[Dime] More of China blaming the Rockets for Yao's injury

Ever since Yao chose to come to the US he's been in a tough situation. The guy loves the game of basketball and I really wish the whole league would exhibit his enthusiasm for the game (seeing how they're all being paid to bounce a piece of rubber). This isn't about who's been playing him more, it's about a guy who is passionate about this game to a point of where it is wearing his body out. Folks, take a step back for a second. Stop worrying about your own desires of seeing Yao wearing your team's jersey and put yourself in his shoes. The league finally gets a player who is all about the game and his teammates and doesn't want to showboat and run his mouth all of the time and yet for some of us that still isn't enough. We should all feel honored to have such an upstanding man represent our city. We've let the media tell us that this is no longer a game but a business and sadly players and viewers have bought it. Something inside me tells me that Yao didn't. He loves the game and wants to play. So he's injury-prone. Get over it. He can take all the time he needs in my book. I feel blessed that I have had the privilege of watching him play for us. Here's to the game of basketball. A business to many, a game for few.

 

It's disturbing to see the fans can be so unreasonable, cold blooded talking about their own players.

It's truely ironic that the talks at other NBA fan sites are more understanding and warm hearted.

what a shame!

 

2 inches? That's the length of a woman's thumb.

 

let's be reasonable here...

yao ming is injured every year because he's a 7'6" and 300 lbs basketball player.

he's a freak of nature and that's why normal standards don't apply to him. so let's stop the usa vs. china blame game. no party is right here.

dirk nowitzki, pau gasol or luis scola play for their nt every year and basically never have any injuries.

the same players mostly play more minutes in more games in the nba than yao, too. and they still have no injury problems.

all this stuff is only a factor if you're 7'6" + 300 lbs.

it's very doubtful that not playing for the cnt would have any impact at all on yao's injuries. rest in the summer is pretty overrated. no nba player in today's nba can afford to just rest the whole summer. even those players who don't participate in international games don't rest all summer. they use the summer to work on their game and play in pick-up games.

at the same time it's very doubtful that the rockets could do much more with yao to avoid his injuries. they already play him below average minutes. they already made him change his practice habits. they already tried to lessen the stress on yao's body as much as they could. it didn't help too much.

bottom line: there's nobody to blame here. people generally need to realize that things aren't as simple as they make them out to be.

 

Idiotic Chinese fools in China who don't know **** about basketball... Yeah... Yao wore out over here.... that really makes plenty of sense.. I know Yao is 7'6" but he can play a full season like any other NBA player... but he also needs rest in the summer time.. LIKE EVERY OTHER NBA PLAYER... get it????????? It's not that hard to understand.... Chinese basketball fails for this reason.. they no basketball logic.

 

Yao was not 100% when he started playing for China in Oympics, was he?

 

Tbh, I supported Yao a lot, and I still do. The guy is a hard worker but if China is going to blame the Rockets for Yao's injuries, they shouldn't even send their players to the NBA.

 

A little bit off? It's a complete lie. You said he was overtaxed in 80+ games a season and has 1-2 games off, which he hasn't played over 80 games in 5 years! When Yao has averaged 22-23 missed games for the past 4 seasons. That's a big difference between only 1-2 games and 25-34 games. That's not even close to reality.

 

Is 35 lbs also insignificant?

 

Yao's career is dependent on they get as team doctor and if the surgery wasn't jacked up. Our players(Yao,Mac,Sura,Glover*) were healthier before they started working with Dr. C.

 

So Yao should lose 35 lbs then.

 

Mark Eaton was 290 lbs. It's not unusual for players to bulk up after a season in the NBA. Yao Ming is a good example. Yao was 296 lbs and went to 313.

The NBA and SI website mentions his weight was 290 in 1984.

http://www.nba.com/allstar2007/kareem_scoring_record.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067338/index.htm

If the broken foot is from his body size and type, then he should lose weight. It's better to play a lighter faster Yao that can play 80+ games like Eaton than missing a stronger Yao to a broken foot.

 

Well, basketball-reference.com shows Eaton being 275 lbs and Yao being 310. If you think that this website is giving measurements from Eaton's rookie year, then Yao should be listed at 296.

I place more faith in statistics/reference websites than some random blurb in an article.

Yes, I agree that he should decrease his muscle mass. Also, you should keep in mind that Yao has to play both sides of the ball whereas Eaton was on the floor primarily for defensive purposes.

 

Any person that watched Hakeem play Eaton knows Eaton was more than 15-20 pounds heavier than Hakeem was. The "reference" site you posted is no more official than any article or blurb - it was started by a "normal guy" just like you and me. But if you want to get technical, go to his website, http://7foot4.com/, and do nothing but listen to the beginning of the flash animation on that URL. You will hear his weight and height being announced during his first NBA All-Star game appearance/intro "7 feet 4 and 290 pounds". Official enough or do I need to call David Stern? lol.

You guys really should research your facts more before posting.

 

No, just incorrect.

 

So in those all-star introductions, was Olajuwon's height announced at 6'10 or 7 ft?

 

You're really grasping for straws because now you're saying nothing can be trusted including your defense of basketball-reference.com as a reference... It's ok to admit you're wrong.

Olajuwon's height was always a publicity stunt. Eaton's weight of 290 would be too arbitrary to be one.

Do you have an argument anymore?

 

Damn give up already. Who is China going to blame next David Stern. I mean jeez

 

wrong. having mutombo sit during the playoffs and having Yao play 2 weeks straight at 110% is what broke Yao.

noobs keep talking out of their asses about 82 games and CNT but Yao fractured his foot as a consequence of the playoffs. it was clear that Yao was laboring but he tried to play through the injury in the LA series and that's what busted his foot.

what's clear at this point is that regardless of 82 games or his other obligations... Yao simply a full speed at any given moment is VERY close to meltdown. you could keep him at 25 minutes all season and fully reseted for 8 months then you need him for a full 40 during the playoffs he could fail at any time.

you WISH it was an issue of overplaying Yao, 82 games or CNT... that would indicate an easily identifiable fix. the true answer is that Yao is not durable. you can do EVERYTHING right the entire season and experience a mechanical failure with Yao in the playoffs... a new type of foot injury or w/e... and there's nothing you can do to prevent it

TO BE CLEAR. if it was a repeating stress injury, the same chronic injury, or a fatigue-related injury (like knees, ankles etc) then yes you could talk about overplaying Yao. but these are new injuries every time and the indicated injury itself are not precisely related. the man just isn't durable and he tends to get hurt. that's not something you can relate to Adelman or the rockets "overplaying" him 40 games prior in December or even during an 82 game season. when he goes all out Yao is rolling the dice for an injury. by this point anyone who's followed the rockets understands it's not a chronic injury or even an overuse-related injury