text: Yao Yi Matchup Could Break Ratings Records
  Houston Community News >> Yao-Yi Matchup
  11/8/2007-- In China, Friday's NBA game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets is expected to draw massive TV ratings.
  The excitement in China will be as palpable as that peculiar American quasi-holiday when virtually the whole nation stands glued to their television sets, amid parties and wild celebrations.
  "It's the two best basketball players in the country coming to play in the best basketball league in the world," said Wang Meng, a sports writer who covers the Rockets for Titan Sports, a Beijing-based newspaper. "It doesn't matter who wins. It's the best thing that can happen in China, because people will be excited either way."
  Wang said the game is expected to draw more than 200 million viewers in China.
  "The numbers are just extraordinary," said Heidi Ueberroth, the NBA's president of global marketing partnerships and international business operations. "It's very significant. It's showing how much the globalization of the league is on the rise."
  The Rockets drafted Yao with the top overall pick in 2002. His first matchup with Shaquille O'Neal drew more than 200 million viewers back home.
  He's since developed into one of the game's top centers, a five-time NBA All-Star who's increased his scoring average every season. He had 28 points and 13 rebounds against Tim Duncan and the champion San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
  And now comes Yi, the No. 6 pick in the draft. The two played together at the Athens Olympics and Yao sensed immediately that Yi would be a star.
  The two haven't kept in touch much since Yi arrived in Milwaukee. When they did speak, Yao didn't give him much advice on life in the NBA.
  "Just try to work hard," Yi said Yao told him. "First season is going to be not easy."
  Yao said Yi was going to have to learn on his own, like he did.
  Yi was reportedly disappointed that he wasn't picked by a team in a city with a larger Asian population. He seems to be adjusting just fine, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the Bucks' 78-72 win over Chicago last weekend.
  They'll meet again in Milwaukee on February 2 and will team up for the Olympics in Beijing. Neither is thinking that far ahead.
  "It's the NBA season," Yi said.
  But they can't wait in China, where Wang thinks Friday's game will be long remembered as historic.
  "When people talk about this, they will think about the game they watched where two Chinese players started in an NBA game," Wang said. "This will help Chinese basketball a lot, just like Luis Scola and Manu Ginobili watched Michael Jordan win the championship back in Argentina.
  "Every kid who loves basketball has a basketball dream. For them right now, maybe some of them want to be like Kobe. Maybe some of them want to try to be LeBron James. Now, why not think about being like Yi? This will open their eyes. This is such a great thing."
  Copyright � 2005 ChinatownConnection.com. Yao-Yi Matchup Could Break Ratings Records. All rights reserved.