If I'm Nate McMillan I'll have my guys fronting Yao from the opening tip. I will have them chanting "front" in practice. They will have to watch the old Woody Allen movie "The Front" several times. And, the Simpson's episode with the same title. They will be reciting mock weather reports featuring cold 'fronts.' They will handle Yao this way or be threatened with a frontal lobotomy. Anything else would be an afront to the Portland organization.

The simple fact is that from a Blazers point of view Yao cannot be allowed to wheel and deal with straight man to man coverage. In the first minute of Saturday's game one he had five points, a blocked shot and a rebound. Game over.

McMillan will have to take his chances with the Rockets getting another career night from Aaron Brooks or have Artest go off. He just can't afford to let Yao get going the way he did. Of course, Rick Adelman will have something to say about it as well.

Did the Astros really botch another solid starting performance. After Jose Valverde gave up the two run rope to Hernandez on Friday night, Tim Byrdak and Geoff Geary blasted propane all over Felipe Paulino's six shutout innings on Sunday. And you thought starting pitching was an issue.

The silver lining is that...never mind there is none right now. You can't afford to squander these chances early in the season. The Astros need all the help they can get and flushing good pitching work at home is not the recipe for the kind of start they were seeking.