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[Chron] Yao at 60 to 70 percent of peak in injury comeback

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by batkins, Aug 3, 2008.

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batkins Contributing Member

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BEIJING - He has repeated the drills tirelessly, time after time and hour after hour. He has pumped iron and worked on the treadmill, day after day and week after week. He has labored in every corner of a sweat-filled weight room, practiced shots and polished footwork on every inch of the hardwood court, month after month and seemingly year after year.

There is never a good time for a basketball player to suffer a foot injury. But for Yao Ming, the latest stress fracture was the most untimely break of them all. Not only did it come in the middle of what would grow into an historic 22-game winning streak by the Rockets, it kept him out of the NBA playoffs and now imperils his level of performance in the Beijing Olympics, which begin Friday.

What's more, the injury threatens to tear at the fabric of his dual-nation relationship with his native China and his adopted home in the United States.

From the moment he sat down at the table facing the bank of cameras and microphones at the Toyota Center news conference on Feb. 26 and said not playing in the Olympics would "be the biggest loss of my career to right now," Yao has been whipsawed by criticism from both sides of the Pacific.

His Chinese fans blamed the Rockets for wearing Yao out, causing the stress fracture in his left foot and potentially ruining the centerpiece of the Olympics - the biggest spectacle ever held in China. His American fans screamed back that the Rockets and the NBA are the ones paying his $15 million salary, and it is the year-round calendar of competition caused by the ongoing commitment to the Chinese national team that has made him chronically vulnerable to injury.

"There's always pressure on me," Yao said. "That's my life. I accept it.

"It is a different burden for me. I can tell you I have two careers. Most players don't have that experience. You play here for the professional league, the NBA, the best league in the world. If you win titles in this league, that would be wonderful.

"Being in the Olympics is a national honor. It's a dream I have when I am young. It is obligation and an expectation that I have from my homeland. The whole country is focused on these games in Beijing. Basketball is a big game in China."
Getting back on the court

Yao made his comeback with the Chinese national team two weeks ago in the Stankovic Cup, a pre-Olympic tournament, and was able to play hard but looked rusty with his skills.

In the Diamond Ball Tournament this week in Nanjing, Yao looked at times dominant with his inside scoring and interior defense and at other times like an athlete struggling to get his conditioning and timing back to top form.

"I feel weak," he said. "I would say I am about 60 to 70 percent and that is frustrating. I am sure now that I will play in the Olympics," Yao said. "But I won't be in my best shape. I know that. And that is disappointing."

The Beijing Olympics are more than just a showcase of the finest athletes on the planet to another spot on the globe. To a Chinese society that has been slowly unfolding and revealing itself like a lotus blossom for nearly four decades, these Games are the long-awaited throwing open of the doors and letting the world into a firecracker explosion of 21st century progress. Since Beijing was awarded the Olympics in 2001, the Chinese have spent seven years preparing to show off their culture, their modern infrastructure and their sports stars.

"This is about different cultures, different backgrounds and bringing all people different ways of thinking about things," Yao said. "I can't say that any side is wrong. Americans say the Rockets pay my salary. No problem. I like the Rockets. Whatever uniform I wear, I play 100 percent.

"For China, they have to understand that my loyalty to my country will never change. But now I have another group of people in America that I need to take care of. These people, the Chinese fans and American fans are not connected. They do not understand how each other think. I am the one who is connected. I am in the middle. That is the important goal of the Olympics, to bring different people together."

Yao has been saying for more than a year that a realistic goal for China in the Olympic basketball tournament would be to advance out of pool play and into the quarterfinals. China's best previous finish was 8th place at Atlanta (1996) and Athens (2004).

"Obviously, a medal is always a dream when you're playing in the Olympics," he said. "You're standing there and you have a medal. It doesn't matter what color you have. But to be honest, we are not at that level yet, especially with the injuries to me and to Yi Jianlian.

I am not sure of our fitness. We can make some history if we get into the 7th or 6th spot. But I think 8th is about where we are."

China will open the Olympic tournament with the most difficult assignment against Team USA with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and a recommitted American attitude since the bronze medal flop of 2004.

"You know what?" Yao said laughing. "If we win that first game, I would quit right away. I would say, 'I'm getting out of here.' I'm not playing basketball anymore if we beat USA in Game 1. That would be the top. I can do no more."

Yao said he would like this to be his final Olympic appearance.

"It will be my third," he said. "I was a very young player and got my first taste of the Olympics in 2000 at Sydney. I played in Athens in 2004 and now this is my home country and the highest special honor in 2008. Enough, I think. Why would I need to play in London in 2012?"
Lesson from Mom

Yao's mother, Fang Feng Di, was a member of the Chinese women's national basketball team that did not get to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the boycott.

"My parents do not talk about this, but it is a story I have heard from people who are friends of my parents," Yao said. "When my Mom lost her chance to play in the Olympics, instead she had me that year. If she had played in the Olympics, I would probably be two years younger now or maybe not born at all.

"The first time I really watched the Olympics and understood was 1996 in Atlanta. At that time I was practicing with the Shanghai Sharks junior team. I remember waking up at 3 a.m. to watch China play Argentina on TV. We won that game and my parents told me it was a big, big event.

Wang Zhi Zhi played in that game and played well. At that time, I

thought one day I could play in the Olympics."

Yao made his Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000 and he carried the Chinese flag at the opening ceremony at Athens in 2004.

"To carry the flag was a big, big honor," he said. "When you have the flag in your hand, you feel like you have a whole country of people in your grasp and, of course, you feel the expectation. It is the pressure that I have continued to feel every day since I came to the NBA and now going back home for the Olympics. It is such extreme focus."

Some of the sharp focus on the athletic competition became blurred in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake in Chengdu that killed nearly 70,000 people and left almost 5 million homeless.

"That's a tragedy," Yao said. "A lot of the people who were living there and all across China were so excited earlier this year about the Olympics. Now 2008 has brought this to us first. As the year passes, it is difficult to forget. We cannot forget. We cannot just celebrate games and the Olympics when we still have this suffering from the earthquake."

The Yao Ming Foundation has responded by soliciting donations for earthquake relief, fueled by a personal donation of $2 million by Yao.

Others NBA players such as Steve Nash, Baron Davis and Andrei Kirilenko have made contributions.

"In the last several years, I've worked with the China Youth Development Foundation," Yao said. "They are focused on building schools for kids in poor areas, giving out scholarships. Last summer we had a successful

(charity) game in Beijing and raised $2 million.

"At that time, besides the money we raised, I began thinking that it would be a very good idea to have my own foundation. The original plan was to wait until after the Olympics to announce it and get it started.

I would have more time then. But the earthquake hit. I watched the news. I felt so sad. I felt helpless in a way. And I knew I had to do something right away. I can do something to help."

What Yao cannot help is with the international political unrest that erupted earlier this year in Nepal, resulting in protests, violent clashes between Buddhist monks and the military, eventually closing the borders and prompting some calls for an Olympic boycott. German chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister Gordon Brown will not attend the Opening Ceremonies and some have urged U.S. President Bush to stay away.

"I think this is a big world," Yao said. "There are a lot of different ways to think about things. There are Republicans and Democrats in America. There are different parties everywhere, many different ideas.

"But if you are not going, then you lost a chance to tell people what you think and we have lost a chance to communicate with you. My feeling, as a regular Chinese citizen, is that we have put a lot of our passion into the Olympics. To have people at the last day say they are not going, it would be like turning against us.

"I think back to when they started the modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. It was a beautiful idea to put people together again, to make friendship and share the honor and share everything."

He often thinks of the ancient Games in Greece.

"They stopped wars for the Olympics. They laid down their arms for the Games. Right now, war looks like a part of our life in this world. But hopefully, no wars, no bombs, no gunshots in those three weeks of the Olympics. Maybe it is a dream. It is my wish."
Click to expand...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5919828.html

#1 batkins, Aug 3, 2008

Chuck 4 Member

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...Really wish he wasnt playing right now...

#2 Chuck 4, Aug 3, 2008
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Yao Ming said:

We cannot forget. We cannot just celebrate games and the Olympics when we still have this suffering from the earthquake."
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Unless it is Darfur.

#3 hooroo, Aug 3, 2008
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So Both of our stars(now besides Artest ) are about 60-70% healed. Kinda nice to know.

#4 J.R., Aug 3, 2008
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hooroo said:

Unless it is Darfur.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you're an ignorant American.

I seriously don't know why dumb ignorant people such as you mouth off about other countries when you've got Iraq, Afghanistan to your profile...

#5 W22_STREAK, Aug 3, 2008
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hooroo said:

Unless it is Darfur.
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shut up if you don't know what is really going on in Darfur....

#6 stq, Aug 3, 2008
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hooroo said:

Unless it is Darfur.
Click to expand...

you bringing politics into a sports thread with your uninformed uneducated wild opinions seriously says you're r****ded.

seriously, don't bring politics into sports threads like this, or shut up

#7 W22_STREAK, Aug 3, 2008

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Everyone, let's talk politic now....

#8 coohou, Aug 3, 2008
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...........damn...

#9 ClutchCity3, Aug 3, 2008
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circle thieves like vultures in desert, rest on a cactus...
got oscar nominee MCs stuck my hatchet

yao will never heal

#10 apocclass, Aug 3, 2008
t_mac1 Contributing Member

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apocclass said:

circle thieves like vultures in desert, rest on a cactus...
got oscar nominee MCs stuck my hatchet

yao will never heal
Click to expand...

i'm afraid you're right. yao will never be 100% again

#11 t_mac1, Aug 3, 2008
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hsf09 said:

So Both of our stars(now besides Artest ) are about 60-70% healed. Kinda nice to know.
Click to expand...

outside of the back, the injuries tmac suffered will heal completely. his back will always be something he has to manage.

just hope yao can avoid another season-ending injury. 60-70% isn't that much healed and he's playing v. competition already

#12 t_mac1, Aug 3, 2008
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Am I missing something over the healing comments? Sounds to me like he's talking about his competitive shape not that he isn't healed.

#13 rocketsregle, Aug 3, 2008

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W22_STREAK said:

I'm guessing you're an ignorant American.

I seriously don't know why dumb ignorant people such as you mouth off about other countries when you've got Iraq, Afghanistan to your profile...
Click to expand...

LOL, you're assumption of my nationality makes you ignorant. Chill, be cool like the majority of the good chinese on this BBS. Stop being such a chinese extremist.

#14 hooroo, Aug 3, 2008
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He said 60-70% of max performance form...not healing.

everyone is overreacting....the guy has only been playing for 2 weeks.

I believe he is referring to his condition...not his foot.

#15 MandM's, Aug 3, 2008
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t_mac1 said:

outside of the back, the injuries tmac suffered will heal completely. his back will always be something he has to manage.

just hope yao can avoid another season-ending injury. 60-70% isn't that much healed and he's playing v. competition already
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it means 60% of peak, meaning due to lack of conditioning, not 60% healed.

Though I don't think he should be competing right now.

#16 thacabbage, Aug 3, 2008
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I also think it is hilarious that every time we talk about Yao...the chinese or someone is quick to label with a %.

A few weeks ago it was 80% bone healed...now it is 70% conditioning.

What is 100% anyway and who would claim it...who decides?

It is getting out of hand.

Plus Blinbury writes nothing positive ever. After what happened with Artest trade comments I wouldn't be too sure of the conversation and his motives.

Anyone else notice that?

#17 MandM's, Aug 3, 2008
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MandM's said:

I also think it is hilarious that every time we talk about Yao...the chinese or someone is quick to label with a %.

A few weeks ago it was 80% bone healed...now it is 70% conditioning.

What is 100% anyway and who would claim it...who decides?

It is getting out of hand.

Plus Blinbury writes nothing positive ever. After what happened with Artest trade comments I wouldn't be too sure of the conversation and his motives.

Anyone else notice that?
Click to expand...

regardless, b/c of the schedule yao is under, he's not going to be 100% conditioning-wise or healing-injury-wise when the season starts and the load is just going to pick up from there.

but we have a better team so if yao's load won't be too heavy this year.

#18 t_mac1, Aug 3, 2008

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W22_STREAK said:

I'm guessing you're an ignorant American.

I seriously don't know why dumb ignorant people such as you mouth off about other countries when you've got Iraq, Afghanistan to your profile...
Click to expand...

Wow I never knew where chinese. I always thought you were a stupid American.

Seriously while we don't know the whole story. I doubt you do either.

#19 Old Man Rock, Aug 3, 2008
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man, it sucks that he has to play for China considering we're all rockets fan here and look forward to a breakout season with artest.

But Yao, do what you gotta do!

#20 tinywang, Aug 3, 2008

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