If this is really about the medical science behind his bone stress and the 24 minute limit is a great idea to have for the first half of the season. There needs to be structure and a set understanding going into training camp with rotations. I believe the organization learned that from the McGrady saga two years ago that it will be really difficult to have a good rotation that is inconsistent. I believe this is more of a public relations move to set the expectations low going into the season and bringing him along slowly to where he is back in rotation come playoffs. I have played organized basketball all my life and if I am Adelman or the coach of the Rockets I play Yao in the 2nd and the 4th quarter. It might seem degrating that your best player doesnt even start but it does not make sense for him to not be able to be on the floor at the most crucial moments of the game. As much as I hate to say it... I think we need Dampier. We could start Brad Miller and he will do the job on offense but we absolutely will need more post presence defensively and I know Miller will be solid defensively against most teams but you need someone who can bang with the Bynums, Howards and yes even Shaq. We just need the other guys to get us to the playoffs hopefully with homecourt, but I would be satisfied with the 6th or 7th seed. Then come playoffs, throw Yao in the mix in midseason form... and we are looking good.
I guess that's a smart move. I think the Rockets should just focus on making the playoffs instead of getting a high seed. I would rather have everyone on the roster 100% healthy and not have HCA than have HCA and have Yao injured.
You are over generalizing it and it has nothing to do with competitiveness. Yao was 100% healthy 2 seasons ago, doing all the things he could do throughout his career. But by your definition, he wasnt healthy because he couldn't sustain it. He wasn't hindered, he wasnt limited and he played something like 77 games. The bones just werent meant to carry that much weight and run up and down the court, so the stress of all the force/action caused a fracture. Thats not really on Yao, its on the Rockets for not knowing his limitations. I know you are associated with trucks so I will give you a better analogy. You can have a really good motor that makes a ton of power and a ton of torque. But if you run it at 7k rpm all day, its gonna throw a rod or bend a pushrod. Some smaller engines can handle that, larger ones just cant. Now you can rebuild it exactly the same way and try again, but 9 times out of ten you will get the same result. Or, you could learn that it cant handle that much rpm and run at 5500. Will it make as much power? No it won't, but that doesnt mean that when you need to get up that hill or win that race you can't occassionaly spin up to 7k. Now we all know what motors can handle because its easily measurable. We don't know what a foot can handle, especially in this rare size circumstance. But at this point, since theres no "replacement motor in this case", theres no reason to dismiss the possibility that Yao's bones can handle the weight and force of an NBA basketball game, with limited action. Will he ever be able to consistently throw down 35+ minutes a night? No. Could he maybe do it for a playoff run? Sure why not?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7215686.html "I think it is really unrealistic for people to pencil in 24 minutes," Adelman said. "It is unfair to him. "That's the best-case scenario. It might not be realistic. We have to see where he is. We'll be waiting and watching. We know that's the limit. We have talked about it, Yao and I. He is willing to try different things to see what is best for the team." Adelman said it likely will take much more than the two weeks before heading to China to determine when Yao, 30, will work his way up to 24 minutes or to decide which 24 minutes Yao should play.
the era of yao is over. it's unfortunate, but that's the way it is. yao playing so spotty might hurt us more than help us. we have to change how we play when he's in the game.
