The Houston Rockets are trying to help Yao Ming change his playing style. China's 7-foot-6 gentle giant has been slow to adapt to the rim-clanging, in-your-face play of the NBA. He's a big man with finesse, and the Rockets would like him to be more of an aggressive force.

In his second season with the Rockets, Yao is running a close second to Shaquille O'Neal in the balloting for starting All-Star center for the Western Conference, but he's still trying to overcome the no-contact style of play he learned from years of playing international basketball.

"It's not something you snap your fingers and it happens — I just wish we could do that," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "It's just the way the game is played here. Even college players from the U.S. have to make the adjustment. Until you get hit, you don't understand that."

Yao was the first player chosen the NBA draft last year, creating immediate excitement for the Rockets. Houston didn't make the playoffs last year and Yao spent a season learning the brutal nature of the sport as played in the NBA.

Jeff Van Gundy has taken on the job of pushing Yao into an NBA mentality.

"He's teaching me to be more aggressive and the whole team is encouraging me, too," Yao said.

Former Rockets forward Matt Bullard, a teammate of former Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, expects Yao to reach a high level — once he adjusts to the NBA.

"The Chinese culture is so different, everyone is supposed to be so respectful of everyone else," Bullard said. "Yao comes here against guys who've been playing street ball all their lives and they're going at him as hard as they can.

"It's going to take him a while to learn that when he has a chance to dunk on somebody he's got to dunk on them hard."

Yao's big frame and strong legs weren't enough to allow him to bang with the game's top physical centers, including O'Neal, as a rookie. Yao has moved forward this season, gaining some 20 pounds after get Rockets put him on a weightlifting program.

"We need to continue to get him to be aggressive, to be assertive," Rockets guard Steve Francis said. "When he's like that, we're unstoppable. As he continues to get a feel for his shot and as he gets more comfortable out there, we can only continue to get better."

Still, there have been frustrating moments when Yao hasn't been able to break free of the double teams. And despite his added strength, he still has a tendency to move softly to the basket.

Yao played only 23 frustrating minutes on Jan. 11 against Boston, finally sitting down with only six points. Since then, he's scored more than 20 points in four of five games, including a season-high 29 points against the Knicks on Wednesday night that was one point shy of his career high.

There were no slam dunks that brought the crowd to its feet. In fact, Yao had one drive during which he could have dunked, but instead lightly put the ball up and missed. Yao was most impressive against the Knicks with his jumpers.

"There is a phrase in China that is similar to manna from heaven, meaning that something good has fallen out of the sky," Yao said after the game. "That was tonight."

He shot 12-for-15 from the field and was unstoppable, at least for the Knicks.

"When he makes his jumper, he is really hard to guard and creates all kinds of problems for the other teams," Van Gundy said. "There is a lot that Yao can do and I think he is looking for his shot a lot more and it's because of his teammates."

Bullard wishes there could be a trend that brought the NBA style closer to Yao's.

"It's been a breath of fresh air for me just to watch him play," Bullard said. "I think the game has gotten to be too much chest-thumping and too much celebrating. I think some of the NBA players ought to bring some of that respect back to their approach to the game."

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