Just read in the chronicle that Yao is coming back at early march. This team has really held down forth pretty well and now with Yao and Tracy hopefully we can make a strong run in the postseason. Man I want a second or third round date with Dallas, so we can get our revenge for what they did to us on 2005.
Aren't we supposed to post links with any new info? I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here, but this is the article: Yao expects to be back on the court in early March By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Rockets center Yao Ming said Monday he expects to return to Rockets practices within two weeks, a few days ahead of the March 1 date the Rockets had planned, with a return to games in "early March." "You know me," he said. "I'm always faster than (expected)." Tests on Yao's fractured right leg show him to be progressing on schedule. He has been running on a treadmill, in which Rockets trainers can limit the weight he puts on the leg, and walking through moves and jump shots. "They are letting me do some jump shots, some practice but not real moves," Yao said. "I can walk on it, and do a lot more now. I have to (wear the brace) to give me some time to adjust to the brace because I will play the rest of the season with it. "I've been running on the new treadmill. They control the weight. Now it's still March. I can get back to practice in 10 days to two weeks. "It's hard to say (when he will play). Hopefully, the beginning of March." Too few minutes After a few questions about Kirk Snyder's strong play Saturday and Bonzi Wells' expected return to the active roster tonight, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy explained again why he does not plan to squeeze Snyder and Wells into his rotation. "Too few minutes," Van Gundy said. "It has nothing to do with them. It has to do with I'm not going to play (Tracy) McGrady less, (Shane) Battier less and Luther (Head) less to fit both in. "We're all overreacting to one game by Kirk. He did most of his damage in the fourth quarter when that game was decided. I don't want to discount his energy. His energy was great. But we have no controversy here. This is not one game where I'm sitting back saying, 'Wow, now I've got a problem.' "What would you give to both, 15 minutes? That's 30 minutes. So that's 66 minutes for Luther, Battier and McGrady. You want to give them 22 minutes each? I'm not sure I'm going there." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4548570.html
Question: How heavy is that brace cause yao ain't fastest guy around... I'm sure everyone else will dissect the minutes/Snyder/Bonzi comments...
ok so that makes me feel better to know that luther head is not in any plans to get traded this seasson .... i didnt think that he was anyways because he is a big part of our offense but i remember people still sayin that luther head could still be traded and stuff like that... at least it clears things up... on another note... IM HAPPY THAT YAO IS COMING SOON... more time to play with our star center before the playofffs!!!!!
it'd be nice if we could limit those 3 to 25-35 minutes a game.... they need to be well rested come playoff time.
That is what I dont like about JVG. He is simply too stubborn. He gonna play basically the same lineups night in and night out and doesnt care about the situation. With Bonzi back, i believe JVG will play the 8 men rotation (Deke, Juwan, Battier, T-mac & Alston as starters then Head, Bonzi and Hayes as bench) and Synder will be the odd man left out. I agreed with it but the problem with JVG is that when certain nights certain players are struggling mightily, he will still refuse to look at other players to bring in energy or spark to keep the team going. He will simply play the same players no matters what until the game is finally out of reach then he will clear his bench which i think is simply ridiculous to do! Assistant coach JVG is too predictable and refuse to make in-game adjustment that personally i think is his main problem to get over the hump and bring the rockets to the next level! By the way, looking forward to see yao plays again!
That is excellent news about Yao coming back ahead of schedule...it gives the team time to work him back in for the last 20 games or so. Also, having Kirk ready and Bonzi just makes us a deeper team. If the matchups call for it, JVG can switch from Bonzi to Kirk for defensive pressure as well as having a slasher. To me, Kirk plays better off of the big fellow because of the lanes that Yao opens up for Kirk's game.
Well, don't get too excited. It could STILL be early March, mid March or late March. And I totally agreed with Jonathan Feigen's position/analysis. Don't rush, Big Yao.....take your time and come back 100% healed, stronger and fitter. There is no need to rush......
Man, do you really think you are more knowledgable about basketball than a head coach at the pinnacle of professional basketball? I can't believe how most people don't recongnize this man's genius.
Some of you guys must be genetically predisposed to always include the word "stubborn" when mentioning JVG, as if he is unique in that regard compared to other NBA coaches. Like I said in another thread, go to the Lakers forums and read how their fans dissect Phil Jackson the same way. It is so silly it's laughable.
talk about an uncreative coach. there are a possible 4 positions and 192 minutes that he can use T-Mac, Battier, Luther, Bonzi and Kirk. T-Mac can play 3-4 positions offensively and defensively in stretches. Battier can also play SG, SF, and PF as well on both ends of the floor. even Bonzi can play SG/SF and maybe a some PF. Snyder played some PG in college and definitely has size to play SF. Luther is shaky at PG, but if he's playing alongside T-Mac, he really only needs to defend PGs. he's not playing T-Mac and his boy Battier too much. it's Juwan, Chuckie, JLIII, Rafer and even Luther that are playing too many minutes.
Originally Posted by jlwee Assistant coach JVG is too predictable and refuse to make in-game adjustment that personally i think is his main problem to get over the hump and bring the rockets to the next level! This is of course our biggest problem! In game adjustments is one significant ability of great coaching and JVG needs to learn how to do it, especially for the playoffs where overplaying ones starters in the early rounds can be deadly fora team shooting for the big time game. Both Bonzi,Snyder and Head have talent and can contibute to the Rockets success, if used wisely by the coach as part of our back up sqad.
Exactly, That is JVG's biggest weak point!!! He can not change his rotation while guys' situation is changing every night.
Those are the responses I dont really like from Van Gundy. As though everyone's in some kind of euphoric state of exuberance over what they see and are going way overboard spouting nonsense before they think. When people are simply stating that Snyder has played his way into consideration for time and probably should get some minutes. No one's said he looked like the next Kobe Bryant out there. Overreacting, please. I agree in him needing to be creative. Put Tmac at point guard if you have to. But, if he does have a rotation in mind he's trying to establish and wants to see if it works, he's the coach and has that freedom. Especially if he's been winning with what he's doing.
lets start general attack to end wars against our enemies after the supply of the deadly weapon comes------"Yao"!
You know, despite what JVG says... I'm rather confident that if Bonzi and Kirk get healthy they will find ample playing time-especially Bonzi. A healthy Bonzi who shows he's in game shape will probably get up to around 17-20 mins a night. A healthy Kirk improving slightly on the level of play we saw earlier in the year will find his way into the rotation for hopefully around 10 mins, or more/less depending on how he is needed and whether or not he is playing well. And finally, I also can't help but be extremely excited about our team this year. When yao went down I was worried we'd fight to stay a game or two above .500, but with T-Mac leading the way he's capable of leading and the team coming together without their crutch Yao Ming our team has far exceded realistic predictions everyone made on Dec. 24th. With a healthy Yao (and Bonzi ) I can't wait to see how our team does. How sweet would it be to get Dallas in the 2nd round and upset them in 7 games or less? With Yao, T-Mac and our roleplayers that scenario is very possible.
I don't know why it would be so hard to give them both playing time. If anything you get battier at the 4 when we go to a smaller lineup like we did earlier in the season, and you can get bonzi and kirk in at the same time. this cuts down on chucky's minutes, but i'm fine seeing a little less of him as much as i love his hustle. i think bonzi and kirk both bring a finishing power that chucky sorely lacks, and kirk and bonzi combined are great rebounders (kirk can sky up there and nab rebounds that would probably fly over chuck's limited reach). what i hope is really going on here, though, is a mind game, with jvg trying to keep snyder humble by telling him he hasn't shown anything with just one game, but get back to me when you string together a series of good games and show that you can compete and focus from game to game. of course, that necessarily means that he's going to have to give snyder at least occasional minutes. still, from what synder has shown on court, he is a VERY jvg type of player; aggressive, crashes the boards, doesn't settle for jumpshots (mostly bc he isn't that great at it), and a whole lot of energy.
