[Yahoo] Rockets could lose Yao for season—or longer

How about the Houston Cockets?

 

{CHRON}-Yao could miss entire season with foot injury

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6503064.html

*for the people that wanted it from a HOUSTON SOURCE. very very sad

Rockets center Yao Ming’s left foot injury could be severe enough to be season ending or even career-threatening depending on the success of potential treatments chosen, Rockets team physician Tom Clanton said Monday.


"At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career threatening," Clanton said. "One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery."


Clanton, responding to a story on Yahoo Sports that reported that the Rockets and Yao representatives are concerned Yao will never play again, said that Yao could choose to try again to immobilize the foot in the hopes that the hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone would heal on its own, as several of his previous bone injuries have and doctors expected this time.


"We are not going to comment," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said, "until we have all the facts."


Yao is scheduled to meet with several specialists to consider a wide variety of options. Clanton declined to say what option he expects to recommend.


Because Yao is entirely asymptomatic, there remains a hope that additional time in a boot or cast could allow the bone to heal on its own.


"I don’t think that is necessarily a longshot," Clanton said. "It takes a lot of time.

It may be best to take more time (immobilizing the foot). Sometimes that is the best option."


The surgical treatment options could include placing a pin inside the foot, a bone graft or even realigning the foot to operate differently. Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas underwent similar procedures, reducing his high arch to a flatter foot position, an option that could be considered for Yao, Clanton said, though his arch is not as high as Ilgauskas’ was.


"It’s more that’s what we’re hoping to avoid, but that is certainly a realistic situation given his injury and the way the bone looked on the CT scan," Clanton said. "The fact he is having no symptoms gives us reason for optimism."


Yao had a pin inserted in the foot in February 2006 and was ready to play in the Olympics in less than six months, and in 77 regular-season games last season. Clanton, however, said there is concern that a more extreme procedure might be warranted, even though his current injury is considered less severe.


Clanton expected the hairline fracture that ended Yao’s season, his fourth bone injury in the past four seasons, to have healed when Yao returned from China for a CT scan last week.


Instead, it not only healed, but Clanton said it grew worse. He said doctors will also try to determine whether Yao has suffered a loss of blood supply in the area, causing the injury to heal more slowly.


"The hairline fracture that is present in the previous X-rays shows evidence it has not healed and has extended across the bone," Clanton said.


"At this stage he is having no symptoms or physical signs. He has no tenderness, no swelling, no redness. When he came back in, he was feeling like everything was perfect, and he would start rehabilitation and get ready to play. The findings on the CT were shocking for him and for us.


"Sometimes the findings on an X-ray or CT don’t necessarily mean that is exactly what you treat. You don’t treat a CT scan; you treat a patient. We are looking for every reason to teat this on clinical findings, but don’t want to put him at risk for a greater fracture.


"What we are looking at is a discrepancy in the clinical findings on him and what he tells us, and the findings on the diagnostic imaging studies that tell us what the bone looks like."

 

Dude .......

 

We'll get to see Dorsey play, it'll be good to see if this guy has game.


I think it might be time to rebuild......Eric Montross was a big guy who broke his foot like Yao, he had to retire because it would not heal, hope this does not become Yao's problem as well.

 

OMG!!!

 

Rockets are CURSED... FML

 

AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

One thought came to my mind and mainly because of the timing, but Johan Petro just became an unrestricted free agent. He might be a decent, very low cost stop gap. He doesn't have to score, just be 7 foot, 260 pounds, rebound and block shots. Basically the same thing Thabeet is going to be asked to do.

Centers take a while to grow into their skills traditionally. His rebounding has improved recently and could be a nice pick-up who's not asked to do anything other than be a specialist and forgo trying to score.

 

Well I absolutely hate this news, but at least this happened now, BEFORE he signed a max extension.

So now I think we should keep Tracy and let his and Yao's contracts come off the books next off season, and we'll be HUGE players in the best ever free agent class of 2010.

 

What a day. I'm checking to the GARM to see if any moves took place to put us over the top as championship contenders.

And now everyone's talking about how to salvage this team, if at all. What a punch in the gut.

 

It's totally beyond me why the doctors couldn't follow up more frequently and monitor more closely.

 

Ah but he did that DD. He turned down the surgery after this latest injury. And he had those pins inserted for the injury before this one. The bone simply isn't healing and that's why it's panic stations on the bridge of the good ship Rockets. He's looking more and more like Bill Walton to me everyday. Most unfortunate: they wasted too many years behind Dawson & Les' stupidity and now it's looking very very grim.

 

Was Yao Ming traveling to China after the series with a boot a cause to what has happened now? Someone answer me please.

 

I wanted to hold out until we had more official news about it, but I guess Chron is as close as anything to it.

All I can say is that I'm greatly saddened and I hope that Yao can come back healthy next season and play a few more years. If he is unable to, we have to dump him, no matter how much it stings me to say it.

I don't think there's a point in hitting the panic button because our team is strong enough and capable enough of winning a good deal of games and making the playoffs. But we definitely need All-Star material to make it deep in the playoffs and the organization will likely be searching for those options throughout the year as the Yao and T-Mac situation develops.

 

Trade Yao to New Jersey for Bobby Simmons & Brook Lopez and a future pick.

 

Yeah, very sad.

 

I am going to throw something at my computer screen if I see one more person reassuringly suggest that we pursue Gortat or some other stop-gap.

Talk about needing to get in touch with reality.

 

How does Tracy McGrady feel now?

 

Is anyone else seeing the positive here? Yao has no tenderness, no soreness, no redness. You treat the patient, not the CT scan. I'm not saying that this is the end all of the arguement, but it's not as dark of a tunnel ahead as I once thought it was...

 

Injuries happen and you have to deal with it. Bill Walton, a center who was a lot more accomplished than Yao Ming, lost years off his career. It's important that the Rockets not be handicapped by the situation past next year. Either Yao retires, signs a modest deal, or the team moves on. The Rockets are building a nice system, have some good, young assets and will have cap space to play with. I trust Morey and Alexander.