[ESPN] Yao says recovery on track, to resume workouts

As long as we don't hear and ohhh "SNAP" from putting that weightiest foot on the court.

 

Great news......let's hope Yao has a good tournament at the Olympics.

DD

 

Yao back home and winning race to be fit for Beijing

http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSPEK28480720080626

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - Yao Ming is winning his fitness race to lead China's basketball challenge at the Beijing Olympics and should be back on court in mid-July, the NBA All-Star said on Thursday.

The 7ft-6in (2.28m) Houston Rockets center returned from the United States on Wednesday, nearly four months after an operation to mend a stress fracture in his left foot and 44 days before the start of the Games.

"I had a physical in Houston on Monday," he told a packed news conference.

"My fracture is 80 percent healed, which is normal after four months treatment. The other 20 percent will take a year.

"The doctor suggested I start playing competitively in mid-July... Nobody would want to miss the Beijing Olympics and I won't let you down."

The 27-year-old will rejoin the China squad for training on Friday but he was not certain he would be ready to play in the Stankovic Cup warm-up tournament in Hangzhou from July 17-20.

"It's 50-50 whether I'll play, I'm not sure," he said.

"I feel I am recovering well, though it's still difficult when I'm playing one-on-one."

As his country's best-known sportsman and best-paid entertainer, Yao is under huge pressure to excel at the Games despite being the member of a Chinese team with modest medal hopes.

MAGNIFICENT OPPORTUNITY

"I have done everything I can for the Olympic Games, it is the most magnificent opportunity in my life," he said.

"But opportunities always bring pressure. I have two challenges, pressure and glory. You can't have one without the other."

Yao, however, remains realistic about 11th-ranked China's prospects of winning a medal in Beijing.

Even getting out of their six-team first round pool will be difficult given they have to play the heavily favored United States and world number three Spain.

"The U.S. and Spain are much stronger than us," he said. "We probably won't beat them so we've got to at least beat Angola and one of the other European teams to get to the last eight."

Yao said he would expect no preferential treatment in the China team and again offered support to Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas, who was savaged by the Chinese media after a poor run of results last year.

"Jonas Kazlauskas is a highly successful coach... I will completely obey his authority," he said.

Yao's profile and enthusiasm for the Olympics -- he carried the Chinese flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympics -- make him a strong favorite to perform the prestigious role of lighting the cauldron when the Beijing Games open on August 8.

"I haven't got any idea about that but I haven't been a torchbearer so far," he said.

(Additional reporting by Liu Zhen)

(Editing by John O'Brien)

(For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)

 

"with the foot about 80 percent healed. The remaining 20 percent usually takes a full year"

Who else is scared of this comment? Yao's going to be playing on a foot that's not completely healed!

 

yeah, what the hell was that? screw this, don't let him play at all if he's not completely recovered. man, this is such crap.

 

Yeah lets wait the year for it to heal 100%. Nevermind the fact that the doctor said he could play in mid July and the Olympics are in august.

 

Yeah, that 80% part jumped out at me too.

But, hopefully it's 100% from a structural standpoint and the 20% is just about discomfort and whatnot.

 

Man, that's just not good. The Rockets have got to be careful limiting Yao's minutes in the first half of the season to protect that foot.

 

I'm sure he is not at risk or they would not let him play but I agree it is not a comforting thing to read.

 

i hope yao does well. but this shows the chinese team's success is more important than the rockets' success. his heart will never be fully on this team. game 7 isn't the most pressure he's felt?

he has no pressure to win in china. nobody is picking china to win at all or even medal.

 

doctors can only PREDICT when it's fully healed. remember when they said tracy can play again on that knee. remember when they said tracy can play again on that back 2 years ago??? what happened, both got re-injured.

landry waited a long time for the knee injury last yr to fully heal and took another month to look like 70-80% of his old self.

yao is a big guy. he needs to be careful b/c he's already 27-28. if he's not 100%, don't play. he's gonna play A LOT of minutes for china b/c he's their best player. so he's gonna put more pressure on himself to perform well.

again, if yao plays in the olympics at less than 100%, looks like another injury is gonna happen next yr when he returns with the rockets.

 

That doesn't bode well for China in the Olympics. If their team is going to lose I hope it is quick so we don't have to worry about them overusing Yao.

As for Yao's heart not being with the Rockets ... I guess Kobe Bryant heart isn't with the Lakers since he is postponing his surgery to play in the Olympics and risking aggravating his injury more. The Olympics and the NBA championship are two dreams. It's like having two children ... why is it required to love only one?

 

Because it's a stress fracture in his foot and if he rushes it too quickly, it could be really, really bad for his long term career.

I just hope he's really okay to play...because though it has to be his biggest honor to represent China in these games, they really have no chance of winning a medal