TIME TO DREAM BIG NBA'S CENTERS OF ATTENTION TO HAVE FIRST MEETING.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

HOUSTON - The truth is, Shaquille O'Neal did not hurl the first insult. The fans did that. He didn't bait and tease Yao Ming to orchestrate a new rivalry. The NBA and ESPN did that. And after months of anticipation and intrigue, silly quips and poor comedy, it remains unclear what any of this means on the basketball court.

At long last, that issue will become clearer tonight.

O'Neal, the game's most dominant player, will for the first time face Yao, the league's most intriguing young big man, when the Lakers and Houston Rockets play at Compaq Center.

It's the dream matchup that had NBA marketers salivating ever since the league helped pave the way for Yao to leave his team in Shanghai last year and become the No. 1 pick the June draft.

Shaq, all muscle and power and bluster. The best center of his era, if not all time.

Yao, all smiles and footwork and finesse and inches (at 7-foot-5, he's got a four-inch advantage on O'Neal). The best center in China already, and perhaps the best young pivotman in the NBA, the one player who might - eventually - make O'Neal break a sweat.

It's been years since anyone has - thus, the excitement over this historic first meeting. ESPN is broadcasting it to a national audience, and several dozen members of the national media dropped in Thursday to add to the frenzy.

Yao accommodated them all with his unique sense of humor and humility - ``It's going to be a very difficult game,'' he said.

O'Neal escaped the camera crush when coach Phil Jackson canceled the day's workout, leaving several dozen reporters stranded without sound bytes.

The disappointment might not end there. For all the talk of Yao challenging O'Neal with his height and quickness, several players believe this will be a mismatch, a la O'Neal vs. Shawn Bradley.

``There's a lot of hype around it with Shaquille and Yao Ming,'' Kobe Bryant said. ``Personally, I think it's unfair to Yao Ming. He's nowhere close to Shaquille O'Neal.''

Clearly, Bryant has a natural bias, but many others share his sentiment.

P.J. Brown, the New Orleans Hornets forward who has spent years banging O'Neal in the post, has played Yao twice this season. He said there is no comparison - yet.

``I think Yao is probably missing the power and strength to really handle Shaq right now,'' Brown said. ``But maybe down the road, maybe another year from now, it might be a better battle. I still think it's going to be pretty good. As long as he's not too intimidated by Shaq, then he'll be OK.''

Nothing Yao has seen in the NBA to date can prepare him, Brown added.

``He hasn't met the force of Shaquille O'Neal - that's a different kind of power right there,'' he said.

Phoenix Suns strongman Amare Stoudemire, a brute who grew up idolizing O'Neal and is challenging Yao for Rookie of the Year honors, also weighed in after playing the Rockets on Wednesday.

``I'll tell you what, Shaq is a monster, bro,'' Stoudemire said. ``And Yao is developing. Look for Shaq to have a big game.''

Neither player is in prime condition. O'Neal is overweight and a step slow after September toe surgery. Yao, who already played a full season in China, then in the World Games last summer, has hit the proverbial rookie wall. He's averaging 11.9 points and 9.3 rebounds this month but is shooting around 40 percent (down from 67 percent in November).

But O'Neal always seems to regain his strength when he's provoked, and Yao has been on his mind for nearly a year.

ESPN Magazine made Yao a cover boy before he even had been drafted. NBA scouts and general managers began buzzing about him as the next great center. O'Neal, who finds sleights in even the most benign events, was both amused and irked. Thus began his sometimes-humorous (and unfortunately, at-times offensive) campaign of sending light-hearted taunts through the media.

O'Neal promised to intimidate and break Yao, going so far as to suggest planting an elbow in his face. ``I think he has a lot of meat on his elbows, so maybe it won't hurt,'' Yao responded.

The hyperbolic smack talk is nothing new for O'Neal, who considers it all ``homeboy marketing.''

A few months ago, he talked about the eventual first meeting with Yao.

``Am I looking forward to it? Of course I am,'' O'Neal said. ``But I'm just trying to sell tickets, because that's what they (NBA officials) are trying to do: `He's 7-5, he may give Shaq trouble.'

``But I don't see it,'' he said. ``And what you don't understand is, with a guy like that, you've just got to go at him. And that's what I plan on doing, I plan on going at him the first time I touch the ball, make him remember. And once I get him to remember, then I've got him. And that's my secret.''

The fans provided O'Neal the last measure of motivation, choosing Yao as the All-Star Game's starting center by a landslide. O'Neal has been magnanimous about the vote, but teammates believe it will serve as added motivation.

``Hopefully, it will give him a lot of fuel, give him a lot of fire, so he can go out and dominate like normal,'' Robert Horry said.

Said O'Neal: ``I'll just be looking forward to winning the game. I don't feel I have to outscore him and outdo him to solidify my position in this game. Everyone knows who I am. In America and China and Africa. They all know who I am.''

LAKERS vs. HOUSTON

Today, 6:30 p.m.

Ch. 9, ESPN; 570-AM

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

(2 -- color) YAO MING

Box:

(1) LAKERS vs. HOUSTON

- Howard Beck

(2) SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

2002-2003

(3) YAO MING

2002-2003