Rockets GM Daryl Morey admitted that Yao Ming (foot) may not be 100 percent until a year from now. It doesn't sound like Yao has had a setback, so this is just confirmation that he will be worked back very slowly. Morey said he is at two-thirds body weight on the treadmill right now and the hope is that he'll be with the team for the preseason. We'd hope to see him play this summer before fantasy drafts. Apr. 15 - 3:44 pm et http://www.rotoworld.com/content/pl...gnews.asp?sport=NBA&id=848&line=135395&spln=1 Lock if poster.
Rockets ready for next year By Chris Duncan Updated: 04.15.10 HOUSTON – About an hour before a home game in January, Yao Ming limped past Houston coach Rick Adelman and headed for the Rockets’ locker room. “I’ve still got time to put my jersey on,” Yao said with a smile. “Don’t tempt me,” Adelman cracked. If only. Yao was wearing a giant protective boot at the time, still several months from recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left foot. Houston finished a respectable 42-40 without it’s 7-foot-6 All-Star center, but missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Lacking a shot-blocking presence in the middle, Houston struggled defensively, dropping to 22nd in opponents’ field goal percentage (47.5) after ranking among the top 5 in the previous three seasons. Three of the team’s best defensive players — Trevor Ariza, Shane Battier and Kyle Lowry — also missed a total of 38 games with injuries. Everyone expected this to be a transitional year for the Rockets anyway, and general manager Daryl Morey didn’t wait until the end to start preparing for next season, when he expects Yao to anchor a playoff-bound team. Houston orchestrated the biggest deal at the midseason trade deadline, dealing troublesome Tracy McGrady to New York and acquiring sharpshooting Kevin Martin from Sacramento. The Rockets had to ship popular forward Carl Landry to the Kings, and they went 14-14 with the new-look roster over the last month and a half of the season. But Morey said Thursday he feels confident in the foundation laid for next season after seeing the progress of several players this year: Point guard Aaron Brooks led the NBA and set a single-season franchise record for 3-pointers made (209). He reached 20 points in 39 games and topped 30 points in 10 games. Power forward Luis Scola recorded 32 double-doubles and scored at least 20 points in 26 games. Rookie Chase Budinger averaged nine points and three rebounds per game, providing reliable scoring off the bench. Guard/forward Trevor Ariza averaged 15 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and ranked sixth in the NBA in steals per game (1.75). “We did what we had to do to get the wins we got,” Morey said, “and we feel like a lot of what we learned this year will carry over to next year when we get Yao Ming back.” The final piece could come in the draft or free agency this summer. Morey vowed that the Rockets will be active buyers looking for a top-tier frontcourt player, a so-called “quality big,” to take pressure off Yao. “Even though we’re proud of a lot of what we accomplished this year, we weren’t a playoff team and we do feel like we’re short of having the roster to compete at the highest level,” Morey said. “We feel like we need to be aggressive. I think a lot of teams make mistakes, where they try to do everything in the offseason prior to the season and then they lose their flexibility to upgrade their team during the year. “So it may not necessarily be something that happens during the offseason,” he said. “It could be that Yao Ming is our big acquisition during the offseason, plus maybe some minor free agent pick-ups. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be constantly looking at free agents.” Morey expects to re-sign soon-to-be restricted free agents Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry, two more vital components for next season. The 6-foot-9 Scola averaged a career-best 16 points and 8.6 rebounds, and the 6-foot Lowry was a tough, physical complement to Brooks. Morey said Rockets owner Leslie Alexander instructed him to offer whatever it takes to bring both players back. “They’re going to be back,” Morey said. “Mr. Alexander said we’ve got all the resources. Kyle and Luis are two of his favorite players on the team — for the obvious reasons that they help us win and they’re both hard working guys — and we’re going to have them back. Mr. Alexander said we’re keeping them, no matter what.” Morey estimates that the Rockets need to improve by 13-15 victories next season to become legitimate contenders again. “To win the title, you have to be somewhere around 55 to 57 wins. So we’ve got to get there,” he said. “I think if we get Yao Ming back, we’re close. And I think if our guys on the team can take a step forward defensively or a step forward overall, or if we make other acquisitions, we’ll be right there.” http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/04/15/conroe_courier/sports/rockets416.txt
Translationeople need to temper they're expectation from here on and should'nt count on him to be the missing piece.
EXACTLY. That's the point. Right now everybody is like ok, we are fine. You add Yao to that mix and... But only few people really understand that Yao is not gonna be the same Yao. He may not be able to play even 20 mpg
It'll take time. I think playing him early in the preseason will help determine what a good number will be for his minutes early in the season. It's a progression factor, the guy hasn't set foot in an NBA game in over a year and a half.
i dont post a lot and i probably dont have any credibility because i dont have any pictures (i leave my phone in the locker before heading to class) . but.. I attend U.H and take basketball class (in melcher gym if any cougars in here). going to my class everyday i have seen yao and david swimming laps and doing little training in the pool (they are kinda hard to miss when their torso sticks out) being the rockets fan i am, i just sat there before class watching them train. yao can walk on his foot but i have not seen him run or anything. and after he gets out of the pool and initially puts weight on it he looks to be in pain still. besides that i haven't really noticed much negative body language from him. he does train in water with weights on. he practices running in water. im not a doctor or even pre-med to make any assumptions from what i have seen but as a fan i hope he continues up the training and gets ready for the season. i think everyone else here should stop acting like a doctor as well. all we can do is hope and pray he is back and healthy ready to kick some utah ass. i shall let yall know of more updates and next class i am taking my phone with me just in case they are back haha
Morey said that Yao won't be at 100% of his shape and that he will be agressive trying to get a big power forward or center to help the defense so no doubt we still need another push with Yao to win
Even without Morey's statements you have to be concerned when next season isn't all THAT far away and Yao cannot even run or jog on the foot yet. There's a long, long way from running on a special treadmill and going through the grind of an NBA season. I will be happy if he is even on the active roster the first game of next season.
i think ppl need to figure out what not 100 % means. there are two things ppl tend to mixe them up, medical ready and physcal ready. it's obvious he is not at the stage of medical ready yet right now. if i am not wrong, his doctor expected he can be back on court before the next season. does it mean he is medical ready by the next season start? most likely, i believe it is the case. but medical ready doesn't mean he is physical ready. think about it. his left foot has been reshaped. it's kind like you give him a new foot. it's not easy for anyone to get used to his new foot. even walking (i am not talking about running and jumping) could be very weird to anyone with a new foot. plus, he hasn't played almost a year. taking half season or whole regular season to get used to his new foot and to get into playing shape is reasonable estimation. i believe 100 % before the playoff that was said in the interview was very carefully calculated by morey. it means he is physical ready and is back to his playing time in the last playoff. ppl also concerned about his injury in the future. so far, his major problem is his left foot not other parts of his body. please remember his recent surgery is not just to put the broken bone together. the main part of his surgery is to reshape his foot to prevent from re-injury in future. the type of surgery is what his doctors suggested. you have to believe doctors. otherwise, talking about possiblity is meanless.
Morey is obviously saying 100% means back at an all-star level where he's going through all his moves at 100% and mastering them. some of you are taking it as 100% means being ready to step on the court, but it's not. morey expects him back on the court at the start of the season or early on. So expect him back early, but don't expect him to start, get 30+ mins, and for him to look at the top of his game. That's going to take some time and it had nothing to do with him declining or not coming back from surgery succesully. when you sit out a whole season and don't work out you're going to need along time to get back to the same level, that goes for just about any all-star talent.
A year from now? So we won't be making the playoffs again? NOOOOOOOOOO I say we trade him this summer for someone more reliable. Who knows if he will ever be the same again. Let's sell now before people find out he is really done. Didn't Dwight just played his 5th 82 game season in the last 6 years? That man is a beast.
wait isn't this a re-post? this was already part of Morey's State of the Rockets posted earlier....and what's up with the other link in the OP's second post? That's old news and has nothing to do with the first link or "Yao's fitness"....
I am a fan of Yao (not YOF) having said that lets assume Yao comes back 90% healthy in mid December and is limited to 25-27 mpg throughout the season. Even with this assumption we CANNOT rely on Yao to stay healthy going into postseason! THIS is the reason why we HAVE to acquire another big who can blk and rebound consistently and of course play post defense. I believe we have enough scorers but lack dominant body in the post. This will allow us to be a playoff team without Yao on the court (e.g. current lakers w/o Kobe are still playoff team) and if Yao does stay healthy going into playoffs (knock on wood) it is a HUGE plus but as I said earlier we CANNOT rely on Yao this time and take him for granted!
Nobody comes back from a knee injury esp. a whole yr off and be the same player as before. I'm more worry about Yao staying healthy or re-injure next yr ... we cant just expect him to come back and play like before for a full yr.
