I agree, to many people saw Yao's return as the saving grace for this team. Even media members kept saying, "if Yao returns to all-star level" heck I might have said that too. The reality was Yao wasn't going to be Yao, maybe down the road he regains some of it but during the most important stretch of the season he is MIA and that is crippling the team's flexibility. I know it isn't his fault, the guy is a BEAST in the gym and WANTS desperately to return but as an organization the Rox need to move on and start the next phase. Maybe they already have thus the slow process and being extra careful with the time limit because they realize if the team doesn't rebound during this stretch the season is essential over and not having Yao is a big blow to any team and even bigger once AB went down.
the simplest answer, right there. i can't buy into the notion that the team isn't letting their max salary cash cow player touch the court. sorry.
The Rockets know he is washedup and nowhere near the same player so he isnt that big of a difference anymore to rush him back. If he heals great, if nort he isnt that big of a cog anymore to warrant the chemiastry disruption to bring him back sooner. ala McGrady
I've learned now that having zero expectations with Yao is the right way to go as a fan. I'm not going to criticize or "hate" on him. But I'm not going to look at him as some savior of the franchise either. He is a piece that may or may not be available, a bonus.
the man has missed about as many games as he's played over the last 5 seasons. there's no knee jerk to this NEWS because it ISN'T NEWS!!! it's the same old same old.
Agree, and that lowers the overall expectations from a 50 win team down to a 42 win one, and if that is the case, they need to be playing the young guys a LOT LOT more. DD
Why disrupt the team chemistry which seems to be on the rise for a player that isnt all that important anymore. If they believed he would be a game changer so to speak, they would be willing to risk it.
Wow you guys have such little faith, I know T-Mac left some of y'all scarred for life. But geez, give the guy some time, he's coming back from a very serious injury, he showed that he can move fine, he was just off on his timing. I'm sure he's not done, he just needs to be patient. As long as it is not his repaired foot that is giving him problems then I'm willing to wait on him. He deserves it.
I'm hopeful that this is about making sure he's in showcase shape for the upcoming trading season...but I seriously doubt it.
We are already doing that. We should bring him back, tell him to play defense, and run the offense the exact same way we've been running it. He should be told to facilitate the offense, get the ball to Scola, Martin, and Lowry, and he should be considered the 4th option, not a primary offensive option. That way nothing is disrupted that we are doing offensively and we get his defensive presence back out there. And God forbid, he work himself back into shape on the floor and start dominating the low block offensively. They should just work him back in off the bench. I think it's plumb stupid this chemistry bullcrap. Adelman has been monkeying around with Hill/Jeffries/Taylor/Ish and he's still fiddling, which he should be doing trying to figure out what works. So, with all that going on, what is wrong with bringing Yao off the bench for the rest of the durn season? I can tell you a whole lot about what is right with it. But I simply cannot see how bringing Yao off the bench hurts our chemistry. Our bench is struggling for identity right now. We've finally got a starting unit that is coming together and playing cohesively. But our bench has struggled for the entire season. Now, Yao is probably healthy enough to get at least spot minutes and Aaron is coming back. In my humble opinion, we could supercharge our bench unit by bringing Aaron back as the 6th man working as the primary scoring option for the bench and we could really use Yao playing spot minutes off the bench. And there is NO WAY that Yao would be opposed to coming off the bench. Yao is a team player. He would do anything to help his team win.
I can understand that people are frustrated, I am as well, but I find the Rockets' handling and communication of this situation more frustrating than anything. They already messed it up in other cases. I also have little trust in the Rockets' medical staff. When the Rockets communicated badly in T-Mac's case, plus T-Mac's own communication issues, it turned us against T-Mac. I can already see that people are turning against Yao, which is not fair. If anything, this might help us to re-sign him at a relative bargain price this summer. Quite frankly, I do not care much whether he still plays this December. The team is starting to gel and we have a relatively easy stretch. Save him for when it matters, and have him worked back in at full strength by then.
I don't really care and that's just a testament to this awful experiment called, "building around Yao". It's like building a house on top of a fault line.
This is the most frustrating part about this year's Yao Saga.........You either play him and stop dancing around the question or you trade his expiring contract and just declare, the Rockets want to move on without Yao. Not this bull**** 1 week, Maybe 2 weeks, maybe 3 weeks, maybe tomorrow, maybe Wednesday, maybe indefinitely, maybe next week. The guy practiced last Thursday and we didn't hear about this bull**** weak ankle crap. Just end it. Stop beating around the bush.
Yao Ming is now dead weight to this franchise in terms of its basketball operations. In terms of its financial operations, he is a god-send. The NBA is a business first and a sport second, so, unfortunately, he'll be here until he retires. Make him a bench player, FFS.
