Yao's fractured foot to require surgery By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle With Yao Ming, the bright spot in the darkness of the Rockets' dreary year, sidelined and to undergo surgery on his broken left foot, the team could find solace only in the fact this long, injury-riddled season is not expected to bleed into the next one. Yao, who missed two games in his first three seasons but 21 this year after surgery on a toe infection in December, is expected to need four to six months before resuming workouts, Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said Tuesday. The surgery on Friday will set a bone, and a pin will be inserted to help with healing. That would put Yao back in time for training camp next October, but his involvement in the World Championships (Aug. 9 to Sept. 3 in Japan) is in jeopardy. "I played pretty good after the toe surgery when I came back," Yao said. "I (averaged) 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds). So maybe this is the best thing for me. When I come back, maybe I'll be stronger." Another series of X-rays and an MRI on Tuesday confirmed the initial diagnosis of a clean break of the fifth metatarsal in Yao's left foot, a "Jones fracture." Given Yao's size and where the break is, the treatment and rehabilitation period is especially unpredictable. Though Yao twice broke the same foot as a teenager, this injury is not uncommon. Michael Jordan, Mike Bibby, Elton Brand and Nazr Mohammed have come back from similar injuries. Given the number of this season's Rockets maladies, from osteomyelitis to conjunctivitis, odds were they would come up with this one. "I was pretty depressed this morning," Dawson said. "It was one of the worst mornings I had in a long time. I thought, 'This is getting ridiculous.' Last night, watching the game, I actually fell off the couch. I could not believe that one. It's been kind of depressing. But we'll get by this. "You get kind of numb after a while. I'm looking at the positive. Next season, we'll get everybody well. We'll get things done this summer with the draft and in free agency. I like the makeup of our team if it's healthy. I think we're going to be healthy next year." The Rockets have had to look at this season as a mix of what has gone wrong and what could have been. "You can call it disappointing or frustrating, whatever you call it, but no one understands the nature of not having your guys, especially the guys you count on to play the bulk of the minutes and take the bulk of the shots," guard Rafer Alston said. "Whenever one came back, the other went out. We never had a full season playing with the nucleus we envisioned." Injuries still no excuse Yet Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said the team's slide from playoff contention revealed more than the value of good health. "This is not a year that we should take a mulligan on from blame, from the coaching perspective, from the team-building perspective," Van Gundy said. "This is not a year of injuries. It's a year where we could have, despite the injuries, still been in the playoff hunt." The Rockets' struggles have uncovered other problems, primarily a lack of depth. They were 21-10 when Yao and McGrady played together, a pace that would have put them in contention to be in the top half of the Western Conference. The Rockets are 12-35 without one of their stars and 0-5 without both. But they also have been hurt by injuries to other players. For that matter, they had to adjust even before the season when Bob Sura needed a second knee surgery (and eventually a third) since the end of the 2005 playoffs. A key to the Rockets' turnaround in 2004-05, Sura will begin workouts in July to see if he can come back. Dion Glover was lost for the season on the first day of training camp and later released. McGrady suffered back spasms in the first regular-season practice. While McGrady was out, Alston broke a bone in his left leg. Pain keeps coming Jon Barry suffered a strained foot and right calf, and when he and the Rockets weren't sure if he could play without incurring another injury, he retired. Derek Anderson missed the majority of the first half of the season with a strained calf and was traded to clear his contract from next season's roster. When Yao went out for the first time, Dikembe Mutombo dislocated a finger. Stromile Swift missed 13 games with conjunctivitis. "It's almost funny now," David Wesley said. "Every time we look up, it's like freak stuff, not even like basketball injuries. It's almost comedy the way this season's gone." Even the injury replacements were hurt. When the Rockets tried to bring Chuck Hayes from the NBA Development League in December, he sprained an ankle. When they added Richie Frahm late in the season, he strained his left calf. But the latest malady might best sum them all. "That hurts not only him as a player, it hurts us as a team," Alston said. "And it hurts me to see another guy go down, especially him with how well he's been playing and how hard he's worked. To see him go down late in the year, that hurts a lot." jonathan.feigen@chron.com ROCKETS SUMMARY Howard not letting up When the Rockets assembled this season's roster, a major concern was the condition of Juwan Howard, who was coming back from a heart condition and a knee injury. But Howard has been the Rockets' most indestructible player, missing just one game with the flu and one because of a suspension. Howard has led the Rockets in scoring the past two games, netting 22 points at Sacramento and 25 at Utah. "I have a love for the game," Howard said. "Ever since I was a little boy watching the game on TV, watching some of the great players like Magic ( Johnson), Larry Bird, Dr. J. ( Julius Erving), Michael Jordan, those guys inspired me. Those guys continued to play hard, aggressive, and play at the top of their games when they got to my age. Why should I stop now? I'm going to keep working out there, showing I have a lot of fight, compete and be an example for some of these young guys." General manager Carroll Dawson said the Rockets have had so many injury problems, "even the doctors have kind of marveled at how many times we've called on them. It's not as much fun. It's been one of the worst years in my 27 in this league with the number of injuries." But Howard said the team is still playing to win. "We're not going to go out there and see if anyone is going to feel sorry for us, because we know they're not," he said. "Things don't work that way. In this league, situations happen. We're not the only team to experience something like this. We have to roll up our sleeves and and compete." JONATHAN FEIGEN ----------------------- I wondered if our team trainers have any responsibilities for all these injuries that we had...
Maybe I read too much into Rafer's comment, how come I dont see a sense of respect in his comment. Yao isnt just another guy that play extremely well. Yao needs to distant himself from the scrubs from now on. Bosses dont hang around with average joes. Stop padding them. Yao needs to be the guy on the team not just a guy that plays well. Yeah I know ...
You read to much into his comments. Where do you get that from. This is a team. All he said was that it hurts the team and Yao and he hates to see a teammate go down but especially Yao, who has been playing so great. Could he have said that more eloquently, possibly. Is he disrespecting Yao, absolutely not. Try not to make it so obvoius you are YOF. I don't have a problem with YOF's and can accept some criticism of of the team when warranted. For example seeing how poorly JVG has supported Yao in his devolopment and belittled him on the sidelines when noone works harder, I could understanding trashing Van Dummy. But here's a case where Rafer said nice things about Yao but perhaps he didn't use enough superlatives and you say he needs to show more respect and Yao needs to distance himself from them. Now that is just stupid and Yao would tell you the same had he heard your idiotic post. Oh by the way this is coming from a long time Rockets fan who loves Yao.
I think its obvious that someone here is masturbating too much, which is causes God to smite our beloved team. Stope masturbating, please. You're killing us all!
JVG constantly says this as he gives himself a mulligan for his stupid player selection, rotations and moronically playing Yao in a meaningless game when his ankle was slightly turned. JVG needs to try to intelligently put the team before his stupid pride of being the grumpy guy who never retreats even if it is to fight more effectively the next day.
"This is not a year that we should take a mulligan on from blame, from the coaching perspective, from the team-building perspective," Van Gundy said. "This is not a year of injuries. It's a year where we could have, despite the injuries, still been in the playoff hunt." Did you even read what he said? Most coaches, who were only about pride, would have used the injury excuse. Honestly, some people on this board use any and every excuse to blame Van Gundy. Since when is the "never quit" attitude something to despise in sports? Perhaps all his decisions as a coach aren't practical. You could say the same thing about Phil Jackson, certainly. I can't say I agree with all his tactical decisions. But what fan agrees with everything a coach does, especially when the team loses? The one thing you can't fault about Van Gundy is his attitude and work ethic, and his desire to instill certain values in his players. Ultimately, those kind of things are important in building a winning team. All this garbage that Yao should not have been playing is stupid. If Yao is physically fit to play according to the doctors and he's willing to play, then you play him. Yao is going to be a big part of the offense next year, and as a coach if Van Gundy is evaluating players he'd want to see how they play alongside Yao. Not to mention that Yao is still learning to be dominant, and any playing time in NBA games is valuable experience for him regardless of whether we're in playoff contention. He can't sit Yao down because there's a 1/150 chance he might get injured in a given game.
how the do you get that from the quote? JVG is saying neither him or his team should be given an excuse, I don't know how much more clear he can be
Did you even read what glynch said? JVG's pride, according to glynch, is the macho "never retreat" "no excuse" image he has for himself. JVG's comment quoted here is like a broken record coming out again and again. The first time you hear it, it sounded pretty good because of the motivational intention behind it. But at this point, it sounds stupid. We could have, despite the injuries, still been in the playoff hunt? Are you kidding? Who do you think can put the ball in the basket besides Yao and TMac? Oh yeah, I forgot Juwan Howard and Luther Head. The first two years, I thought JVG did a decent job. But this year, I lost a lot of faith in him. This is not because of the losing (I'd give him a free pass because of the injuries), but how he handles adverse circumstances and how he makes personnel decisions.
I like JVG, he's a great coach and all, but he just doesn't know how to handle himself off the court. If he's not going to blame the injuries, why does he even have to say anything? Saying our guys don't have heart, no passion? Imagine if you lost your two star players to injuries... and then realize your coach/city is putting the pressure on you to fill the void? Not as easy as it seems Jeff.
Im surprised noone mentioned this "I was pretty depressed this morning," Dawson said. "It was one of the worst mornings I had in a long time. I thought, 'This is getting ridiculous.' Last night, watching the game, I actually fell off the couch. I could not believe that one. It's been kind of depressing. But we'll get by this. CD getting too old or is this all still a surprise to him? "You get kind of numb after a while. I'm looking at the positive. Next season, we'll get everybody well. We'll get things done this summer with the draft and in free agency. I like the makeup of our team if it's healthy. I think we're going to be healthy next year." I dont see why he likes the makeup of this team. This team needs to be blown up
