Yao Ming will not play more than 24 minutes in any game this season

First of all, who cares if Yao makes 17m playing 24 minutes a game. That shouldn't matter to anyone except those folks receiving Rocket's checks or the guy signing it.
Yao is part of the plan until he either asks to be traded or more likely retires from having another serious injury.

I'm not sure why you want to get rid of veteran leadership? What purpose does that serve? Of course if a good deal comes around and Battier is part of the deal then I have no problem with that.

I'm not sure what this wave of mediocrity is about? We've been assembling a young nucleus that has been fun to watch and made a splash by challenging the Lakers. Would you have rather been like Dallas or Denver, the so called serious contenders?

 

Good point. Leave the money talk to the big boys. The team has a great core of young talent, and with a decent Yao, (we'll see how the mins. really turn out) this team should be contending. Why be in such a rush to get rid of guys like Shane and Yao.
Well, Lee, for quite some time now, has appeared to have a disliking for Yao and Shane.
Quick Lee...deny, deny, deny.

In addition, *cough* he enjoys the company of men.*cough*
I'm just kidding....I hate confrontation.

 

You are Debbie Downer :grin:

Out of touch: I just don't think we are following the same two teams here. Morey has been rebuilding through the draft with some very smart/lucky second picks that have turned out to be of starter worthy material. Also through the free agency. I just don't see how having this current team is mediocre to you, considering the so called contenders fade into the lottery as their Dirk's and Melo's become older and/or want out. I certainly would rather be dubbed as a contender and it would make the ride a lot sweeter but the disappointments and heartbreaks are much greater.

Perhaps you have been disillusioned and had your faith shaken by the Francis/Yao/TMAC era which is understandable. Or maybe you have been mistakenly watching a different, medicore Rocket team.

 

Because every million that Yao earns is a million less to spend on another player.

My take on all this is that the Rockets know Yao will inevitably suffer another serious injury, but can't publicly admit it. What they're trying to do is give Yao one last chance to go deep in the playoffs. An admirable goal.

I also think this is probably Yao's last season with the team, and I would not be surprised to see him end his career somewhere else, probably with the Lakers.

 

Yeah The Plan is to carry Yao deep into the playoffs on the back of a 42 win team. They're doing it as a charity to Yao. It has nothing to do with the fact that they need Yao to make a run in the playoffs and without him they're the 3d best team in Texas and a lottery team. They know he's not actually healthy to play an entire season. The Houston Rockets are actually a 501 NPO run by Catholic nuns as a charity for players.

Do you guys even think before you post?

Everything you wrote, starting with the idea that there are dudes lining up to play for Houston that can bring as much as Yao that we've turned away because of Yao's salary is lol. And the idea that signing Yao was some sort of handout to Yao to give him "one last chance to go deep in the playoffs" is r****ded. Morey signed Yao because they need Yao and he's the best option by far for Houston.

It really makes sense that penny-pinching Les Alexander and Morey a guy who's going to be out of the league in a few years if they can't do something in the playoffs are running a charity specifically for Yao, and are r****ding the growth of the team by the millions they pay Yao. In fact that's The Plan.

Seriously are you guys even thinking before you post? Right now Houston has a top 3 team in the West with full medical clearance for Yao. They're talking about implementing procedures to guard against even freak injuries... mainly because of the pieces that they've assembled that can tread water while Yao is on the bench.

Who are you all going to get to replace Yao with that is going to lead THIS team over Kobe and the Lakers, let alone the Nazgul in Miami? The fact is Yao's inside game is the one ace in the hole that basically any team in the Western Conference has against LA's front line. Houston is one team that has a (longshot but legit) chance. No one else is beating them. Who are you going to bring in that's going to take Houston over the hump?

 

You're wildly distorting what I wrote, either because you're an ingenious troll or mildly r****ded.

 

Yao and the Rockets will be fine.

Better to have Yao's offensive production and defensive anchorage for 24 minutes per game, then to have most other centers' limited production for 35 minutes....

Too many knee jerk reactions in this thread.

 

No star player will want to come here for sure know

Saying this publicly lets everyone know that yao isn't 100% and probaly never will be.

Of course I didn't expect him to log big minutes early but the entire season

 

This team needs one more piece before i think they can handle the Lakers. Teams have been improving and all Houston did is play the waiting game and resign players. My money is on Yao getting injured again just like four of the last five seasons all though i'd like to see him stay healthy. It's a trend that they have been building around Yao when he's not there and how long will this go on? I've been saying this quietly the last two seasons. I want the best from Yao and the Rockets, but i think fans deserve better. Fans have been patiently supporting a Yaoless team for a while now. As of now this team needs a 'BOLD' move still imo, but i like what we kept and have, imo i still think they will need to make a move to climb in the West.

 

The difference is Yao is supposed to be the guy to take the Rockets to the playoffs like Duncan takes the Spurs. Ginobili is more like Kevin Martin, a great scorer, but he isn't going to take you to the playoffs without Duncan. See the Kings, last year.

 

nope. wrong. check your ilgaskas stats again.

 

The more I think about it, the more I feel that we have seen the last of the Yao we had gotten used to. I get the feeling that the Rox expected Yao to start at 24 minutes and gradually increase to his normal amount by years end however with the news about Yao's time limit and their offers to Dampier/Fesenko it makes me conclude they were taken by surprise.

Truth be told, 24 minutes doesn't surprise me but doing it the WHOLE season does take me a back and does throw a small wet blanket on the season. Honestly, without Yao going 30-35 minutes a game I don't consider us true contenders.

 

I am going to remain hopeful that they will adjust his minutes once they see how his foot and body respond.

That the 25 minute limit is more for the beginning of the season, and once they get more data about the foot it could go up or down.

25 or 24 is such an arbitrary number, they don't have anything to go on, in regards to how much time he could or should play.

And the foot being reshaped was allegedly to allow the weight to be more evenly distributed......I don't know...but if the team is forced to treat him with kid gloves for the rest of his career, then they should offer him a much smaller contract.

The fact that we are now going after Dampier and Fosenko leads me to believe they are NOT convinced Yao will fully recover.

DD

 

Was there perhaps a setback in his rehab that wasn't reported?

 

Plus the other team would be close to the penalty situation or in it already - big advantage with Yao's FT shooting

 

The Rockets are afraid that Rick will overplay him, which explains the hard cap.

 

I'd rather have Yao for 24 minutes in a playoff game than no Yao at all. Smart move by the Rockets. Saving his career by limiting the minutes versus pushing him and risking him either 1. reinjuring the same foot or 2. hurting the other foot due to compensation.

Be patient with Yao Rockets fans.

 

It has been more than a year, his foot is healed, if it is going to break again, it is going to break......the team needs to find out if he can hold up BEFORE they offer him a new contract.

Play it smart, ramp his minutes up, but if all he ever is going to be is a 24mpg super role player, than he is not a max contract guy.....not even close...

DD

 

no...i think it's the same injury and same surgery which leaves a 7'6" guy running and jumping around on a foot with a bunch of pins holding it together. i think there's a tendency to want to pretend that's going to be ok. that it will be the same old, same old when he gets back. but i remember hearing doctors on sports radio talking about how he'd play limited minutes for the rest of whatever career he has left given the nature of this kind of injury and his size.

 

Glad they're going to be so cautious. Ironic that so many that were all over the team and medical staff for not preventing his previous breaks are now griping that his minutes are being limited to minimize another stress reaction.

I'm happy about this, he'll still be a difference maker, and we've got a solid tag team partner in Brad Miller (or Dampier?).

Another thing to bear in mind is that he hasn't played pro ball in a good 15 months. Throwing him out to the wolves in November isn't putting him in a position to succeed. The team also needs to get used to playing with him in the middle again after a season of smallball.

Evan