Looking ahead - I already feel cheated

Okay, I'm mentally done thinking about last night's "game" against the Celtics.  (Only Luis Scola showed up to play.  T-Mac showed up to play offense only.  Yao was too busy doing his Bill Walton post 1977 impression.  It was not amusing.)

Moving along.......

Thursday night the Rockets take on the Portland Trail Blazers.  Our first chance to see Yao take on celebrated rookie Greg Oden Jerryd Bayless, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez and hey, look, it's Frenchy!

But, uh, yeah - no Yao/Oden matchup.  That sucks.  I was looking forward to Yao dominating Oden.  I mean, in addition to Yao overcoming his new and previously unforeseen rival - otherwise known as "the rim".  It's okay.  Yao is still a badass.  He just was not one last night.  He even said so himself:

I played a bad game, probably one of my worst games in a long time. I need to figure out what happened besides just thinking about those early fouls. I think I hesitated, worried about getting another foul. I think I moved not quick enough.