Yao takes cautious approach on toe injury McGrady says Rockets center looks stronger this season By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle AUSTIN - Yao Ming peeled off his socks, examined his left big toe and worried. Asked if his toe, the one that last season caused him and the Rockets so much trouble, was all right, Yao said: "Can I lie?" Told that professional athletes under no circumstances, at any time, ever say anything but the whole, unfiltered truth, Yao said he was merely determined to be cautious. "When I go back to the hotel, I will check it a little bit," Yao said. "Last year, if I had a small piece of injury I was, 'I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.' This year, I'm going to check." He had the toe checked between practices Wednesday and was fine, returning for the evening workout at the University of Texas' Cooley Pavilion. Rockets trainer Keith Jones said someone had stepped on Yao's toe, some blood built up beneath the nail and that he was not hurt. That, however, was not the first indication the hex that seemed to have cursed the Rockets last season was gone. Rather, through two days of practices, the Rockets saw a reminder of the Yao who dominated the second half of last season as opposed to the Yao who limped through the first half. Bonzi Wells spoke of how agile Yao appeared. Rafer Alston said Yao looked stronger. Shane Battier cited Yao's refined moves. Tracy McGrady hit on all of the above. "I see the difference in Yao each year," McGrady said. "He comes back stronger. He adds another few moves to his repertoire. He looks more comfortable. He looks more fluid. He definitely looks stronger on the post." Even bigger than a year ago Yao does look different — thicker in the neck and shoulders. "I had some surgery and put some pillows in here," Yao said of the different look. But he said he was determined this offseason to start training camp ready to pick up where he left off, rather than build back to that level. "I need to get ready right now," Yao said. "Last year after the surgery (on his toe in December), I did a lot of work. I watched the film, went back on the court, did a lot of training, conditioning stuff, technical stuff. That's why I came back strong like right now. You cannot wait for the season to start and say, 'OK, now I'm ready to play.' You have to be ready to start from right now." Before the All-Star Game last season, Yao averaged 19.6 points (on 50.2 percent shooting) and 9.1 rebounds. After the All-Star Game, when he was recovered from his toe surgery, until he missed the last four games with a broken foot, he averaged 25.7 points (on 53.7 percent shooting) and 11.6 rebounds. His 22.3 points per game led NBA centers. "You can see the strides Yao is making," Battier said. "He's arguably the top center in the game today. Last year, he reached a point he was truly, truly dominant. I think it was the dominance people were waiting to see. Unfortunately, he got hurt and was not able to carry that dominance to finish the season. It will be great to see him try to re-establish that dominance now that he has tasted it and knows how good it feels to have that sort of presence." Coach Jeff Van Gundy generally avoids the invitations, still common as Yao enters his fifth season, to offer daily reviews of Yao's play. Van Gundy's comments seemed more to go for the laugh than to add to the hype chorus, even as he touched on key issues. "I think he's doing OK," Van Gundy said. "The same pick-and-roll defense is what I've seen in the first two days here. When he gets down in a defensive stance, I'll let you know. But he's a diligent worker. God bless him, you don't have too many guys like him. He's just a tremendous worker. But his pick-and-roll defense may be the end of me, literally and figuratively." That said, there is a different tone to the talk the Rockets center inspires. Where even a year ago teammates and opponents spoke of what he could become, even last season's relatively short stretch of success was enough to generate talk about what he is. "I'd put him right up at the top," Wells said. "You have to say Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal), but right after him you say Yao, and even before (O'Neal) at times. If you look at the last 20 games last year, he averaged like 26, 27 points and a lot of rebounds. He's a dominant player. "When you try to build your team, you start at the center position. When you can get a guy like Yao Ming — who is not only tall; he's gifted — you can give him the ball every time down the court. We all love it. He's got soft hands and a soft shot. He can score every time." Head start on conditioning Yao, of course, would not go so far. He did say his summer work not only brought him back from the broken foot, but left him in much better shape than last season. Playing for China in the World Basketball Championship forced him to get in shape quickly, and he was the tournament's top scorer. "I think it will help me for the training camp and the Rockets' season," Yao said. "I'm much better now. I feel fresh and in much better shape. I'm better." Would he lie? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4237435.html
Not a lot of players are willing to aggravate their big toes or a chronic injury during the offseason to improve themselves. Sure they'll take the pain when they're getting paid in the regular season, but not during their vacation. Yao wants to win. The league will be forced to notice.
Now this is really interesting. Unless TMac is slumping (and he may be), Battier looks to be at least a good 2 - 2.5 inches taller than TMac. It's fascinating because, last year, every time I ever saw TMac and Swift on the floor together, any time they were next to each other, it was shockingly clear that TMac was actually bigger and taller than Swift. Yet nobody EVER questioned Swift's role as a 4. And at the same time, Battier, who is clearly bigger than Swift, is constantly demeaned as 'not being big enough' to play the 4. Anyway, just thought it was interesting, based on this photo. And if you look at TMac next to Bonzi (who is supposed to be 6'5"), TMac is about as much taller than Bonzi as Battier is taller than TMac. So I don't think TMac is hunching over much if at all. Heh, maybe Battier is standing on a box? And dayumm, Yao has a huge melon!
Yao needs like a different kind of toe protector.. like a guy who follows him around and breaks the knees of whoever steps on his toes.. (with the exception of tmac)
I don't know what to think, since Battier definitely looks a couple of inches shorter than the 6'10" Stojakovic in this picture.
Bonzi and Battier are standing a bit in front of Yao and Tmac - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_perspective
I was thinking the same thing... They really ought to get him some sort of insert to protect his toe.
Yes of course. However, Battier is ALSO standing in front of Yao on what appears to be the same plane distance-wise from the camera as TMac (rather than in front of TMac as you claim). Plus, they can't be THAT far apart, because Bonzi appears to be the proper height SHORTER than TMac, even though he is slightly in front of him. I took all that into consideration when I wrote earlier. If Battier was standing close enough to the camera (and in front of both TMac *and* Yao) to make himself look taller than TMac, then he wouldn't have remained looking a foot shorter than Yao. I don't buy the 'perspective' bit in this photo. The games will tell, of course, when we actually get to see them moving around together. My point was simply to put another nail in the coffin of the myth that Battier is 'too small' to play the 4.
