Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has denied earlier criticism that his absence was the reason for the national team's consecutive losses during their training tour of Europe.

Yao, one of China's most influential international athletes, made the remarks on Monday, in an interview with domestic media, having returned from a three-day tour of Taiwan.

He attributed most of the Chinese defeats in Europe to the time intervals between games. He said it leaves the squad too little time to review errors in games, and make corrections.

The excessively busy schedule also serves to plunge a team into a fatigue, the "small giant" complained.

Talking on the preparation for the Beijing Olympics, Yao revealed that some of the Chinese Basketball Association staff have been sent to collect training information from the squads China will face at the Beijing Games.

Yao will later this week lead the Chinese national team in a charity match in Beijing, against an NBA All Stars team captained by Steve Nash.

(CRI September 11, 2007)