Yes, basically. You can make a case for a lot of teams being more unlucky, but the Rockets are still damn unlucky.
If it wasn't for all of the unfortunate injuries to Yao and McGrady,I believe we would have won a championship with them.
To me the problem has been coordination and timing; when TMac and Yao were playing together (relatively rare) their supporting casts were usually a rag tag group of loaners (2005 may have been a singular exception). When the best supporting cast ever was finally assembled, they were gone. There is one last chance to put at least Yao with an excellent team.
For myself, I find it better to take a negative outlook towards Yao's future just so it won't hurt so much if he never makes it back. Yao is so easy to root for and has handled himself as well as any athlete I can remember. I hope for the best and expect the worst. If he makes it back to his dominant form I will be thrilled and very surprised.
Yao's not retired yet, is he? Let's not lament his career just yet. I think that he accpets a diminished role like big Z did he can still play a few more years. 25 minutes a game, 10 points, 5 boards, something like that.
I hope you're right. Z had surgery on both feet. From a video featuring Feigen, I believe Yao has hurt both feet in the past, but has had surgery on only one foot so far. Here's hoping for the best...
I'm pretty sure he wrote "Ming" because he mistakenly thought Ming was his surname. And if I'm right, that's pretty bad considering he's been in the league for 7 years. I've never heard anyone call Yao "Ming", except for sports writers that don't know any better. Chinese members: am I mistaken? Is it appropriate to refer to him as Ming, even informally, in a news story?
Matt Moore******** just another in a long line of Media & Rockets Fans who present information with a special twist that suits the moment. I hope some one contacts Yao & tell him to stop speaking about himself as the Media & Fans are panicking by the misunderstanding of his frankness. It is only going to drive talent away from the Houston Rockets. Especially when we know that all is progressing well with Yao, in fact he is ahead of schedule and plans to be ready for Camp & Preseason.
This could be a blessing in disguise. Yao's injury has held us hostage for too long. Eating up cap space, seasons wasted, and making us an unattractive destination for star players. I'm a Yao fan but come on. Last time i remember him being healthy and pretty damn good was the series against the mavs. Was that 05 or 06?
Damn that was a really good article, it read like a film noir or a twilight zone synopsis or something!!!
He was pretty darn good in 07, MVP candidate until he broke his knee mid-season. In 08 he played a solid 77 games, then got injured in the playoffs against the Lakers. He sat out in 09. It wasn't that long ago. A year off, lost 40 pounds, he'll be back fresher than ever.
You have to go back all the way to the 2004/2005 season. That's the last time he played a full season without an injury that caused him to miss a significant chunk of the schedule. Each year, its gotten progressively worse: 05/06: injured in December: out for 1 1/2 months 06/07: injured in December, out for 2 1/2 months 07/08: injured in February misses the rest of the season 08/09: injured in playoffs, misses the entire following season 09/10: didn't play This is nothing we don't already know, but it's good to be somewhat grounded in what to expect for the upcoming season. The next major injury Yao has could be his last in the NBA.
wat if he does finish this season without getting injured then next year he does get injured.Does that mean he is going to retire next time his season ends quickly?
