BTW - I do think the Rockets can win it all this year, but only if Yao gets to play more and more as the year goes on. I think the organzation is setting low expecations and will exceed them as his prognosis improves. DD
no, no...you said: Originally Posted by apollo33 sigh...so next next season we are going to contend... Quote: Originally Posted by DaDakota I have been saying that for more than 2 years.......it is always about 2011-12, and not anything else.
I was referring to the playoffs. There will be a hard cap in the regular season. In the playoffs, there will be more flexibility, but don't expect Yao to be playing 30+ mpg.
Sorry, don't mean to derail but recap of Morey: Spoiler H: Daryl Morey joining us. Hows it going? DM: Morning, thanks for having me on. H: Lets talk Yao and 24. Give us the info. DM: Obviously Yao is critical to our season and especially in the playoffs. Taking it cautious and following doctors advice. And they feel that is best. We'll follow it and still crank out wins. H: From your words, so many jumping to conclusions, you expected to do this didnt you? DM: We expected some level. We didnt know what doctors would recommend. We didnt know details of that and what to do on back to backs. Looks like we're gonna have him only play one of the 2 back to backs for the start of the year. We knew there would be some limitations, just didnt know what. H: Can this be tweaked or real hard number? DM: This is a hard number right now. We're taking guidance from the doctors. This is what they have given us and until further notice, they'll keep looking at Yao Ming during the year and may give us different guidance but this is what we've been told. It's a hard number like a pitch count. When we hit it, he'll come out of the game. H: What about starting vs coming off the bench? How do you think he'll handle this coaching wise and how the minutes might break down? DM: I think Coach Adelman and coaching staff are still going through it. Him being our best, coaching staff would like him out there as much as possible, so would I, so they gotta work through it of where the best 24 minutes are. A hard cap is hard to work out if things are going well. All things will factor in and it's still to be determined. H: Other things to talk about but one more thing, have doctors told you about him warming up, then playing some in first half, then sitting at half, and then having to warm up again. Could he be a 2nd half player? DM: Yeah, I think that could be. Like everyone else...nobody knows what is the best to do. Comes down to who has the best educated crack at trying to keep him healthy and obviously the orthopedic doctors are the best and we're following that. Practice time vs game time, how much he warms up, how much he sits, all factors in into how we're looking at it. The reality is no one knows. We got some good sign that one player has came back from this in Ilgauskas and played a long career. They were cautious with him early and we're gonna be cautious here. H: Daryl, you do have a lot of bigs(Hill, Miller, Hayes, Scola) DM: Patrick Patterson H: Yeah Patrick, does this 24min cap situation make you wanna go get more insurance. Have you thought about that? DM: Funny how some of the public news came down because we've been all summer trying to add guys we think that can help the team. And just so happens so bigs have come available and we're taking a look at them. But has nothing to do with this news. Just so happened that it came down the same time we got guidance from the doctors. Yeah, if we can add something that makes sense we will. Mr. Alexander has allowed me to spend more money on the team this season. I do think it's unlikely we'll add anything at this point but we're keep looking. H: I think you need more guys on the roster. DM: (laughing) Yeah 30 players H: Last time we talked, I asked about amount of buzz, how much discussion about personal. You said not a lot. Is that picking up? Are you having more discussions? DM: Yeah it picks up late. Players who constantly work for the contract they want. About a week or two out from the season, there are a few players who dont get what they want and they become available at numbers that we might look at. Players also get released. So yeah, it starts right around this time. Maybe a little more buzz at this time around the league. H: How is Chase doing? DM: Looks really good. Being cautious with it. Looked ugly when it happened. Visually it looked like it cleared up fast. Keith Jones and doctors tell me its an illusion. Bruising went away but doesnt take away that he'll need time. Probably sometime into training camp and the preseason before he comes back. H: Had the Red Rising campaign at House of Blues. Tell us about that. DM: Yeah, we're expecting special things. Our marketing department does a good job every year. The idea is that Yao is back, added depth across roster, think it's gonna be a special year, shore up the defense, uptempo basketball, and gonna have Yao back late in the clock on offense. H: Even though you had 24 cap news from the doctors, do you feel comfortable in roster you put together? Got Miller at the 5. DM: We feel very good. We feel like we're a team fighting for the playoffs and fighting for homecourt. Give the fans an exciting effort every night. I think I've heard our marketing department was working overtime on bringing in Flavor Flav to be the clock. H: Imagine the marketing possibilities. DM: Exactly. H: Thanks for joining us. We'll catch up soon. http://kilt.cbslocal.com/2010/09/17/daryl-morey-with-marc-and-john-91710/
Yes, that is exactly true, I think they will REALLY go for it next year once they find out about Yao. Doesn't mean I think they will give up this year, I think they can contend this year if everything goes well...... But, I think the all in talk is silly, that is reserved for next year. Does that make more sense? DD
From the interview: "It's a hard number right now... until further notice they'll (doctors) keep looking at Yao Ming, during the year, and may give different guidance."
This feels entirely different from the round-and-round posts you made in response to mine questioning this team's capacity to compete this season. Completely different. I don't blame you for that...because no matter how we want to spin it here, this is bad news. It's just what I expected relative to what I was hearing about limited minutes when they were talking about him going through the surgery...before the surgery ever took place. It doesn't make sense relative to contract status, DaDa. There is no "all in" on Yao Ming if the sample size is 24 minutes per game for 63 games. I wouldn't be a buyer in that market. Of course, I would have been a seller a long time ago.
This has disaster written all over it, and absolutely explains why Morey so desperately wants another superstar.
I hear ya Max, but I don't think this is anything more than lowering expectations......and I have always said that my thoughts are based upon a healthy Yao. I expect him to be limited early and by Feb/March they will loosen the reigns to get ready for the playoffs. I do want them to try to push Yao though, to see if he will hold up, because before you give him a new contract you need to know if he is going to be able to play a lot or not. So, to summarize, they are not FAVORITES but I do think they are contenders this year......however, the big push will be next year, once they find out whether Yao is here or not. DD
My goodness, some folks need a crash course in listening comprehension. It goes without saying that Yao will be eased back in, and the rules in November aren't going to be quite the same as the rules in April. The hard 24-minute cap is defined until the playoffs, yes but the back-to-back issue is CLEARLY a to start the season thing. The 63-game count is incredibly premature.
Then Yao's gonna get pissed and request more minutes,and then their just goin to suspend him and trade him jus lik t-mac...I really hope I'm jus boul ****tin with what I jus said but it's so similar to macs situation...either that or they just want to be real cautious n not trade him..which really explains the rumors of attempting to sign other centers
A lot of us in our minds have be saying, "i'm just sick of the BS year after year!" Either you play or you don't freakin play.
We all know better. He is a walking contradiction. Thank God he is so against ganga smoking bc his memory sucks arse.
the tmac situation is different. tmac actually wanted to do that b/c he felt he couldn't do it. the doctors NEVER put a hard cap on it. this is a little more serious b/c the doctors are putting a hard cap on yao. it's telling me that this injury will take a while (if not longer or if ever) for his foot to completely heal. but that's expected. ilgauskas played in 62 games the year after his surgery averaging 22 minutes a game. and he played 30 minutes the year after that. HOWEVER, Z is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT type of player than yao. he's a more perimeter-oriented player for a big guy. so again, we have to start looking towards the future and morey is doing that. so we're in pretty good shape. morey is basically saying: we're moving forward, yao can come along for the ride.
This is very frustrating news. I have no problem with easing him in on a game-by-game basis, but that's exactly how it needs to be: GAME-BY-GAME. Not any of this Tracy McGrady "I don't feel like playing tonight" stuff that messes with chemistry and cohesion. Sure, the difference is Yao has trainers in his ear telling him he's allowed to do this and not that while McGrady was essentially calling his own shots -- all the same, it doesn't make the end result on the rest of the team any different. With each passing day I move closer and closer to believing the big fella just needs to come off the bench. Primarily with the second unit, where the uncertainty regarding his status for each game will least impact our main unit. Starters start for a reason. Part of that reason in my book is a sense of reliability that's needed to handle the daily NBA grind.
They're trying to sell season tickets RIGHT NOW. Pro sports teams aren't in the business of lowering expectations...particularly not at this point in the calendar. That doesn't make a bit of sense to me, DaDa. I don't see them as contenders...I think it's all fool's gold. I hope I'm wrong and you're right.
one season and he rehabbed less than yao, months less i believe...this is more the rockets holding yao back than yao feeling he has to hold back.
Well, what do you expect? It's GARM. :grin: I don't think people here know the concept of "wait and see".
I wonder why we are just hearing all these restrictions (24 min. maximum PT; no back to backs) now. I hope that it doesn't mean they found out something new about Yao's injury, but I wouldn't be surprised.
