http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4469482.html March return for Yao After speaking with team physician Dr. Tom Clanton on Saturday, Rockets trainer Keith Jones said he does not expect Rockets center Yao Ming to play until mid- to late March. Jones said there has been no change in Yao's condition or prognosis, although he scheduled a CT scan for this week with follow-ups likely every two weeks. Yao suffered a slight fracture of his right tibia Dec. 23 and is expected to need eight weeks from the time of the fracture to begin on-court workouts in mid-February. Depending on the extent of muscle atrophy and how much conditioning is required, Yao could need another month or more to be ready to play. ------------------------------ Does Yao really need 1 month to get ready to play? It's really crazy. It's 6-8 weeks initially and now it becomes more than 12 weeks. I really hope we can continue to play well w/o Yao.
Tough blow to hear right now, but I remember people posting the medical sites that listed his condition and normal recovery times.... 6 weeks was likely never realistic.
I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but I doubt if he'll play again this yr. Maybe in the playoffs, but a broken leg on a weight bearing urface, I think they'll shut him down. I hope not, but I don't want to hurt him long term.
I knew this all along, but I have no idea why Rockets falsified the initial estimate of 6 weeks when I'm sure they knew all along. 3 problems with this: 1) A lot of our role players are stepping up big time right now. Will they be able to sustain this level of play for another 2 months? 2) We have a lot of older players on this team and a worn out McGrady. Will playing without Yao for the next 2 months wear them out by the playoffs? 3) Once Yao gets back, we only have 1 month to for the team to click before the playoffs. Is this enough time for everyone to be on the same page? Only time will tell...
Hopefully it isn't a nagging injury Yao will have for his career. That would absolutely suck. I'm praying it doesn't affect his game.
I hope the team can keep up this level of play. I'll be positive and hope that Yao will be fresh and hungry for the playoffs.
I just can't believe we can't find a good doctor to have Yao recover soon. Just remember, Tmac only found a good doctor this year. It's unblievable.
Is there a soul on this board who wouldn't have traded tonight's win for better news about Yao? I don't think so. I should have gone to bed when we won the game.
Great news to me. More rest for the big fella. I rather him rest and take his time rather than rushing back on the court and risk the possibility of reinjuring himself.
A lot of guys with real medical knowledge got bashed relentlessly when they posted their skeptism of "6-week" estimate.
No way We are playing inspired basketball, but Tmac can't carry the Rockets the whole season in the tough Western Conference. My thoughts changed from :we can get homecourt" to "let's make the playoffs"
Look at it this way... As long as we go .500 from here on out, we'll get 47 wins. That's basically guaranteed to secure a playoff spot. I personally think it would take something more than Yao's absence to keep this squad from doing at least that well. I've got a lot of faith in this bunch.
That sucks. I estimated March 1st, and I thought that was conservative. Looks like there's going to be a considerable period of time for him to just get back into game shape. Hopefully, like last season, he's fresh for the stretch run. Bumping up my expected date of return to March 15th.
Yao will have about 10 games to get into game shape for the playoffs. And that's assuming we don't go into a slide and miss the playoffs. Snyder and Wells have to come back so that Tmac and Battman don't get worn out. We could also use another PG to spell/replace Alston for the same reasons. I think we'll be fine. As for the bigs, we've got three players to man the PF/C spots. Juwan is 32, Deke is 40+. Hayes is small and foul-prone. Only Juwan has any offense. Bottom line: we're in trouble. It would be nice if Novak could step up, but that isn't likely to happen. The more likely solution is that we go small and Battman plays the 4. I think we should make a trade. Deke can't play like this forever.
