# Yao returns in loss for China



## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

*Yao returns in loss for China * 
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer
August 11, 2006

NANJING, China (AP) -- Yao Ming's back! Too bad Dirk Nowitzki had to spoil the party. 

Yao scored 11 points for China in his return from a four-month layoff because of a foot injury, losing 82-73 Friday to Germany in a warmup for the World Championships. 

Nowitzki racked up 27 points, including 18 in the final quarter, scoring nearly at will against Yao and almost every other Chinese player. 

Yao fired up early, winning a huge cheer from the home crowd with a mighty slam at the start of the first quarter. 

With Yao back, China looked like a completely different team from the one that got slammed 119-73 by the United States on Monday. 

"Obviously Yao Ming is a great player. He's one of the best centers in the world, but I was very impressed with the whole team," German player Patrick Femerling said. "They're very mobile, agile and versatile players." 

Femerling added 10 points for the European championship runners-up. Nowitzki, who had a 12 rebounds, started the night looking a little rusty and needed time to find his rhythm. 

Germany took a 58-49 lead into the fourth quarter. China tried to keep things close, but the Dallas Mavericks star, who gave Yao of the Houston Rockets a playful slap on the chest at the start, dominated. 

"He's so good in one-on-one situations, he can always get a shot off," Germany coach Dirk Bauermann said. "And he knows when his best is needed the most. That was vintage Dirk Nowitzki." 

China coach Jonas Kazlauskaz said he expects better results once Yao gets more practice with his teammates. 

"With Yao on the court, the rest of the team also began to improve," Kazlauskaz said. "Still we have some problems, but it was much better."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgufsE_Vpyr0o8Iapw1reym8vLYF?slug=ap-germany-china&prov=ap&type=lgns


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Looks like Yao's well on the way back to health!

:clap: :clap: :clap:


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

11pts?? Dirk was scoring at will against Yao?? This is not a good sign, horrible performance.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Pasha The Great said:


> 11pts?? Dirk was scoring at will against Yao?? This is not a good sign, horrible performance.


It was his first game back...

I was glad to hear he returned before the start of world championship. The best part of the article was "With Yao on the court, the rest of the team also began to improve."

:cheers:


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

edwardcyh said:


> It was his first game back...
> 
> I was glad to hear he returned before the start of world championship. The best part of the article was "With Yao on the court, the rest of the team also began to improve."
> 
> :cheers:


Great news


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

lingi1206 said:


> Great news


This is a bit early for Yao to return I think. Anyhoo, if Yao was guarding Nowitzki, I would expect Nowitzki to score at will. Remember, Dirk is not a back-to-the-basketball player. He's a drive, stop, and pop guy. It shoulda been Yi on Dirk.


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

We was only off from a broken foot.. and he was playing at a lower level than the NBA, he should have been scoring much higher than 11pts.. im telling you this doesnt look good.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

I am not liking what i am seeing here with Yao...


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

but he said in an article he will take it easy until he gets more playing time so its nothing to worry about plus this is only exibition so i won't want Yao to play too hard anyways


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Anyone know how many minutes Yao played?


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

anyone know if the chinese are competent post feeders? how do they compare bob sura?


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## rainman (Jul 15, 2002)

bronx43 said:


> This is a bit early for Yao to return I think. Anyhoo, if Yao was guarding Nowitzki, I would expect Nowitzki to score at will. Remember, Dirk is not a back-to-the-basketball player. He's a drive, stop, and pop guy. It shoulda been Yi on Dirk.


good call.


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## FirstRocket (Mar 10, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> Anyone know how many minutes Yao played?


Yao played for about 21 minutes and when he was not on the court, Germany lead widened. He got two blocks if I'm correct. He only had six shots for 11pts and two assists. Moved slowly on the court, maybe, still worried about his foot.


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## WoAiNBA (Feb 10, 2006)

The problem is that yao couldn't get the ball


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

there arent many players in the world who can guard dirk, let alone yao... he's too quick... dirk must have been playing at center?


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## FirstRocket (Mar 10, 2005)

TracywtFacy said:


> there arent many players in the world who can guard dirk, let alone yao... he's too quick... dirk must have been playing at center?


I only saw one play where Yao guarded Dirk, close to the perimeter and Dirk scored with a jumper.


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## jiangsheng (Feb 11, 2006)

11 pts in 20 min is not bad. 2 rbs is understandable since Yi Jianlian took that job away early (7 rbs in the 1st Q). The coach was trying everyone out so everyone (well, every healthy one...) had some ninutes


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## Saint Baller (May 3, 2006)

Glad Yao is on his way back to good health, but one thing that really stood out to me is that he had 11 in 21 minutes, thats pretty decent as he only took 6 shots...

But wow for Dirk... 18 points in the fourth at will  Good news for me especially


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Ok, i didnt know the extent on the teams performance and yao's productivity. 
It seems as if it was just a combination of the lack of the team being able to feed yao, and yao playing limited minutes with him being easy on the foot.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Yao should not play right now PERIOD!!! :curse: 
If Yao get's injured Rox are doomed. :curse:


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## Saint Baller (May 3, 2006)

Tracy McGrady?


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## StackAttack (Mar 15, 2006)

Good to hear. Wow at Dirk especially, 27 points is pretty insane on the international level, since it's more balanced between different team members and the game is 8 minutes shorter, sounds like it was one of those "not going to let his team lose" performances. Also, I'm glad to see Yao's on the road to recovery, this is very impressive seeing as he hasn't played a game in 4 months...in Dirk's first friendly, it had only been a month (less, maybe) since the Finals ended and he had the worst game I've ever been able to imagine from him. Nobody preached the Mavs' doom. It's all good.

:cheers: to an even stronger Southwest Division in 07!


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

yaontmac said:


> Yao should not play right now PERIOD!!! :curse:
> If Yao get's injured Rox are doomed. :curse:


bad for rox good for china


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