I remember posting that he won't be back until March at the earliest, and I got a couple of thanking me for my "medical expertise". Very, very bad news from a Rockets fan perspective. Our guys now are overachieving big time, they're winning games with two old timers playing like young men to try and make up for the absence of Yao. How long will they be able to sustain this level of play? How long can McGrady carry this team on a bad back? With that being said, I still think he will be back before mid-March, but that's still a whole two more months to go without Yao...not good news at all for the Rockets. I think this bit of news changes a lot of things, I wouldn't be surprised if the Rockets go after another piece to bolster this roster a bit now that we all know Yao won't play for the majority of the season. This team needs more help, at least another offensive option. Yao is officially the most injury-prone Rocket in quite some time
What in that prognosis has changed that people have become so bummed all of a sudden? It was predicted by the last doctor it would take 8 weeks of healing and 2-3 weeks of active rehab. Nothing has changed from the last report. The Rockets are just being conservative. Yao could very well start his active rehab sooner. It's just a guess at this point and that is why the Rockets have not changed their stance with the media because they just don't know. They can't predict what will happen in the subsequent doctor appointments.
If Yao can begin on-court trainning in mid-Feb, that's good news. We dont want to see Yao to replay Amare last year after all.
Did someone take a look how many less FTs we get a game with Yao out? I bet that'd be qutie a few. It seems we always get to the line less than the other team since Yao was out.
Yeah, you're right. I guess a lot of us were hoping for a February return, but weren't counting on the month-long rehab. This team is really playing their heart out right now, but you can tell it's going to take a toll on them to be short-handed for such a long period. Get well soon big fella!
Their is no possible way we can keep playing the way we do for another two months. The front office is going to have to bring in some major help. Enter - Steive Franchise.
I never understood the 6 week estimate. Normal people are not even supposed to walk on a broken leg after 6 weeks. How was a 310lb, 7'6" guy going to be able to not only walk after 6 weeks but be in basketball shape that soon? I was hoping that he could be back in 8 weeks but I guess I was practicing some wishful thinking as well. I still think he could be on the court for the beginning of March. That would give him nearly 9-10 weeks of rehab. Any particular reason why the Rockets always seem to downplay injuries?
We're 15-8 since the beginning of December. You're right that we probably won't keep up that pace while Yao is out, but we don't have to either. That's a .650 winning %, which would put us at 44 wins assuming Yao comes back on March 20th. We would then have about 15 games left, of which we would probably only need to win 2 or 3 to guarantee a playoff spot. As I said in a previous post, if we can simply go .500 or close to it until Yao comes back, we'll have 40 wins with 15 games to go once Yao comes back. Then anything better than about 4-11 gets us the 8th seed, and if we could somehow go 10-5 we might even be looking at as high as 5th. Just get one win for every loss the rest of the way and this team wins 47 and see the playoffs.
Hearing this news I think our office will bring someone, third scorer behind Mac to go with our defensive plays and I highly doubt its going to be SF so just rule him out! but I do think someone will come in! lets wait and see...
There is no way the Rockets can continue this torrid pace for January, but the schedule is easier in Feb and March, so we actually have a small chance of going a couple of games (1-3) games above .500 when Yao comes back.
I think we'll get to playoffs without Yao no doubt! but we will not go anywhere without Yao in playoffs! Its as simple as that!
Even though Yao might be back for the playoffs, how healthy will he be? I sure hope Yao is not injury prone for the rest of his career.
Yao is very conscientious of his own health and conditioning, so I don't think this injury will come back to haunt him. Its really unfortunate he's had so many problems with lower body though. Im glad he's taking his time to come back - rushing would just be stupid if we want to win the big one.
This all could be a blessing in disguise. I'm sure the wear and tear of an 82 game season would def take a toll on Yao in the playoffs but because he's played so many fewer minutes he'll be much fresher come post season...just ask shaq. Plus, this team is learning to cope without him, something they need to do. They need to believe that when he's not on the floor that they can score on offensive possessions which is what they are learning to do. It will make them all better when yao returns. Yao will have over a month of the regular season to get his conditioning and chemistry with the team back which I think is perfectly sufficient. The key thing is to beat the teams that we are supposed to beat while Yao is out(and by that I mean everyone besides SA, Dallas and Phx). That means execution down the stretch. It also wouldn't hurt to get another big and a pg before the trade deadline.
