reading about yao's recent injury scare and how he is participating with the chinese national team again this summer, i began to wonder if he has/will have any free time this summer to relax and regain his energy and lift some weights? and how bout coming back to houston before training camp? just wondering if anyone has any information.
He's supposed to have been lifting weights this summer. I thought the Rockets gave him a workout plan. If the Asian championship doesn't start until October, Yao isn't going to be here for a large part of training camp if at all.
looking at the pictures of him showing his injury, he still looks tiny in the upper body. and the fact that no one in the rockets organization has spoken to him about his injury (they have only spoken to contacts) probably means they aren't keeping track of his off-season program.
and what injury scare? a little cut over his eye? if he was bangin here in htown at westside or fondee, a cut over the eye would be a daily occurance.
i am pretty sure the rockets have a trainer in china with yao. i remember something being stated about that.
To answer the question, no. As originally scheduled, he would've had 2-3 weeks to get back to Houston, rest, and get settled. As it is now, the Asian Games overlap with camp. He will have to do the exact same thing he did last year. Even though he may be better prepared mentally, a physical breakdown equvalent to the one late last season is quite possible.
This has been brought up again and again... edc is telling it like it is. Many of us are deeply concerned about Yao, how he's going to do this season and how he will hold up over the years without breaking down from all these obligations. The guy is being used and abused, imo.
Seems to me Yao is keeping in great game shape with practising and weight training. It's totally exaggerating that they are saying he's doing this everyday to 12hrs/d. I'll be happy he'll be better and well prepared for next season while most NBA players are sitting on their ass and spending their money.
I put this in another thread, but it bears repeating here. "According to the schedule that was posted here a few days back...they dont train that damn hard over there...and it isnt like he has to work that hard against the little guys he is playin against. The only actual competition he will be involved in will be during the Asian Championships in Oct. and even that will be for only a week or so.. Where is all this tiring work you and a few others around here are insisting he is going thru?" ASIA is right...they arent training for 12hrs a day over there...according to reports(w&s, or someone else..I dont remember) they train for 4-5 hours a day. They havent had any real competition since the off-season began..and wont until Oct. Deckard, edc...why do you think this mild amount of activity is going to tire out a conditioned athlete?
My impression, which I admittedly don't know if it applies to this summer (and do you?), is that Yao had trained long and hard for about 2 years before his late arrival in Houston last season. He clearly ran out of gas at the end of the season, which, imo, usually happens to rookies around the break and then they get their second wind. Yao didn't. He also needs to be here under the Rockets supervision working out and learning the game. He should of been playing pick-up games at Westside. He could have gone to a big-man camp like Newell's. He could be learning his new coach's system leading up to, and during training camp. He could BE here for training camp. And Summer League might have been useful if the Rocks thought so. Those are just a few things that come to mind. Would he be more or less tired here than there? Who knows. Would he learn more here? Without a doubt.
(1) The issue is not just physical but mental. YM is not getting any time to "recharge his batteries." With the exception of a three-week gap between the end of the regular season and NT training, it has been nonstop basketball for three years. And to those that say "all the guys play in the summer," NT training is *work*, not "fun" or "trying to improve game." There are reasons all the professional leagues mandate a certain number of weeks each off-season that explicitly cannot be spent in organized/team activities. (2) Add to the nonstop basketball the back-and-forth. International flights and no time to orient himself to Houston and his life in the US. He will be lucky if he gets ten days before the grind of the regular season starts. (3) As to the "mild amount of activity," before he left, YM indicated this guy (the former and returned NT coach) was a taskmaster.
OK..lets assume that he is a hard-ass...but for only 3-5 hrs a day.. Couldnt you handle working out for that long a day? Imagine instead that you are a professional athlete who has been training and working at that level since you were 16. Would 3-5 hrs a day of hard workout make you exhausted? it is a b**** that they moved the date of the tourney back so far that he will conceivably miss a good section of the training camp..Im not any happier than anyone else about that..I just dont see it making a big difference in his progress for the Rox this year. It may take him a coupld of weeks to get aclimated to JVG's style and system, but since I fully expect JVG to institute a real fundamental based system...Yao should be able to slip right in with a minimal amount of problem. I honestly feel your concern for him, but I see him being good enough and strong enough to be a central pillar of our playoff hopes this year. Try to see the glass as half-full edc..you're a good poster, dont let your pessimism overtake your common sense.. Deckard... No, I dont know everything for sure..but by adding together the few facts we do know,,I can assume that it isnt as bad as some here make it out to be. From what we heard last year about the events he was a part of for the previous 2 years...maybe he had been working much harder..which would explain the massive fatigue wall he ran into last year. but my whole point is...that he doesnt have as busy of an off-season as he has had in the past..and therefore should be in better shape this year. I wont argue that he would get better quicker if he trained over here all summer with true NBA professionals...I would be estatic if he could! IMO it could make all the difference in the world between him dominating this year or waiting till next year to gain his rightful place as the man all other teams fear..but like I said above, I think he can overcome the problems and help us make that push forward... You just gotta have faith.
From what I understand, Yao will be here towards the end of training camp, for preseason, and all season long. How is this like last season when he jumped RIGHT in? If he's here to see the last day of training camp, it's already incredibly better than last year. He's been lifting weights, that's for sure. He's been sticking to the program the Rockets gave him, and this latest injury just means more rest for Yao, and no worries for Houston.
Let me chime in on this little riddle. First of all, Yao's mental fatigue is two folded. The basketball mental fatigue is not really serious in itself. By that I mean daily light practices won't make one break down, just like us the ordinary folks don't mentally break down from doing the same damn work year after year. Besides, Yao has very limited way to spend his free time without a basketball. At his height and social stature, the most he can do is limited to indoor activities, often alone, such as watching videos, surfing internet and playing games. Basketball training is a way for Yao to socialize with people, which is good for his mental health. Mental fatigue mainly comes from frequent games with consistent high pressure to perform, which was the case of Yao's last two years. First the guy played 30+ CBA games, regular games and playoff games, then he headed to various parts of the world for the world games, then he jumped right in for the grind of NBA games. Those were a series of games that brought mental fatigue. The circumstances between this year and last year is cleary different. The other fold of mental fatigue is homesickness, you wouldn't know how comfortable it is to be back in a familiar cultural environment had you not experienced a prolonged exposure in foreign culture. Just ask those in Baghdad if they want to come home. OK bad example but the point is that part of Yao's mental fatigue can only be cured in China, especially with the help of his girlfriend. Heh heh. Now onto the physical fatigue, again, Yao isn't playing intense games year round this time. Aside from that and contrary to popular belief, I think Yao's physical fatigue last year mainly stemmed from his lack of stamina, rather than playing too many games, although that was a factor. Yao can pace his energy in practice but pacing in a game comes at the expense of performance. When Yao's body can't play 40 minutes in a NBA game yet he has no choice but to do so, he's gonna get worn out faster than anything else. The only way to improve his stamina, again, is through working out in long hours right now, not to wait until the real season starts. What Yao is doing is inevitable. Either you let Yao sit, relax and face the same problem next season, or you let him push himself over the hump, if those NT practices are really as pushy as people make them out to be. Yao seems to be a little fatter in the recent pictures, do people get fat when they are overly worked and tired out?
Yao Ming will be missing all of camp. Period. The "training camp" portion runs the first ten days or so of October. Last year preseason games ran October 8 - October 24. The regular season begins a day or two before Halloween. Last year YM arrived October 20. Assuming no difficulties, that is the earliest he could be arriving this year. Incidentally dealing with an injury is hardly "rest." YM may not be fully participating in practice, but he is living within the structure of the CNT.
Good point but what I think you missed out on is that media and press also had a very big role last season that add the fatigue figure also. This year the media will be less for Yao since they will concentrate more on Lebron.
