Hoop Nation (China Chapter) in Mourning

The China chapter of Hoop Nation (which probably comprises about, oh, 350 million people, ie, more than the entire United States) is in a deep funk today after the Houston’s Rockets’ inconceivable game seven loss at home last night to the Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Once again, Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady & Co. fail to make it out of the first round. Incredible.
Never mind how depressed Yao fans are (and that includes me), wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on the wall at the NBA offices in New York as the Rockets choked? Like every other business on earth, the NBA views China (not unreasonably, given the growing passion for the game here) as the promised land. Their execs HAD to be quietly rooting for Houston to at least make it to the second round. But that sound across the Pacific you hear now is TV sets clicking off in China as the NBA playoffs move on without the planet’s most popular player.
Who’s fault was it? Not Yao’s. He played very well last night, as he has since returning from his injury late in the season. McGrady had said a few days ago that if the Rockets lost it would be “on me,” ie his fault. But the fact is, he didn’t play badly last night either (though not as well as Yao did.) No, I’m inclined to blame the coach, Jeff Van Gundy, and Houston’s front office for not putting a decent enough surrounding cast around the team’s two stars. I mean, ok, they may not be Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson, but you have got to be able to put a team together around the two main men who can get you at least to the second round.
I suspect they’ll fire Van Gundy and blow up the rest of the team, hoping to rebuild around the Yao and T Mac one more time.