YAO-SHAQ III: The curiously underhyped Yao-Shaq III, that is--I'm guessing LeBron has stolen all Yao's HYPE! Or else the NBA/shoe company hype machines are only capable of pushing one guy at a time. Anyhow, the Rockets won. Shaq barely won the statistical war. But, again, the hype was lacking. The Rockets have kind of fallen off the face of the nationally televised Earth this season, but with so many great NBA stories this year (New Look Lakers/Mavs/Spurs/Kings, the Nuggets, the Cavs, the freakin' Warriors, Flip Murray and the Sonics, Pacers and Pistons with new coaches--basically every team not in the Atlantic Division is a good story) I can understand the Rockets getting lost in the shuffle. I do miss the weekly "Yao Ming, in town tonight, is energizing the local Chinese community" from last season. And we probably won't get any more reports of the Miami Heat handing out fortune cookies when the Rockets are in town.