Three Asian absences

November 19, 11:36 PMAsian-American Sports ExaminerMichael Street

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Yao grimaces on Monday night. AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Tonight, three Asian stars were more or less absent from their teams, some expectedly, some not, and all with varying effects.

Brian Ching wasn't expected to play in the US's final World Cup Qualifier against Guatemala tonight. After winning against Cuba, the US clinched a second-round berth in World Cup qualifying, so today's match only meant something to Guatemala, who were playing to qualify for the first time ever. 

So US coach Bob Bradley elected not to start forward Ching, who is one of the core players in the veteran group; his 13 goals this year for the Houston Dynamo were a personal record. In Ching's place, Bradley  started Kenny Cooper and Freddy Adu, both of whom scored in the contest.

The game was knotted 0-0 at the half, not surprising, given that the US had blanked Guatemala in the past seven contests, and that the US didn't have much to play for. The US had its chances, but couldn't seem to find the back of the net until the 58th minute, when Cooper slid to redirect a beautiful cross from Jozy Altidore; Adu's goal, his first ever on the international pitch, came on a free kick in the 69th minute.

Ching actually appeared in the game late, a bit of a surprise, since Guatemala had been playing very chippy, and the match seemed to be in the bag. In retrospect, Bradley should have subbed for captain Pablo Mastroeni, who collected his second yellow card of the round on a dubious call late in the match. He'll have to sit out the next qualifying game, which will be in February. Ching's time in mop-up duty was fortunately without incident.

The Rockets, on the other hand, had to do entirely without their key player, Yao Ming. He left the Thunder game on Monday early with foot pain, which also kept him out of the game against the Dallas Mavericks tonight. The injury is not believed to be serious, although it does bring up the specter or previous lower-body injuries to the Houston big man. In the same game against the Thunder, both Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest also left with injuries, but they were able to play tonight.

Unfortunately, they couldn't help overcome the 4-7 Mavericks tonight, even though Dallas was missing its young star, Josh Howard, who was bothered by an ankle injury. While the Rockets looked a little lost, playing their game mostly from the perimeter, the Mavericks were able to win in a shooting contest. They outscored the Rockets 31-25 in the first quarter, then never trailed the rest of the game, winning 96-86.

Yao isn't central to the Rockets offense, but they seemed lost without him. McGrady and Artest had some hot streaks, but the game was mostly a stop-and-pop affair, with less ball movement through their frontcourt. Yao is an excellent passer and draws attention under the basket, freeing Houston's shooters for open looks. Tonight, they couldn't do much, and hope he can return on Friday, when they play the Washington Wizards at home.

Yi Jianlian's return is not so certain, however, after he left today's Nets practice with a sprained neck. The team hopes he'll be ready for their next game on Friday, because they are also missing Eduardo Najera and Josh Boone, their other frontcourt forces. Najera has had several nagging injuries, and Boone sprained his right ankle. Both practiced lightly today, and the status of all three is uncertain for the upcoming game against Toronto, who feature 6'11" Jermaine O'Neal in the middle and two other starters—Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh—who stand 7'0" and 6'10", respectively.