Wang Meng: Keith Jones on Yao Ming's Body Conditions

pryuen · Oct 3, 2007

Found this on Titan Sports on tom.com.

Thought this will be of interest to alot of us on the latest update of Yao Ming's body conditions.

ENJOY !!

http://nba.sports.tom.com/2007-10-03/0424/03277482.html

Reporter Wang Meng reports from Houston.

Media Day is also the date for medical check and examination (of all players). So early this morning, on the 16th floor of the Memorial Hermann Hospital, Keith Jones is the busiest person on the floor. He is the team physician of the Houston Rockets, and is the one fully responsible for the health of all players. So all players, other than Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, must report to him first, and then carry on the routine medical check/examination under his direction.

Getting around Deke Mutombo who was drinking his yogurt at the bar by the corridor, Keith Jones instructed Luther Head (filled with a banana in his mouth) to another monitoring chamber; Keith Jones said he was so busy that he felt completely muddled. But this is not yet through; because of Yao Ming’s coming in late, he will have to be tossed around like this one more time; Keith Jones counted his fingers and talked about his following schedule: “Tonight, we will go to Austin; but by Wednesday evening, I need to fly back to Houston. And by 7 o’clock Thursday morning, I’ll need to be here again, waiting for Mr. Yao. And there are so many places on his body that need to be checked. I have no idea how long it will take; and regardless of how long it will take, right after his inspection, we would have to leave hurriedly to be back to Austin immediately. The head coach is waiting there and relying on me to take back Yao Ming to the team.”

It is obvious that the inspection of Yao Ming will be dissimilar to the other players; it will need much longer time, and much more care and scrutiny. It is because every other players were staying in the US in the summer, and it was easy for Keith Jones to be able to keep abreast of their body conditions; even for Luis Scola, he had had a very detailed medical check previously. But this is not the case for Yao Ming; he spent his whole summer in China: his wedding, his honeymoon and his competitions (with the national team). Keith Jones said: “Before we send him into action on the court, we must fully understand his body condition, and we must know for sure how long it will take for him to return to his competitive form and shape. This will be of paramount importance to the entire season of the Houston Rockets.”

So after sending off all the players, Keith Jones received the following interview, and he concluded in saying: “I believe Yao Ming’s condition will not be very good for the first few days.”

TITAN: As the team physician for the Houston Rockets, are you not a bit worried about what these hectic summer activities had consumed or done to Yao Ming’s body?

Keith Jones: I am not too worried about it, because I think the present Yao Ming is very intelligent; after the 2 injuries he had experienced in the past 2 seasons, he had learned to be very careful, and paid utter most attention to his own body; once he feels uncomfortable (in any part of his body), he will inform me immediately. I believe as he gets older, he already understands how to take good care of his own body. Yao Ming had reiterated to us time and again that he loves his country, and he wants to play together with his national team, but at the same time, he will also be responsible to the Houston Rockets. In my opinion, he had already found the equilibrium point between the two.

TITAN: Do you often keep contact with each other?

Keith Jones: That’s correct. We frequently correspond in e-mails. I closely monitored and paid attention to every of his competition: his performance and play minutes; I knew he just scored 32 points in one of his latest games. And I know in the Chinese national team, in nearly every offense, the ball would be in the hands of Yao Ming; we’re afraid that what Coach Adelman will see in a few days time is a fully exhausted Yao Ming. We are fully comprehending and clear on this point. So sometimes earlier in September, we sent our team therapist (Payne??) to China, and he spent about 10 days together with Yao Ming and had thoroughly inspected the body condition of Yao Ming.

TITAN: So what did he specifically inspect?

Kieth Jones: Well, on all the parts that had had problems before, and on the parts that possibly would have problems; the shoulder, the knee, the ankle area, and yes, the waist that he sprained last year; Payne had also inspected his waist; the inspection results were satisfactory; all parts are functioning normally.

TITAN: What about his shoulder? Yao Ming once said he is prepared to undergo a surgery to repair his shoulder in the summer of 2009. Actually, how serious is the injury on his shoulder?

Keith Jones: It looks like the muscles on his shoulder is getting stronger and stronger every day; we certainly hope we can avoid that surgery, as no one is definitely sure about the aftermath effect of such surgery. Barring any future injury and accident to his shoulder, I think we may avoid the surgery. Our inspection results indicated that the situation of his shoulder had not been aggravated to such a state that warrants a surgery. What we are absolutely certain is that once after such a surgery, it will be very difficult to return to 100%; therefore until it becomes absolutely necessary for such a surgery to repair his shoulder, we will continue to use any possible methods available to continue strengthening the muscles on his shoulder.

TITAN: As far as Yao Ming is concerned, to prepare for the new season, what he most needs to do now?

Keith Jones: Rest.

TITAN: But has he got the time to rest?

Keith Jones: I’m afraid there is not much time left for him to rest. Actually I thought, compared with several of the past summers, relatively speaking, he already had a lot of rest in this year’s summer. Although in the past few days, he had been playing several games in different cities in China, after all, he was with the national team, and should have received good care and attendance.

TITAN: So right after he returns to US, he must immediately rush to Austin and to do catch up to other team mates?

Keith Jones: You’re correct. Therefore we have prepared an elongated luxury limousine, very spacious and comfortable; and maybe we will have a massage/therapist inside ready for him.

TITAN: Can he catch up with the training camp by Thursday?

Keith Jones: Well, not that 100% sure. His medical check/examination will start 7 O’clock in the morning; we estimated it will take at least 3 to 4 hours. Then we will have to drive to Austin. So the most likely scenario, I think, will be Yao Ming could join the team mates in the shoot around practice in the evening. And the official training can then start on Friday.

TITAN: How long do you think will Yao Ming need to have his body return to normal and start to prepare for the new season?

Keith Jones: Should be very quick; but right after those hectic activities in China, and the long haul flight and also the jet lag/time zone difference, I believe Yao Ming’s condition will not be very good for the first few days.”
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wnes · Oct 3, 2007

When did Keith Jones the athletic trainer become a physician?

C'mon pryuen, that ought to be a pretty easy goof (by Wang Meng) to spot.

HarmLess168 · Oct 3, 2007

Keith Jones instructed Luther Head (filled with a banana in his mouth) to another monitoring chamber
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I dunno about you guys... but this really cracked me up... LMAO!!!!!

azoghbi · Oct 3, 2007

hahahhaaha i only really noticed the luther banana thing until you pointed it out, but yeah i definitely got a good laugh out of that...

pryuen · Oct 3, 2007

wnes said:

When did Keith Jones the athletic trainer become a physician?

C'mon pryuen, that ought to be a pretty easy goof (by Wang Meng) to spot.
Click to expand...

Well I know Keith Jones' official title is Vice President of Basketball Operations/Athletic Trainer for the Houston Rockets, and there is a subtle difference between a team physican and an athletic trainer.

But after all, as the athletic trainer, he is of even more responsibility than the team physican, about the overall health state of all players, isn't he?

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20050519102431-47409.pdf

I am the Vice President of Basketball Operations/Athletic Trainer for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association, and have served as head athletic trainer for the Rockets since 1996. Prior to that, I spent six seasons as head trainer for the Los Angeles Clippers, one season as assistant trainer for the Orlando Magic, and several seasons working as a trainer with football teams in the NFL, USFL, and NCAA. I also worked as the team trainer for the gold medal-winning United States Senior Mens National Basketball Team during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and in the same capacity for the 1998 World Championship of Basketball in Greece and the 1999 Tournament of the Americas in Puerto Rico.

I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the Committee.

In my role as head athletic trainer for the Rockets, and in conjunction with our team physicians, strength and conditioning coaches, and other staff, I am in charge of our team’s efforts to prevent, evaluate, manage, and rehabilitate injured or ill players. I interact with Rockets players on a daily basis, am present in the locker and training rooms throughout the season, travel with the team, and attend all practices and games. It is my job to be intimately familiar with the health status of every member of our team and to help them perform on the playing court at the peak of their physical and mental abilities.

I have worked as a trainer in the NBA for 17 years, and have learned a great deal in that period about the physical abilities of professional basketball players and the physical and mental obstacles they face over the course of their careers. I also worked as a trainer of various professional and college football teams prior to joining the NBA, and am therefore in a position to compare and contrast the physical attributes that allow players to succeed in basketball and, separately, in football.
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Painting_Shade · Oct 3, 2007

that stupid shoulder thing is really disheartening

Rover16 · Oct 3, 2007

Yao needs a bionic shoulder.

wnes · Oct 3, 2007

pryuen said:

Well I know Keith Jones' official title is Vice President of Basketball Operations/Athletic Trainer for the Houston Rockets, and there is a subtle difference between a team physican and an athletic trainer.

But after all, as the athletic trainer, he is of even more responsibility than the team physican, about the overall health state of all players, isn't he?
Click to expand...

Nobody is diminishing or downplaying the vital role of Keith Jones in keeping Rocket players healthy. The difference between the titles of a physician and a trainer, however, is NOT subtle. Either he is a doctor or he is not. There is no gray area in between. Working closely with the team physician does not make one a physician.

If it comes down to whom to believe, I'd be more willing to give Jones the benefit of the doubt. Wang Meng, after all, is known to "improvise" from time to time in his Rockets-related reporting.

Tha TC · Oct 3, 2007

wnes said:

Nobody is diminishing or downplaying the vital role of Keith Jones in keeping Rocket players healthy. The difference between the titles of a physician and a trainer, however, is NOT subtle. Either he is a doctor or he is not. There is no gray area in between. Working closely with the team physician does not make one a physician.

If it comes down to whom to believe, I'd be more willing to give Jones the benefit of the doubt. Wang Meng, after all, is known to "improvise" from time to time in his Rockets-related reporting.
Click to expand...

To become an athletic trainer you have to go thru at least 6 years of schooling, you have to become very familiar with body parts, organs, and pressure points etc. especially on the scale of being in the nba and NCAA has stricter guidelines for being an AT than most professional leagues. The only thing holding keith back from being an actual physician is probably less than a year and a half of school. I know this for a fact because i was thinking about returning to school to become a Physical Therapist/AT but the tiem fram i would have had to be in school did not coincide with the plans i had for my family and I.

tigermission1 · Oct 3, 2007

So I should expect Yao to miss at least 20+ games this season again, right? You KNOW with all the pounding he takes something will go wrong not too long into the season.

Yao has been pretty injury prone the last few seasons. Are we EVER going to see him play at 100% going into the playoffs?

I hope I am wrong, but I know better...

WildSweet&Cool · Oct 3, 2007

Thank you for the translation, pryuen!

Once again - Houston Rockets get scooped by the Chinese journalists, while the Chronicle writes articles about nothing.

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Wang Meng: Keith Jones on Yao Ming's Body Conditions

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