By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle If playing a back-to-back matched up with Dwight Howard one night and Amare Stoudemire the next would seem an extreme test of Yao Ming's comeback from 32 games lost to a fractured right leg, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said Yao's conditioning should have been considered outstanding. "What is remarkable to me is that here is a guy who obviously has, because of his size, stamina issues," Van Gundy said. "He's out 71 days, and he was able to play 35 minutes in his fourth game. "That goes directly to his work ethic. No one — no one — works harder than he does. No one. "He can take great pride in that." Yao, 26, is back to his pre-injury weight of 302 pounds with 6.5-7 percent body fat. "It's still not the best," Yao said of his conditioning. "I think I cannot stay in the game long enough. Like (Sunday) night, I got tired so quick in the second half. I still need to work on that." Try to stop him The Suns have devoted as much defensive attention to Yao Ming as any team, though almost no team lets him match up without some defensive help. "You never see him one-on-one post offense," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "It's post offense in a crowd. That goes to depth (of where he catches the ball.) "Yao cannot be guarded legally when he catches it deep. He can be banged and he can be hit. "He's just got to play through whatever the non-calls are. If he gets it deep, he's going to score." No answer for Suns The Rockets' efforts to match up with the Suns never have negated the Suns' speed, making it better, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said, if the Rockets try to use their usual rotation. In the past, the Rockets' efforts to go small made them small, but still not swift enough. "There's nothing we can do about their team speed advantage," Van Gundy said. "They are who they are and we are who we are. We can do something about the energy advantage they've played with against us. "Their energy level has been superior to ours in all phases, offensively, defensively and in rebounding. Whoever we put out there, we're going to have to get a consistent energy and concentration. Even when they guard things well, they can make you look bad and you just have to be able to stick with it. "If I thought we had something that could match up, like there was a special lineup we could play, you would have already seen it. I don't have one. It depends on what kind of game whoever it is brings to the court. "If it's an alert, aggressive game, it would be better to keep size out there because their small is not small. They're just fast. People are so mesmerized with their speed, they forget how long they are. Kurt Thomas gives them a guy who is a very, very good low-post defender, too. They have good versatility. They use it well." --

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