[CHRON] More than anything, Rockets, Yao need time

Champ06 · Oct 8, 2010

Jonathan Feigen said:

Spurs second-year forward DeJuan Blair spent much of Thursday talking about going against Yao Ming for the first time.

There are some things that can only be experienced on this level and going against Yao is one of them.

Blair did very well, using his quickness, strength and low center of gravity to negate Yao's size. Still, he had the customary reaction.

"He's a big dude, that's all I can say," Blair said. "When I saw him, I thought, 'Oh, my Lord!' He knows how to use his body and I tried to use my quickness to my advantage.

"He's still trying to get into shape. There is a difference between game shape and practice shape. He will be OK. He still has his touch."

Yao generally competed better, making several defensive plays late in his second stint on the floor. In the first game, when he tired, he did not regroup well. On Thursday, he got stronger, at least defensively.

"I thought he looked pretty good," Tim Duncan said. "He's still working himself into shape, but he still has his touch. The basketball stuff will come with time."

That is the good and bad news.

The more we see Yao, the more it seems that he will get back pretty close and perhaps all the way to where he was. He just needs time, and lots of it. The problem is that it is difficult to get lot of time in 12-minute stretches.

That number could increase next week and again when the Rockets finish the preseason with the San Antonio-Dallas back-to-back. Still, there is a long way to go.

He needs nothing as much as playing time, but so far, is permitted only small snippets of that.
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http://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/

Someguy1229 · Oct 8, 2010

I think Yao will get a lot of motivation when we go to China to play the nets twice. Hopefully being home will help him get his confidence back.

ACL1 · Oct 8, 2010

I forgot what foot he did surgery on but watching last nights game did not like the position of the right foot during running. At one point either the foot is going to break down or he is going to have serious medial knee problems.

AvgJoe · Oct 8, 2010

left foot

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[CHRON] More than anything, Rockets, Yao need time

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