an early chance, at home, for the retooled Heat to try to change our minds. Phil's first home game follows when the Lakers try to keep up with the Suns and reigning MVP Steve Nash.

Nov. 4, Washington Wizards at New York Knicks
The reality of Larry's dream job -- and the love shower he'll get from desperate Knicks fans who see him as their savior -- should start to sink in deeply when he coaches his first real home game at Madison Square Garden.

Nov. 5, Boston Celtics at Charlotte Bobcats
Former Tar Heels Raymond Felton and Sean May play their first home game as Bobcats, in what also serves as Charlotte's first real game in its new building.

Nov. 10, Houston Rockets at Miami Heat
We get an early glimpse of Yao Ming vs. Shaquille O'Neal, after which we must wait until Jan. 29 for Round 2 in Houston.

Nov. 24, Happy Thanksgiving
A double-helping of NBA for your holiday: Cleveland at Indiana, followed by Seattle traveling to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.

Dec. 2, New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons
How will Pistons fans greet the exiled Coach Brown? How will Larry react if he crosses paths with the owner (Bill Davidson) who questioned his character? How much will Darko Milicic play against the old boss who rarely played him? All questions we can start to answer in the first of two Knicks games at Detroit, with another on April 16.

Dec. 4, Atlanta Hawks at Phoenix Suns
This might be Joe Johnson's first game in Phoenix since he urged the Suns to let him go. Or it might be his first game against the Hawks in the wake of an imploded sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta that forces him to rejoin the Suns. There's no way to know yet how the Johnson saga will play out, but it's safe to say both Phoenix-Atlanta games this season will mean a lot more than usual.

Dec. 7, Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs
Any duel pitting Shaq against Tim Duncan is an event, and their two battles -- both on ESPN -- play out this season in a six-week span. This is No. 1, followed by a Jan. 20 rematch in South Florida.

Dec. 15, Denver Nuggets at Cleveland Cavaliers
Should we still make a big deal about Carmelo Anthony vs. LeBron James games? (An aside: What about Darko vs. LeBron games?)

Dec. 20, Utah Jazz at Cleveland Cavaliers
OK. There's no question this is a big deal: Carlos Boozer finally makes his long-awaited return to Cleveland -- at what is now known as Quicken Loans Arena -- after bolting from the Cavs to the Jazz in an unforgettable defection in the summer of 2004. You'll recall Boozer missed last season's, uh, homecoming with a foot injury.

Dec. 25, Merry Christmas
It'll be a merry day indeed, starting with San Antonio at Detroit in an NBA Finals rematch on ABC and followed by the least surprising hookup on the schedule: Kobe Bryant vs. Shaquille O'Neal for the second straight Christmas. This reunion, though, is in Miami instead of L.A., and it's actually Kobe and Phil double-teaming Shaq this time ... unless former Lakers coach Pat Riley has replaced Stan Van Gundy by this point.

Dec. 26, Los Angeles Lakers at Washington Wizards
It might not reach Boozeresque levels of contempt, but we suspect Kwame Brown won't be getting a touching holiday greeting from Wiz fans when the Lakers make their only D.C. appearance of the season.

Dec. 29, Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons
It's the first of three showdowns between the East power that overhauled its roster and the old reliables from Michigan who have a new coach. The other two (Feb. 12 and April 6) are in Miami.

Jan. 1, Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat
The best game (of three) on the first day of 2006 pits Kevin Garnett against Shaq and Co.

Jan. 10, Sacramento Kings at Memphis Grizzlies
Bonzi Wells comes to face-to-face with old pal Mike Fratello for the first time since his trade banishment to the Kings, with fellow Grizz newcomer Bobby Jackson's return to Sacramento on deck for Feb. 7.

Jan. 12, Detroit Pistons at San Antonio Spurs
This is the second and final regular-season meeting for the teams who staged the first seven-game NBA Finals since 1994.

Jan. 16, Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers
On Martin Luther King Day, surely, there has to be at least a hint of warmth between Shaq and Kobe. Right?

Jan. 24, Detroit Pistons at Minnesota Timberwolves
Flip coaches against KG for the first time ... if you discount the two Detroit-Minnesota games on the October exhibition schedule.

Jan. 30, Portland Trail Blazers at Seattle SuperSonics
These neighbors have never liked each other and there's a new spark for the Pacific Northwest rivalry beyond regional pride. Nate McMillan has left behind a lifetime with the Sonics for the Blazers' bench, and this is his maiden trip to KeyArena as a Blazer.

Feb. 10, Cleveland Cavaliers at Washington Wizards
Larry Hughes returns to the nation's capital to see first-hand whether the Wizards have recovered from his departure -- with Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels -- as well as they think they have.

Feb. 17-19, All-Star Weekend in Houston
No less significant than the actual weekend, of course, is the one-year countdown toward All-Star Weekend in VEGAS (yes, it demands all caps) that starts as soon as Tracy McGrady sends everyone home.

Feb. 23, Indiana Pacers at Detroit Pistons
Perhaps the only visitor to The Palace at Auburn Hills who is more anticipated than Brown is Artest. This is the first of two scheduled Artest appearances, and obviously the first since the melee last Nov. 19 that landed Indy's inimitable swingman a suspension spanning 86 games counting the playoffs. All four Pacers-Pistons games will take place between February and April, in what appears to be a move by the league office to seek as much distance as possible from the brawl.

March 1, Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
Bostonians have to wait until the second half of the season for their first up-close glimpse of Antoine Walker as a Shaq sidekick.

March 17, St. Patrick's Day
If Boston at Orlando doesn't tempt you to skip the Irish pub and search for a sports bar, maybe this will: Phoenix at San Antonio in the season's fourth and final encounter for the teams that met in the Western Conference finals.

April 5, New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
It's not quite Larry going back to Detroit, but you wonder nevertheless how Brown will be received by the good folks of Lake Erie after his dalliance with the Cavs. Another game of note on this night is Golden State at New Orleans, which represents Baron Davis' first appearance in New Orleans against the Hornets since they dealt him to the Warriors last February.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, click here to send a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.

Around the NBA

• NBA players' association to launch Katrina relief effort
• Spurs sign Van Exel, remain in hunt for Finley
• Tuesday roundup: Hawks re-sign point guard Lue
• Mutombo signs, will retire after 2006-07 season
• Clutch free throws lift United States in Worlds qualifier
• Suns sign D'Antoni to two-year contract extension
• Karl expects to be back for camp after prostate surgery
• Sonics match Timberwolves' offer sheet for Wilkins

Lakers' Plans

Lakers' three-year plan might be too farsighted for Phil

By Mark Kreidler
Special to ESPN.com
Archive

On so many levels, the Los Angeles Lakers' approach to the next few seasons appears straightforward and even sensible: Cut payroll, limit most players to short-term contracts and try to free up scads of money for 2007 or 2008, when a fresh crop of high-profile free agents comes to market.

It's a plan. It has at least an intermediate goal set within it. It may yield a longer-term payoff.

Phil may need to meditate more with this Lakers team.

Just wondering: What in the seventh concentric circle of Hades is Phil Jackson doing in the middle of it?

Is this really what Jackson rode in from the Montana plains to wrangle? It's almost an incomprehensible thought. Did the coach with nine NBA titles on his shelf really yank himself out of a post-retirement reverie to work with Smush Parker, Laron Profit and Chris Mihm?

It's no offense to those guys -- or to Brian Cook, or Von Wafer, or Sasha Vujacic , or any of the other names that fill out the Lakers' mish-mashed roster. But this is the Phil Jackson of the Michael Jordan- Scottie Pippen variety. This is the Jackson of Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal vintage.

Did this man really come back to coaching in order to work a futures market?

I'm among those who have always disagreed with the notion that Jackson was a lucky guy in the right place when it came to his coaching "legend." Jackson's talent is real, and his ability to manipulate and assuage egos are among the greatest gifts accorded any NBA coach in memory. He needed all of it to make things go with Jordan for as long as they did, and he clearly needed more of it than even he ultimately had to spin along the Kobe-Shaq axis for all those years.

Still, Jackson's history is plain: He won titles with Jordan, Pippen, Bryant and O'Neal, plus a specially selected cast of supporting characters (Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Rick Fox, Robert Horry), almost all of whom were paid whatever the market dictated when the need arose to sign them.

So what's he doing with Luke Walton, Slava Medvedenko and Jumaine Jones?

The short answer is, no one has the slightest idea. Jackson is essentially returning to try to win with a team that includes Bryant, Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown and the team's most recent addition, 32-year-old point guard Aaron McKie , just waived by Philly in a luxury-tax amnesty move.

McKie averaged 2.2 points and 1.5 assists last season, but he at least fits the Jackson mold when it comes to a distributor in the triangle offense: He's 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds. Phil likes 'em bigger rather than smaller when it comes to running his schemes.

What will Yao Ming do in 2007?

And that's about it. You just heard the game plan for 2005-06. The Lakers might be able to make personnel moves before the season begins, but if it involves taking on salary or contracts, forget it. Jim Buss, the heir to team owner Jerry Buss, already is on record as saying the club is aiming for the free-agent summer of 2007, when players like Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming ostensibly will be pondering their options.

Of course, by the summer of 2007, Phil Jackson will be two years into the three-year contract he signed to return to L.A. Will the Lakers really spend those two years with Devean George and Andrew Bynum?

In some respects, Jackson is already contradicting the notion that he'd only come back to get another championship ring, because he sure isn't pursuing one currently in L.A. This situation is more akin to his early days in the game, when Jackson learned the ropes of coaching by working with CBA rosters almost exclusively populated by comers and guys looking for another chance to shine.

You can't ignore the talent of Kobe Bryant, of course, and the Lakers' current roster is hardly bereft; it's just stacked in some places and bare in others. L.A. pulled its own luxury-tax move by shedding Brian Grant and a potential $30 million in extra payments over the next few years, but doing so has left Jackson with few options at power forward or center. It's hardly fatal -- the Bulls' championship teams never had a dominating center. But Chicago was never as thin as what Jackson and his staff are looking at now.

In a meeting with Lakers beat writers this week, Jim Buss said that once the financial decks are clear and the Lakers get to chase a big name in 2007, Phil Jackson might well want to stay on and coach beyond the expiration of his current contract. It makes sense in the macro, NBA realm of things: That might be the precise moment at which the next few seasons of grinding, shaping and coaching pay off.

In the meantime, the Lakers of 2005 continue to consider options as they fill out their training camp roster for the team Jackson will coach in the here and now. The current names being bandied about: Earl Watson and Jannero Pargo. It's a long way from the Montana plains.

Mark Kreidler is a columnist for The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Reach him at mkreidler@sacbee.com

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Cuban's Take

Reality Show

SI.com's Kelly Dwyer says that while two-time All-Star Michael Finley is the kind of player who's tough to cut, Mavs owner Mark Cuban gave a refreshing explanation for the move.

• Suns make sales pitch to Finley | Heat, too

• TRUTH & RUMORS: Latest free-agent news

• Nowitzki gets Mavs' OK to play with Germany

Pat vs. Stan

How nice of Pat Riley not to throw Stan Van Gundy overboard earlier this summer and officially assume the Miami Heat coaching helm. After all, what fun would that have been?

That's akin to tipping someone out of his hammock into the briny deep in the middle of the night. No war of words battling for the crew's allegiance. No scuffle as the ship heaves wildly to and fro. No parting scream, punctuated by a final thunderous splash. Trust me, for entertainment value, this is going to work out much better.

Let the finger-pointing begin.

The Heat aren't vying for a title no matter what happens, but at least they'll provide plenty of drama. The personalities are too fractious, the points of friction are too numerous and the expectations are ridiculously too high for anything more. Or less.

For now, Stan is still on board but hanging from the railing, his pockets loaded with rocks old and new, engulfed by Captain Vere -- er, Riles' -- shadow, his survival dependent on steering a ship with a half-dozen new parts smoothly into a championship port. (I just couldn't pass up the chance to finally use that 10th-grade summer reading assignment of "Billy Budd.")

Example of an Old Rock: Not getting Shaq enough touches in the final 12 minutes of the conference finals against Detroit.

Example of a New Rock: Antoine Walker with a six-year deal (four years guaranteed) and a penchant for massaging the pebbles off the ball.

Example of a Revamped Team Immediately Winning a Title: None.

There is, in short, no way this doesn't end badly for Billy -- er, Stan.

There's also no way Riley doesn't know this. Although Miami certainly has more talent after his 13-player, five-team deal last month that transformed half of the Miami roster and two-thirds of the playing rotation, it is predominantly offensive talent. Riley has built a strip-mall version of Showtime, the Lakers' highwire act of the '80s he choreographed to four titles.

Van Gundy's forte is defense. By the end of last season, he had trouble keeping two shooting stars satisfied. Now he has four, with the addition of Jason Williams and Walker. Word is James Posey, the lone defensive addition, can get awfully grumpy when he's not getting enough touches, either. Why, this squad just seems to be begging for a commanding presence with a flair for offense to produce its winner within, don't you think?

The explanation I've heard from those who dismiss the potential chemistry concerns for Van Gundy is that Shaq will keep everyone in line. Nobody messes with the Big Po-Po.

Only they did that final year in Los Angeles, if memory serves, and again last spring in Miami, if Shaq's complaints that he didn't get the ball enough are correct.

The sad truth is that no matter what a player's credentials might be, once he can't single-handedly carry teammates where they otherwise couldn't go, the bark loses its bite. Michael Jordan knows that from his experience in D.C. Magic tasted it in his comeback in L.A. It happens in every walk of life. When the star or the boss loses his magic touch, the rolling eyes and behind-the-back jokes around the copier begin.

Has Shaq's bark lost its bite?

In any case, it's hard to see Shaq working on Van Gundy's behalf. Although the Diesel labeled whispers he was pushing Riley to oust the coach as unfair, he stopped well short of saying, "He's a great coach and I don't want to play for anybody else." Unless I missed something -- a possibility since I've spent part of the summer in some remote locations -- his lone endorsement was of Riley.

I'm not saying Riley is purposely sabotaging Van Gundy's chance at survival, although I have to wonder what the basis of their mutual devotion really is. After all, Pat abruptly handed Van Gundy his first coaching job less than a week before the season began. For the following season, he reworked the team to land Shaq and did nothing to tamp down expectations until after the fact (recently claiming he believed all along that last year's team wasn't a championship-worthy unit).

The season-warming gift this year was to leave Van Gundy's status in limbo for several weeks before announcing Stan would keep his job but would be under closer supervision. Surely J-Will and 'Toine won't see that as an opening to discuss their roles directly with management should they have issues.

Granted, the Heat have every reason to roll the dice now. Miami's window for a title remains open about as long as Shaq can hold it open. No one knows how long that will be, but the decline clearly has begun. Motivated to prove he could get in shape and win without Kobe, he played 28 more regular-season minutes, blocked five more shots and once more came limping down the stretch.

My biggest problem with believing this has even a remote chance of working -- that Stan will keep his job past Christmas, the Heat will be one happy family and South Beach will host a championship parade in June -- is that it never does.

Title-caliber chemistry requires collective playoff trials and tribulations. It might sound quaint, but teams have to grow together through hard times. I've never seen one that didn't. Adding Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell to the Minnesota Timberwolves made them better, but it didn't make them champions (and then it made them much worse).

This very same Shaq-centric experiment actually failed two years ago with a better surrounding cast. Are the same people who have anointed the Heat the best in the East the same ones who had the Lakers with Karl Malone and Gary Payton waltzing to a title? I guarantee you this: More teams were intimidated by the '03-04 Lakers than will be by the '05-06 Heat. One reason: No one can picture this Heat team playing anything remotely close to championship-caliber defense.

Stan is the man, of course, who might be able to fix that. If only he had a different boat. Or didn't have his hands full trying to stay aboard the one he has.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine and collaborated with Rockets center Yao Ming on "Yao: A Life in Two Worlds."

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

SEA Games

Youth ready to help in SEA Games

Inquirer News Service

THE FILIPINO youth may not be one with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when it comes to matters of governance and politics, but we are one with her in her call for the successful staging of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). The preparations currently being undertaken by the Philippine SEAGames Organizing Committee (Philsoc) are moving painstakingly slow; we call on Roberto Pagdanganan and Danding Cojuangco to hasten the preparations for the Games lest we lose face before our regional neighbors.

A lot of students like me are willing to help the Philsoc in ensuring the success of the Games. We want to volunteer, but the timeframe for the SEAG is in conflict with our classes. It would help if the SEA Games period is declared a school holiday; this way, we can devote our efforts to volunteer work without worrying about absences or failures. Our only desire is to help the country successfully host this important regional event.

We are aware of the efforts of the National Youth Commission to have our request granted. We hope Ms Arroyo and the Philsoc act favorably on it. For a successful SEA Games.

KIT UNDUG (via e-mail)

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Captain No More

Mavericks amnesty clause casualty Michael Finley is expected to draw numerous suitors for his All-Star services.

Inquirer Sports

Bare Eye : Pacquiao, Defensor: Authentic, not authentic
In Huddle : Pagdanganan feels no rancor against Ramirez, et al
Cebu, Cagayan de Oro pace national women's football
Manotoc tees off in Active Mid-Am tilt
PBA strikes 10 rookies off free agent list
Philsoc unveils 'home'
MayniLA batters hold W. Virginia to 1-1 standoff
Streaking Knights face skidding Blazers today
Air21, rookie Washington agree to 3-year deal

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

NBA Headlines

• Brian Grant: Likely to Sign with Phoenix

• Ron Mercer: Waived by Nets

• Finley waived by Mavericks

• Timberwolves waive veteran G Hoiberg

• Mavericks waive G-F Finley

• Grant added to the front line

• Rockets waive forward Weatherspoon

• Rockets waive F Weatherspoon

• Wolves waive ailing Hoiberg for luxury-tax relief

• Grant, Suns close in on deal

• West expects maturity, playoff experience to help Grizzlies

• 76ers hire Overton as director of player development

• Pacers waive Reggie Miller, avoid luxury tax liability

• Bulls: Duhon staying in the Windy City

• Mavs re-sign Armstrong

• Mavericks re-sign G Darrell Armstrong

• Heat designate F Person their amnesty player

• Nets waive Ron Mercer

• Bulls match offer for Duhon

• Pacers waive G Miller

• Raptors name C Mourning amnesty player

• Heat sign free agent G Walsh

• Chris Duhon: Bulls Match Offer

• Bulls match Raptors' offer sheet, re-sign G Duhon

• Walsh formally signs his Heat deal

• Knicks waive F Williams

• Nets waive G Mercer

• Bucks waive C Booth

• Knicks waive Jerome Williams, save $21.3 million in luxury taxes

• Win-loss record

NBA Updates

The Grizzlies' Pau Gasol has been a model of consistency, averaging at least 17 points and 7 boards each of his four years.

Crazy Like A Fox

Memphis' moves have many wondering if team president Jerry West has lost his touch. Not SI.com's Kelly Dwyer, who thinks the team is tailor-made for coach Mike Fratello.

• TRUTH & RUMORS: Sprewell to Detroit?

• BURNS: Winners, losers in free agency

Amnesty day: Finley's final hours

The Mavericks are exploring trade options for longtime leader Michael Finley leading up to tonight's midnight ET deadline for amnesty moves.
• Suns to sign Grant | Amnesty roundup
• Stein: Amnesty clause Q&A

• Not going: Duhon still Bull after Raptors' offer matched
• Judge's ruling could finally send Johnson to Hawks
• Shaq says he's ready to attack new season
• Point taken: Clippers acquire Cassell from Wolves
• King him: Shareef signs with Sacramento
• 76er 86ed: Philadelphia releases McKie, signs Hunter
• Monday roundup: Ex-Gator Walsh signs with Heat

The Seattle Five

Seattle still has five free agents on hold, which is right where the SuperSonics want them, writes Frank Hughes. Story

46-Day Race

Serbian wins world's longest footrace

Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK -- Serbia-Montenegro's Srdjan Stojanovich won the world's longest ultra-marathon, becoming the fastest first-time performer in the nine-year history of the Self-Transcendence 3,100-mile race when it was declared finished on Sunday.

Stojanovich, a 42-year-old from Nish, finished the astonishing distance in 46 days, 10 hours, 51minutes, and 16 seconds, the third-best performance in history.

Not satisfied with the third-fastest time ever in the 4,960-kilometer event, he added an extra 13 laps of the 833-meter course in Queens, New York, in order to reach the ultra-runner's magical 5,000-km distance, for which he posted a time of 46 days 12 hours, 56min and 53sec.

Stojanovich finished the official 3,100-mile race distance three days ahead of his nearest rival, Finnish deliveryman Ashprihanal Aalto. Aalto had won the race for the third time in 2004.

Once again, Suprabha Beckjord, 49, was the lone woman runner. She finished on Sunday after 64 days four hours 23 minutes and 28 seconds.

Beckjord became the only person ever to finish the event nine times.

Over the years, the gift-shop owner has run 49,260 km on the course around a city park and high school in Queens.

The runners assemble at 6:00 a.m. each day and are allowed to keep going until midnight.

This year, 14 competitors started the event that is recognized by the International Association of Ultrarunners as the world's longest footrace. The 13 finishers are the most ever.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Yao Too Late

Yes, yes, Yao

Francis Ochoa
Inquirer News Service

THE BOWED head, intimidating scowl and confident stride as he crossed the cobbled walkway of the athletes' village in Busan, South Korea, in 2002 is a familiar picture to those who know Asian hoops. It is Yao Ming, Chinese cage superstar.

The charming smile, wide-eyed look and puzzled expression that "The Year of the Yao" pasted on movie screens belong to the same person—well, almost.

The movie attempts to paint a picture of Yao, the man.

But other than highlight his evolution from one country's champ to another's underdog, "Year" presents nothing new about the Houston Rockets' prized giant. At least, nothing that ESPN couldn't cram into a 30-minute special.

In any case, everything that happened during Yap's rookie year is in here:

His rivalry with Shaquille O'Neal.

The wager that had Charles Barkley kissing a donkey's ass on national television.

The pressures of playing for a city that had won two championships riding on the shoulders of another center, NBA hall-of-famer Hakeem Olajuwon.

Trying to go beyond what people already know, the movie offers a peek into the special friendship between Yao and his personal interpreter Colin Pine—an angle relentlessly pursued. In fact, the docu is seen mostly through the eyes of Pine.

Directors Adam Del Deo and James B. Stern make good use of their access to NBA games and Yao's private space, decorating their work with game clips calculated to make any basketball fan drool.

Aficionados may wonder at the movie's insistence on pinning Yao's height at 7'5", when he is actually 7'6". The mix-up comes from the fact that the NBA picked up an old data sheet of Yao, one which still had him listed an inch shorter.

Nowadays, though, everybody knows how tall Yao really is. Or how he plays. Or what products he has endorsed. "The Year of the Yao" is a couple of years too late.