i have a better idea. Let's just forfeit the season. We just went through this last season, why would they waste another year? Really a year and half, since the team will need more time to gel with yao. Once the bone heals and it's strong it's fair game. Obviously dont put him out there 45 mins, but there's also no reason to baby him so much, especially this season. If he's ready to go put him out there, test his foot. It's better to know now if the surgery didnt work, as he's a FA next summer.
Most definitely. I thought was a major reason for the 20-25 minute a night to start idea. Keeping a man of his size in game shape takes each and every minute he gets.
ilgaskas had same surgery and the first year he was held out many back to backs, if not all. the first year seems to be the indicator of how a surgery like this holds up. Ilgaskas is still playing today years after his foot problems, but i remember reading that it was a 2 year plan to get him back, not a quick mindset. if yao can play as long (as many years) as ilgaskas has played after that surgery then i think we are fortunate. i say follow the exact program that clevelnd did to get him to where he is now
You be extra careful on back to back nights but sitting him is not an option. The in-and-out of the lineup routine is a no go. Sorry T-Mac.
You play him every time his foot can stand it. He is the beginning and the end of our offense and defense.
Even if it's just spot minutes, the whole system will be built around Yao. They're not going to hold him out of a whole game as a precaution unless something is actually wrong with him.
Actually, since Big z was the first guy to have that treatment, you wouldnt want to follow the same plan exactly, since it was the first time for such a surgery/rehab and they made mistakes. Yao's team create a new plan and timeline taking into account those mistakes made, as well i'm sure there's been new improvements in the field of rehab and maybe even surgery since then, which could also affect the timeline. Z was back to playing ball about 10 months after surgery, while Yao is almost 13 months post-surgery and hasnt started playing yet. Yaos' going to end up taking just over 3 months more off than Z before starting to play, which i think is more than enough. I dont even believe Z had a setback with his foot, just took him another season to get back to playing well and being back in shape, so yao shouldnt have any reason not to test the foot having 3 more months rest/rehab.
and by the time playoffs come around, doctors will say, yao's foot is broken again. just because you dont stress an injury for a year means the injury wont recur anymore. you have to slowly recondition that foot.
No we are not doing Tmac part 2 with Yao. He can either play on all night with limited minutes or he cant play at all. No use in being even more of a inconsistant team by playing different lineups very night. He is just gonna have to be slowly eased into more and more minutes or less on some nights he is hurting from back to back. No hoplding him out though. Should average no less than 20 minutes on any given night to 25 to 28 minutes by the season end? If he cant handle that? No use in keping him around anymore.
Play him... If he gets hurt again we move on from the Yao era... This is his contract year, I expect the Rocket's brass to make a decisive decision on the direction of our Rockets, with or without Yao.
Go as easy as you can with Yao. Not only do you have to consider the risk of reinjury, there's also the fact that his leg is not all the way back yet (strength), his conditioning is not back, and his game is going to be as rusty as it could be. Ease him back. Take the entire season. Start him off the bench, pick matchups that he can take advantage of, limit those minutes tightly, and slowly open things up as he gets more confident. We've got Miller, Hill, Hayes, and Scola there to help man the position. No need to set Yao up to fail.
When Big Z finally healthy and played 60 plus games back in the early 2000s. He came from bench and averaged 21minutes per game. i think that's a very good measure for Yao.
