http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/2007-02/25/content_813177.htm Chinese "little giant" Yao Ming of the NBA's Houston Rockets has said he will come back from injury in at most 10 days. Yao said he is at 90 percent in terms of physical fitness, the same level as eight weeks ago prior to the injury. However, his reappearance on the court must be endorsed by his surgeon, he said. Yao said every player feels bad on the sidelines at games when teammates spare no effort for wins. However, he can understand why the doctor is prudent about his comeback. It's a doctor's responsibility to keep players from worse injuries, he added. Yao said he has been able to practice shooting during training sessions with physical exercises. In addition, he is studying new tactics the team has played during his absence.
Cool...Let's hope he doesn't rush it back, but it sounds like he's not...I know he's anxious, as we all are...
By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle If the Rockets seem to be looking forward to Yao Ming's return at the cost of some attention to games at hand, coach Jeff Van Gundy said Yao's practices and shootarounds have not made his return seem close enough to distract. "What we've seen in the brief things he's able to do with us, you get the sense he's a lot further away from playing NBA basketball than maybe the timetables would suggest," Van Gundy said at Sunday's game at Orlando. "He does not look comfortable at all with the brace. He does not look agile. Last year, he looked on the cusp of (returning). To me, he looks like we have problems to solve there to get him back. "He has to wear this cumbersome brace. He feels that's a huge issue to his mobility, to his jumping, to his natural running gait. He's worrying about hurting something else because of the change to his natural running gait. There are a lot of issues I think right now. He doesn't look like he did last year when he came back." The Rockets have set mid- to late March for Yao's return. He has been trying different fits with the brace because of the muscles of his leg changing as he overcomes the atrophy during his time out. "Remember two years ago when I wore the arm brace?" Yao said. "I had a lot of trouble with that and that was on my arm." I believe it when I see it
You know this is very reminiscent of Amare's first return. I say this because if all of you remember correctly, Amare was very hesitant at first about putting to much weight or strain on his surgically repaired knee. So what did he do? He compensated by relying much more on his healthy knee. This in turn caused him to injure his once healthy knee becuase of the akwardness in which he was forcing his body to play. Consider me worried, and I am always very optimistic when it comes to our Rockets.
Don't get your hopes up about Yao's early return. We're not going to see the Yao from November/December for at least a month. Probably longer.
With the Rockets playing at such a high level, I want them to be VERY conservative in bring Yao back. The last thing we want is Yao to reinjure his knee, or another injury because of a change in his gait.
Not too worried about Yao's comeback. That is just the usual jeff van gloomy talk, so Yao should come back just as dominant as he was before.
Yep, Amare had major knee surgery that will continue to haunt him through his short career. He's fortunate to have made it this far and is one of few athletes to actually play well after that level of surgery. But in my opinion his career won't last long. Yao's body is much different and should hold up for many more years.
I agree, there is no real rush to get him back on the court at this time. As long as Dikembe stays healthy, we should be fine. That and we have that Tskaldis guy or whatever his name is that can play center. But when he does come back, I could definitely see the Rockets making a run for the #1 or 2 playoff spot in the west
true but the sooner he gets on the court the sooner he returns to form even if it's more than a month. i'm a bit worried about that brace. i hope that's just typical jvg talking.
just come back when he's healthy. rusty is fine. i want yao to be in form when the first game of the first round rolls around. we'll need yao to even beat the jazz. tmac ain't gonna get 44 EVERY game against the jazz.
I don't really think it's a good idea to rush him. When he plays next month, it should only be for 5 minutes max, for conditioning purposes. He'll be Deke's backup. We should be trained for the playoffs.
How long does Yao have to wear the brace for? A brace will limit mobility, and Yao needs all the mobility he can get. On another note, Yao is going to be rusty and underconditioned, so Yao probably won't look as bad as he does once he shakes off the rust. He was just cleared by the doctors to begin light contact and more intensive use of his leg, JVG needs to chill out.
