HOUSTON -- This season at least, Houston Rockets rookie Yao Ming won't be listening to coach Rudy Tomjanovich as much as he will Colin Pine.

	“	I sometimes find myself just thinking about at the end of a game when a play is being drawn up and I'm the guy that's trying to explain to Yao. ”
		— Colin Pine

Agents for the 7-foot-5 center from China selected Pine as his interpreter.

"It's intimidating,'' Pine, 28, of Baltimore said in an interview with Houston television station KRIV on Sunday. "I guess the reality is I have a conceptual notion of what it is.''

Pine, an English literature graduate from James Madison University in Virginia, studied and worked in China for three years. He spent the past 18 months working as a translator for the State Department.

He has yet to meet Yao, the first overall pick in this year's NBA Draft.

Pine's job will be to accurately translate information to Yao, his coaches, teammates and the media. It's some of those potential late-game situations that have Pine most concerned.

"I've had a lot of nightmares about that,'' Pine said. "I sometimes find myself just thinking about at the end of a game when a play is being drawn up and I'm the guy that's trying to explain to Yao.''

Yao is still awaiting approval from the Chinese Basketball Association before signing with the Rockets. The CBA has said it would address the matter after Yao finishes playing for China in the Asian Games, which ends Monday.

Rockets officials have said they don't expect a problem.