what a bs article.. if they're blaming us then they should take some of the blame also for making him play year round... poor yao is stuck in the middle
1. I hope Yao recovers asap and can represent his country in the Olympics while not jeopardizing his long-term health. 2. He needs to stop playing for the CNT starting next summer unless its a qualifying tournament. 3. The chinese media needs to back off about Houston not having a backup at center for him. We have something called the SALARY CAP and there will always be a limit of quality centers. Supply and demand, and big men always require big money to sign. If you want him to have a backup, tell Yao to take a paycut (He makes enough on advertising already and Tim Duncan has already set a precedent).
37 minutes a game is not that much for an all star player. It is barely more than 3/4ths of the game....most star players play at least that much. DD
Didn't yao play just 5 games for the CNT last summer and also skip most of the practices? I keep remembering all those photos of all his other teammates practicing and Yao working with a goal post on his arm.
They are going to take Yao away from us. They are going to completely pull him out of America even though the Rockets bought him from China in 2001. That's what the article sounded like to me.
not trying to take sides, but we really don't have a reliable backup who is a natural center to take the load off of Yao. This needs to be addressed in the offseason via free agency. We need a legit 6'10'' backup center that can take some of the load off....
We DO have a backup center in Mutumbo. I never understand why he is purely used as a cheerleader. His performance in yesterday game showed that he can still play, even in limited capacity.
Geez, can everybody chill out a little bit?? The article seems inflammatory to say the least and everyone is playing right into it. Someone made a good point in another thread that Yao didn't grow up a Rocket fan or wanting to be a Rocket...his goal all along has been to get better here to strengthen the Chinese team. All that being said, they may have a valid point--Yao (and Tmac) do play a TON of minutes and maybe it's too much for a 7'6 guy--if we can win big without Yao why can't we win with him playing less minutes a night? Not to mention the fact that everyone here has questioned the medical staff too!! I know he has grown to love the Rockets and he is a man of integrity so he will also do his best wherever he plays but WAKE UP--China is his #1 love and goal and we shouldn't question that, just be thankful that he's a Rocket too and let's let Yao do what's best for Yao.
To me, whatever minutes Yao gained on the floor were a function of the system being more conducive to him playing longer. On defense he no longer had to come out to defend the PnR so that gave him some extra juice to play more minutes. And even though Yao reportedly lost a lot of weight this year during the season, he had nowhere near the kind of fatigue we saw him have IN THE MIDDLE OF GAMES last year. Every Rocket fan knows the "Purple Ming" face where he's doubled over with his hands on his knees and his head facing the ground. This is not something that can be blamed on our playing style. If Titan wants someone to blame, Yao won't say it but look at his fellow countryman Yi. That's the person he originally got his alleged sprained ankle from, the injury that later revealed itself as the stress fracture we know and hate today.
thei increase in minutes is due to him being helathy this year and not missing but 1 game. I do not see where this is a coaching staff issue.
He's playing longer because he's expending less energy than in years past. 37 minutes isn't that much either. This 'too many minutes' line is ignorant and needs to stop asap.
Oh well. Maybe Yi will get injured too. I hope CNT loses in first round to Brazil or some inferior team. They can't compete with the US anyhow. They may be fundamentally sound, but they don't have any athletes.
The first 3 years with him healthy, Yao averaged ~32min/gm. The next 2 years with him missing 20+ games, Yao averaged ~34min/gm. The first year under Adelman, 37min/gm. Regardless, we need to find a backup center to take some of Yao's minutes away, since Deke mostly likely won't be here next year. Scola is doing a good job, but he doesn't exactly fit the bill.
I think whatever measuring stick JVG was using he got it right. He limited Yao to 33-34 min per game. Bill Walton in his final year only played one game a week to preserve his body.
Problem is, the stress fracture (afaik) is caused by increased activity. For now, forget we're even considering what CBA or Titan thinks. It's not good in the longterm for a 7 footer to play too many minutes, as NBA history has proven, let alone a 7 fricking 6 guy. He might be spending less energy this year, but he's still taking hits and abuses inside the paint night in and night out (no Drexler joke please). It's a slow process that adds up and eventually takes toll on one's body. Yao needs to cut ties with the CBA after the Olympics for the most part, and this is coming from a Chinese perspective. However, it doesn't mean that there's nothing we can do on our side to help alleviate the situation to help Yao. He's not the type of player that says "No" to increased minutes, even if his body can't handle it.
He does have capable backups. It's just that our team is better when he is on the court. I wish Adelman would have played him a little less and have Deke play 8 or so minutes but with the emergence of Scola and Landry, they were feeding off of playing with Yao very well. I don't blame Adelman necessarily because would 3-4 min. game really have helped Yao that much. I think it is the playing year round without proper rest(2+ months) like most of the other players in the league, that hurt him the most.
