Possible for Yao to return to pre-injury form by playoffs? Discuss.

i think physically he'll be ready to dominate within a couple weeks of returning, possibly less.

mentally is where i'm hoping he returns to form. how long will it take to get back to that "you can't f#$king stop me" mindset? that'll be key.

 

Grant Hill, Ilgauskas.

 

I think the NO1234 of the West VS. No5678 of the east will be fair enough No.5678 of the west VS. No.1234of the east

 

didn't yao play better after that toe infection last season? surely he'll play just as good if not better after a long rest this season as well...

 

With TMAC and Yao, Rockets can go anywhere!
BTW, congratulations to be a dad!

 

I don't think Yao will get to where he was this fall until next year. That said, I think he can get back to All-Star form by the second round of the playoffs.

There's multiple places that he must rebound:
The Bone: from my understanding, the non-displaced fracture took place along the epiphyseal line of the tibia. That's a bad place to have a fracture, healing wise, because it was already a biological "boundary" and doesn't naturally stitch back together like a fracture in the middle of the bone would. It's like ripping along a seam. He'll be able to play on it before it's 100% healed.

The Muscles: a major downside of a fracture so close to the knee is that it severely limits the exercise he could do for the first several weeks. No elliptical, no bike. His legs are not going to be as strong as they were without an offseason to build them back up.

The Conditioning: for the same reasons as above. Most players returning from injury will comment that getting back into practice shape, no matter how much biking/running, isn't the same as getting back into game shape. It usually takes 1-2 weeks for players to fully get their wind back. Getting a good shooting touch back can also be lumped in here.

The Confidence: you have to regain trust in your body again. Players often are subconsciously thinking about the turned ankle they just got back from and aren't playing with full abandon. It takes awhile, depending on the player, to not 'protect' the rehabbed part of the leg. See McGrady's tendency to stay with jumpers following a back episode.

The Role Readjustment: Yao was playing knowing that he had to be the man every night, but now he's going to see a team that Tracy's been leading for over two months. Yao's personality has always been one of selfless deferring, and I have a tough time seeing him demand the ball like he did in December. Does he believe he's the man on this team or does he believe he needs to stay in the backseat and not rock the boat?

I think Yao'll be putting up 20-10 again by late March/early April and should be giving us big games here and there. But I don't see him playing like he did in the first two months of the season. I sincerely hope he pwns me and comes back better than ever.

Evan

 

This was a minor break which an x-ray did not detect but an MRI. He should come back as strong as he was when he got hurt. Thank GOD he did not have ligament damage because if he did it he would have not been back this season.

 

It depends when he returns... If he really doesn't come back until late March (which I doubt), then no, I really don't think there will be enough time. He may even slow us down a bit for at least a while in the playoffs.

If he comes back in early March (which I expect), we should be rolling by April and into the playoffs.

 

He may be back as soon as 2 weeks, and he said that he'd be back earlier than March 10.

 

I think Yao will be fine health wise. I don't think he will put up the monster numbers though. It's clear that we're a better team when T-mac shoots the ball more and doesn't defer to Yao. That's more about T-mac then it is about Yao, and Yao has to sacrafice the glory a bit to make us a better team. T-mac did that early on and we lost some of his gorgeous game.

Yao can still pick it up and dominate during streches when we need him, and it will reduce his load and hopefully he'll have more energy for the 4th Q, something he has struggled with historically.

 

I disagree. I believe the Rockets will do no better than they did in 2004-2005 if Yao is forced to defer to T-Mac, and I think that would be a colossal disappointment. McGrady could not have been any better than he was during that series.

Championships are won by dominant big men. I didn't say McGrady should be forced to defer to Yao. Both should be the focus of the offense, like Kobe and Shaq were in LA. They both put up 25+ a game; there is no reason Yao and McGrady cannot do the same.

 

Well, I'm going to base this on personal experience. If Yao puts a lot of effort into rehab (Which I am positive he will) he will get much, much better by playoff time, but not quite at pre-injury level. Honestly, the only way he's going to get to pre-injury form is by working hard until the start of the next season. I'm basing this on my wrist injury, which I know is different from his knee injury, but I know that my severe wrist sprain took about 2 months for me to get back into semi-basketball shape, so I think for Yao to get back to true Yao form with a knee injury, it's gonna take a while

 

IT's a reasonable assumption, last year's injury didn't really bother him.

hopefully he can become better after comming back.....lol

 

The supporting cast in 04-05 was pretty poor compared to this version - so I disagree with your suggestion. That team was carried by Yao and T-mac with T-mac being the primary option.

Our Record without T-mac is atrotious - even with a dominant Yao. But without Yao we're doing well with a superstar T-mac.

Look, with Yao touching the ball everytime the rest of the team becomes a 3-point shooting machine. Problem is that only head has a great 3-point shot. Yao is good, but he isn't Hakeem, and we don't have a team of jump shooters.

This team is playing well - it's up to Yao to add value, not for the rest of the team change to make Yao happy.

 

Hm... That team's supporting cast included some of the greatest heroes of this board (Sura, Barry, Mike James, David Wesley, Deke). People here still want Mike James back. I don't think the supporting cast was that bad. Sure, they came up completely empty in Game 7, but they made a very solid contribution overall. What's to say that this team's role players may not do the same (i.e. choke badly when they are needed most)?

That series (in fact that whole season) Yao was basically reduced to catching feeds and making easy dunks. I remember few post-ups for Yao; he just rolled to the basket, caught easy passes, and dunked. It seemed to me the Mavs were so concerned with stopping McGrady they were willing to let Yao get the easy dunk.

He wasn't dominant then. He didn't change the game; he merely fed off McGrady's vision. He's dominant now, and can warp a game similar to how Shaq did. Why do you want him to regress into the "big slow, soft, overrated, underperforming Chinese stiff" so often pilloried in the media? You saw the results. The Rockets lost in the first round, with a similar supporting cast. McGrady was amazing and unstoppable, no doubt. Yao had fine numbers, but was far from dominant and was inconsistent. The role players were also inconsistent and laid a huge egg in game 7 when they were most needed.

I can see the same thing happening again if your vision is fulfilled. I believe that the best way for the Rockets to win a championship is for Yao and McGrady to play like Kobe and Shaq, without the ill will and love-buying accusations. Both Kobe and Shaq scored 25+. There is NO reason Yao and McGrady cannot do the same. In fact one problem with the Kobe-Shaq combination is already solved here; Yao and McGrady are humble and do not mind deferring.

But, if your suggestion is carried out, the team will be like it was in 04-05. It was good then, but it would be a huge disappointment now. This team can win the championship, but they need Yao and McGrady to both play the leading role, NOT McGrady solely leading. Anointing McGrady as #1 option takes Yao's aggression away. We know now that he has the talent to be one of the greatest centers ever, but his first few years he was deferring to SF, and then McGrady, and thus in many instances played passively. If you want Yao to revert to that passivity, which is the logical conclusion of your proposal, then your plan does not work to the advantage of the Rockets.

Besides, the rest of the team does not have to stand around when Yao is in the post. This year in fact I can remember many instances where for example Luther cut baseline and Yao handed the ball to him for an easy layup, or Snyder/Bonzi cut into the lane and received the pass, or Hayes finding the open spot under the basket for the easy layup off a feed from Yao. Yao is a fine passer, and he's proved it this year. If there are open cutters, Yao will find them.

 

Who made the comments that
"Without Yao can we be great? No
Without TMac, can we be great? Maybe" ?

Wait, it was YOU! Now I guess we can be great without Yao? Is that it?

 

Joe Theismann didn't come back

 

Since the leauge switched back to the new ball t mac bas been shooting well.The problem with t macs shooting was that nerf ball the whole time I think.

 

We can't be great without either one - that much is now clear to me. I'm just saying we need Yao to be excellent and certainly an all-star, but we can't make our offense revolve around him. Look how good we are right now - we don't need to totally change the way we play - we need Yao to ADD, not REORGANIZE.