wrote this on my blog~ Game 1 Rockets against Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals 4th Quarter 4 min mark: Kobe drove into lane, and collided into Yao Yao was instantly down on the ground, holding his knee, crying and hurting in huge pain... nightmare struck, as in 2006 it was the same knee that kept him out for 6 weeks. Series-> season Over! But heck NO! On the way back to the locker room, he insisted to atheletic trainer Keith Jones that he WANTED to come out play! he tried to stretch out his knee, and simply walked off the sore and pain, and He came out to PLAY! Rockets coach Rick Adleman said: "I dont know what our trainer did to him, but it was like Rocky come out there." He WAS Rocky! Scoring 8 points in the final 4 min, he helped Rockets to secure the win, stunning the heaviliy favored LA Lakers. Yao is a true role model, not just to basketball fans. To anyone, really.
after tonight's game, i ask nothing more for the season. i'm now a happy and satisfied fan, losing to the lakers or not.
my heart literally dropped when i saw yao in that immense amount of pain. i thot to myself it had to be serious for him being in that much pain. then i saw him walk on his own power to the locker room and i breathed a sigh of relief. and when i heard him tell keith that he was going back no matter what, i was like oh shiz, yao is a champion!
That is the fault of most who trash Yao. He has always played his heart out no matter what and now the rest of world can see what a true warrior Yao really is, not to be mean but I don't TMac whould have wanted to stay in the game.
I developed some mad respect for Yao tonight. I've always liked him, but man... he took it to a new level tonight. On another note, was it just me, or were the Lakers fans booing when Yao came back from the tunnel? My roommate and I both thought we heard the crowd booing him, and I hope, for the dignity of the people in that arena, that I am mistaken.
Pulled a great Willis Reed there.. I'm just worried how his knee will swell up going into tomorrow morning. I just hope it's fine going into game 2.
Like hell he did, I hope you were just joking cuz theres no way that was the same. They both banged knees but Yao walked off the court on his own and only got half way down the tunnel before turning around to go back. Pierce on the other hand cried and flailed his limps around as if he broke something. He was carried, CARRIED off by his team mates still crying into the locker room as you can see in later earlier posts. Pierce has always been an over reacting little drama queen. I still remember once when he got a slight smack in the face towards the end of a close game (i think it was against the pacers)...no call was made...they lose...he comes into the press conference with his head all wrapped up as if had been in a car accident. YAO IS A MAN
I've never been more proud to be a rockets fan. That includes watching the rockets under Hakeem in the 90's win back to back championships when I was a kid. A possible career ending injury to the knee, he limps off the court with the trainers...then he turns around, fire in his eyes, and says, "No. My team needs me. I'm going back." Within the first minute he's back on the court, he swishes a long range jumper. Next few minutes, hits his free throws dead on. Like someone mentioned, even if the rockets lose this series, they couldn't have made this rockets fan prouder. Never say die.
