We Need More Warriors Like These on the Rockets

pryuen · Jan 2, 2008

Read the following 2 latest articles from Wang Meng of Titan Sports right after the loss to the Golden State Warriors.

I certianly am not aware that both Rafer Alston and Bonzi Wells were playing thru their flu and injuries.

And Big Yao too had to overcome his flu, his diarrhea, and loss of nutrients before he could play.

We definitely need more of such warriors on the team.

ENJOY !!!

http://nba.sports.tom.com/2008-01-02/0424/12376755.html

Reporter Wang Meng reports from Houston

Beijing Standard Time January 2.

On the changeover of the old year with the new year, the only New Year wish for the point guard of Houston Rockets, Rafer Alston was that the flu virus could leave him soon. In the recent weeks, this flu virus was like a menacing demon that was pestering every of the Rockets players; first it was Steve Francis; then Bonzi Wells, then Yao Ming and now our streetball king Skip To My Lou was also infected.

But Rafer Alston kept his cool and is still optimistic; he cracked a joke in a heavy nasal ascent: “It must be Yao Ming that had infected me with this flu. What can we do now?”

The flu had not affected Rafer Alston severely. In the game with the Golden States Warriors, he scored 22 points to establish his season-high point scored record; and he persisted and sustained for 44 minutes of play. When Tracy McGrady is absent from this team, Rafer Alston understood his added responsibility, as he was the Houston Rockets third scoring option in the previous season with a 13.3 points scored per game. Now as Tracy McGrady was sidelined, without knowing it, he had raised his points scored per game to 10.1 points to become the third Rockets player to be averaging double digit scoring this season.

The New Year holidays were not exactly good to Bonzi Wells as well. After Tracy McGrady’s absence, Bonzi Wells became one of the Rockets amongst the guards with the most number of shot attempts; he had averaged 15.7 shot attempts in the recent 3 games, but only with a mediocre 31.9% FG%. Whenever Bonzi Wells raised his arms above his head (for releasing his shots), he felt this sharp pain in his shoulder; during the game with Memphis Grizzlies, he was elbowed by Stromile Swift and hurt his shoulder. But Bonzi Wells is a warrior, and when Tracy McGrady is resting, he knows he cannot rest; and moreover, the bad win loss ratio of the Houston Rockets also makes him realize he cannot relax.

However, Bonzi Wells alone could not have saved the Houston Rockets; in the loss against the Golden States Warriors, it was barely 3 minutes into the third quarter that Bonzi Wells, already fully exhausted over his limit in first half, felt dizzy and almost fainted. But he clenched his teeth, and was back onto the court soon in the fourth quarter. After the Houston Rockets let the Golden State Warriors turned the tide and ran over for their come-from-behind thrash in the fourth quarter, Bonzi Wells emotionally yelled out loud to motivate his team mates: “We played too bad in the fourth quarter. Trash!! It was simply trash!!”

But there is now no way to rest Rafer Alston, infected with the flu, and the injured Bonzi Wells. They joined the team on the East-bound plane for Boston, and started on their road trip to the East, and will meet the first ranked Boston Celtics and third ranked Orlando Magic of the Eastern Conference. Rafer Skip-to-my-Lo Alston silently put pile of flu medicine into his luggage, and Bonzi Wells has to continue doing his conservative medical therapy on his injured shoulder. These 2 warriors with great fighting spirit just impressed and moved Yao Ming. Before the trip to Boston, Yao Ming said: “If every one of us gives our all and our best, we can certainly win!!”
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http://nba.sports.tom.com/2008-01-02/0424/12474094.html

Reporter Wang Meng reports from Houston

Towards the end of Year 2007, certainly Lady Luck was not smiling on Yao Ming. Not to mention the bad and disappointing results of the Houston Rockets, he got injuries and sicknesses, one after the other, like ever-ending waves. The flu symptoms had not completely vanished, and diarrhea started to creep in.

“Hey Yao!! Take these 4 tablets of medicine with you. Take 2 of these now, and then take another 2 before you sleep. Then you should feel much better (when you wake up next morning).” The team physician stopped Yao Ming on the corridor when he left the players’ locker room. Although his flu seemed to get under control and now he felt much better, Yao Ming could not understand why he started this rounds of diarrhea. And these pills are precisely the subscription to cure this diarrhea symptom.

If not luckily for two bottles of anti-biotics /nutrients (of sodium chloride) (injected prior to the game), Yao Ming’s conditions could be even worse in the game with Golden States Warriors. Originally, the game was to start at 18:00pm local Houston time, but Yao Ming had to arrive 4 hours in advance and had this intravenous drip in the players’ changing room. In order not to affect the pre-game shootout practice and preparation, the team physician has to adjust the dripping rate of the aniti-biotics /nutrients to its maximum, and had to use his hands to squeeze the plastic bag of anti-biotics/ nutrients, that that intravenous drip which normally lasts 90 minutes, required only 50 minutes to enter the gigantic body of Yao Ming (through his veins).

Then right after the intravenous drip, Yao Ming opened a bag of potato chips to eat while sitting on his own big armchair and started reviewing the video recording of the previous loss versus the Golden States Warriors. That was one of the most disastrous defeats (of the Houston Rockets of this season). “We need to win this game. We need to cut down our own turnovers and we need to control the boards.” Yao Ming mumbled (with his mouth full of the potato chips).

It was a pity that this New Year wish of Yao Ming did not materialize. The Houston Rockets lost to the Golden States Warriors once more. And ironically, they lost the game on turnovers and rebounds. “There are still a lot of things we have to do and learn in order to turn our team from good to great. Yeah, we lost this game. But we need to take this loss as a precious lesson where we can learn from and improve.” Yao Ming sighed emotionally after the game.

So the Houston Rockets will meet the Boston Celtics on their next road trip. Objectively speaking, this will be a very tough and difficult game. But as far as Yao Ming is concerned, this is certainly not a game that he will easily give up and give in. He hopes very much that it will be a win in the very first game of the new year (of 2008).
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Rockets_Truth · Jan 2, 2008

pryuen said:

And Big Yao too had to overcome his flu, his diarrhea,

ENJOY !!!
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Is that what those dark spots on the back of his shorts were?

liangqj · Jan 2, 2008

I really could not bear to see the next game against Boston Celtics.

ReD_1 · Jan 2, 2008

Good post,but...you know we can't beat Celtics.

Chuck04 · Jan 2, 2008

If that's how Skip plays with the flu, compared to his normal play, then give him pneumonia or something. He might just turn into Magic Johnson or Air Jordan....

pryuen · Jan 3, 2008

Bonzi Wells is a warrior !!

http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=300018936

Wells dealing with sore shoulder
Jan 3, 2008

BOSTON -- Bonzi Wells isn't sure what's wrong with his sore left shoulder.

That doesn't mean he's interested in getting a diagnosis.

Wells, who scored 25 points in Houston's 97-93 loss to Boston on Wednesday night, has been bothered by pain in his shoulder over the past four games.

"It's still attached I guess," Wells said of his shoulder. "I haven't gotten it checked out yet. I've just been trying to fight through it. I know if I get it checked, they might tell me some bad news. But I don't want to hear it right now."

The Rockets certainly need Wells on the floor. They're already missing Tracy McGrady (knee tendon strain) and Steve Francis (bi-lateral quadricep tendinitis). Houston is expected to be without both guards at least another week.

Wells first hurt his shoulder after taking a hard fall in Houston's Dec. 28 win over Memphis. He left that game, but hasn't missed any playing time because of the injury.

He noticeably grimaced after being hit over his shoulder against the Celtics.

"They always find a way to hit it," Wells said. "It's nothing. It's something I have to fight through. I'm going to continue to plug away and just try to fight through it. I can't sell out the team. I gotta be here. I can't not be here. If I can walk, I'm going to play."
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SamFisher · Jan 3, 2008

"It's nothing. It's something I have to fight through. I'm going to continue to plug away and just try to fight through it. I can't sell out the team. I gotta be here. I can't not be here. If I can walk, I'm going to play."
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Coming from a guy who didn't care about the team last year enough to get in shape and then quit before the playoffs, that is absolutely hilarious.

Blake · Jan 3, 2008

SamFisher said:

Coming from a guy who didn't care about the team last year enough to get in shape and then quit before the playoffs, that is absolutely hilarious.
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exactly.

obviously this thread is a veiled shot at TMac...cause, you know...having the flu or a hurt non-shooting shoulder really is the same as a knee injury

Dave_78 · Jan 3, 2008

Chuck04 said:

If that's how Skip plays with the flu, compared to his normal play, then give him pneumonia or something. He might just turn into Magic Johnson or Air Jordan....
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I think SARS might turn Rafer into a Hall of Famer.

Blake · Jan 3, 2008

Bonzi: "It's still attached I guess," Wells said of his shoulder. "I haven't gotten it checked out yet. I've just been trying to fight through it. I know if I get it checked, they might tell me some bad news. But I don't want to hear it right now."

So I guess all of you should start threads about how he is wrong for not getting it checked out, right?

TheFreak · Jan 3, 2008

Blake said:

Bonzi: "It's still attached I guess," Wells said of his shoulder. "I haven't gotten it checked out yet. I've just been trying to fight through it. I know if I get it checked, they might tell me some bad news. But I don't want to hear it right now."

So I guess all of you should start threads about how he is wrong for not getting it checked out, right?
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Uh, Wells is playing great right now, not like a (Mc)lady.

Blake · Jan 3, 2008

TheFreak said:

Uh, Wells is playing great right now, not like a (Mc)lady.
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Since when did a legit injury make someone a lady? I guess your definition of a real man is someone that misses two weeks for a root canal (Bonzi)

He's playing great...no doubt about it...but I just find it hilarious that posters here rip TMac for an injury and quitting in Orlando yet give Wells a free pass for quitting in HOUSTON and for being hurt all the time last year

But whatever...

rocketshopeful · Jan 3, 2008

Blake said:

Since when did a legit injury make someone a lady? I guess your definition of a real man is someone that misses two weeks for a root canal (Bonzi)

He's playing great...no doubt about it...but I just find it hilarious that posters here rip TMac for an injury and quitting in Orlando yet give Wells a free pass for quitting in HOUSTON and for being hurt all the time last year

But whatever...
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bonzi is only playing hard for a shot at one last pay check. T-mac hasnt always given it his full effort. But bonzi is a str8 up proven quitter for his actions last season.

Angkor Wat · Jan 3, 2008

Blake said:

exactly.

obviously this thread is a veiled shot at TMac...cause, you know...having the flu or a hurt non-shooting shoulder really is the same as a knee injury
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Yup. Also, the loss of nutrients was the reason Yao had a horrible start against the Celtics.

TheFreak · Jan 4, 2008

Blake said:

Since when did a legit injury make someone a lady? I guess your definition of a real man is someone that misses two weeks for a root canal (Bonzi)

He's playing great...no doubt about it...but I just find it hilarious that posters here rip TMac for an injury and quitting in Orlando yet give Wells a free pass for quitting in HOUSTON and for being hurt all the time last year

But whatever...
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Not just the "injury". The way he's played most of the year. Walking the ball up the court; half-assing it when Rafer is out, etc.

I'm talking about this year only. Wells is playing great this year. He was out of shape to start the season, just like last year; I was ready to bench him. Adelman let him play his way into shape the first 15 games and it's paid off.

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