great great article and just says volume about Yao as a person... I hope he semi-retires as well from the CNT after the olympics
It's depressing to read. Kinda sad. CNT doesn't care about it's athletes - just a bit of national glory.
It sounds like they need to make alternative training plans for their players.....ie work them smarter and less hard....... DD
yah, I love that about Yao.. but the article got it right - somebody has got to stand up to them. At this rate he's not going to last much longer.
u can't blame yao. his love for his country should be applauded. u don't ever talk bad about a guy's love for his nation. but he has to choose one. it's obvious the rockets are more of a partnership and he'll always choose china. it's obvious this past injury is due to too much work. people can blame it on adelman but if u complain about playing 37 mins a game, you're crazy. the problem is he works YEAR-ROUND basically. if this goes on, i expect the injuries to keep occurring and his career will be short. and houston might do something about it after next yr.
Yeh it's pathetic. Didn't Stern comment about how the CNT is actually one of the most athletic teams outside of the states, but that they get over trained and exhausted? Yao better retire from national duties after the olympics otherwise it's game over. God I hate Chinese thinking sometimes. (I'm Chinese-Filo). National pride over the health (and best interests) of its sons and daughters. What a joke. Besides, Yao would do more for Chinese national pride by lifting a championship than by coming 7th or whatever in the Olympics. Stupid Cronies at the top.
Ridiculous. I'm sure Yao leading the Rockets to a Championship is the only reason they let him come here. China wanted to prove to the world that it produces elite basketball players. Do they not understand they are sabotaging Yao's shot at an NBA Championship? They are sabotaging themselves.
China allowed him to come here simply to raise his (read: their) profile, and get him better training/preparation/experience for the National Team. If Yao were to drop his National commitments, his permission to play in the NBA would probably evaporate quick. It's a no-win scenario, unfortunately. Real sucks, since he's such a great man. Evan
That's not good news for Rox fans. No one not even kobe, jordan, or lebron can play yr round. If he plays after the olympics, the rox need to seriously evaluate the ming-rox relationship. He's going to be a injury waiting to happen.
are we going to go through this every year? I say we play Yao off the bench. Come in for 20-25 a game for matchups problems. He will be fresh and his career will be prolonged. I just don't see how a 7'6" guy is gonna last 10 years running up and down the court being pounded and getting hit with so many non-calls.
A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James Blame everything on China, like every politician do. That's real mature. Why don't you blame NBA for taking tolls on Yao's body? Yeah, sure, NBA pays money, but his country, his culture gives him the body, and made who he is now. It's your right to say whatever to Chinese government, but I don't understand why you assume that China will force Yao to play even if his injury does not allow him to. Where is your proof? Even if Yao choose to play through injury, that's his free will. Can't stand the patriotism for China? Tough luck! Remember Garbajosa? Why didn't you say so to the Spain government? Everything in this article screams: PREJUDICE
I am from China and understand what you guys thinking but you are reading too much into this article. Granted CNT kept Yao during the past summers but it doesn't mean they would INSIST a 80% Yao playing in the Olympics unless Yao STRONGLY insist himself. CNT can not afford to be the guy who risks Yao's entire career. Whether Yao would play will ultimately depend on how much honor/responsibility he puts on himself and how he recovers, simple as that. I am pretty sure if he is able to say no if he feels he should. CNT may drill Yao too much, but it is not a dictator.
This should put to rest any doubts that Yao will play in the Olympics. He WILL play, hurt or not, future be damned. I, too, feel it's in Yao's best interests to semi-retire from the CNT after Beijing. I'm not optimistic that's going to happen. If anyone is in a position to dictate terms, however, it's Yao. His sweeping popularity gives him a definite edge. No official is going to want to be seen as the guy that overruled Yao's doctors if he gets hurt. I've often thought that the perfect position for Yao after he retires from the NBA would be to sit as head of athletic training reform in China. They try to train these guys like soldiers, but athletes have unique bodies, and training them relentlessly isn't the best way to maximize their potential. I think this has been the most valuable knowledge that Yao has gained in America. Look at the tremendous progress in both strength and conditioning that Yao has made since joining the Rockets. If he was able to instil that same kind of training back home, it would make Chinese athletes much better prepared for the NBA, Olympics, and other world-class leagues/events. This isn't to say that it's all China's fault that Yao hurt his foot. His NBA schedule is equally grueling. But there has to be a better way for him to budget his time and training than how it is currently being done.
Whether Yao would play will ultimately depend on how he recovers and how much honor/responsibility he puts on himself, simple as that. Sorry, rephrase.
J-Wolf that is ridiculous. The situation would be the same if anyone thought Team USA would basically force a Lebron James or Kobe Bryant to play injured. What truly is frightening is the extent to which Yao could permanently injure himself if these various ailments aren't allowed to heal.
if players got paid more by their national federations than nba teams would the argument be opposite? there seems to be this assumption that the rockets organization should be more important than the CNT but this is not true for yao. i don't see why it should be either. in soccer tons of guys would much rather be healthy for the world cup than for their club teams. if fiba can get itself organized its only a matter of time until this becomes true for basketball as well.
What a biased article to read. Maybe only the part quoted above is worth reading. It is a fact that the NBA tried hard to convince the Chinese side that it is good for both the players (yao, Yi, .....) and Team China if the players play in the NBA. To make it more convincible, the NBA has sent the Dallas Assistant Couch in Del Harris to couch Team China for the last Olympic Games as Head Couch, and sent former Dallas GM Donnie Nelson as chief advisor to Team China as well. The current Head Couch for Team China is Jonas Kazlauzkas, former Head Couch of Lithuania national basketball team. For the last decade or so, the Head Couches of Team China are from NBA or Lithuania, not Chinese. If you guys want to blame the hard training in Team China, please blame NBA directly, not just a CNT. Please. Please put the fact straight.
