Yao Has Ewing’s Attention

A lot of eyes are focused on Yao Ming, with one particularly important pair among them.

Patrick Ewing has been through Game 7 battles, pushing and pulling on Hakeem Olajuwon and Alonzo Mourning, jostling for position with an NBA title on the line and the nation’s largest city on his shoulders.

Now an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, Ewing is a primary part of Yao’s continued development, cajoling him at times and chiding him at others. Yao’s regular-season numbers have dipped in two playoff games against the Lakers, but Ewing said he saw steady overall improvement this season.

“I think Yao has definitely made some strides,� Ewing said. “He still has a long way to go. He needs to be a more dominant individual, not just verbally, but also in his presence on the court.

“Yao has the potential and the ability to take over games not only offensively but defensively. He just has to envision himself doing it. He’s so laid-back. Sometimes, I think he takes too much of a step back when he needs to be out in the forefront.�

Ewing’s get-tough message is slowly getting through.

“He’s taught me to be a bad person,� Yao said, smiling. “If you want to have success, you have to be a bad person.�

Ewing and Yao don’t exactly stay up all night watching video, sifting through stats and analyzing opposing centers. Ewing gets his points across in quick bursts. It’s up to Yao to put it to good use in games.

Said Yao: “I only talk to him in practice and on the plane. He talks a lot. I don’t have that much energy to talk.�

Like Yao, Ewing was a top overall pick in the NBA draft, taken by the New York Knicks in 1985 on the way to a 17-season career in which he finished 13th in NBA history in scoring, 20th in rebounding and fifth in blocked shots.

Call it a case of bad timing, in its simplest form, but Ewing never won an NBA championship with the Knicks. Olajuwon and Michael Jordan turned pro a year before he did, and hit their prime at the same time with better teams.

Yao is a few years from his best days, but he could be alone atop the heap when he hits his peak. In five years, Yao will be 29, Shaquille O’Neal will be 39 and Tim Duncan will be 33.

Until then, Ewing has a more immediate goal for Yao.

“It’s the playoffs,� Ewing said. “Shaq’s going to try to bring his ‘A’ game and Yao needs to do the same.�

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Add another item to the Rocket fix-it list -- bench play.

Maurice Taylor was the only reserve to score more than four points in Game 2. Off the Laker bench, Derek Fisher had 11 points and Kareem Rush 10.

“Their bench outscored us, 32-15, and that was huge,� guard Steve Francis told Associated Press. “There were a lot of blown coverages. We need to try to correct all that.�