Considering his busy schedule for so many months now in a row with no significant break when do you think he will hit the proverbial "rookie wall"? If you don't think he will hit any kind of "wall" please tell us why. How is he going to respond to it? The Rockets organization would have loved to see Yao rest during the All Star break but that is not going to happen - Yao will certainly be there with the big boys of the rookie all stars. I am worried that all this might be too much for him but I want to believe that he should benefit from our depth. Rudy should manage him (and also Francis) properlly so that they can as fresh as possible when we get to the playoff (I believe we are a playoff team). In my fantacy would I would have loved to see Yao putting up all star numbers (by giving him heavy minutes) night-in night-out but it will be more wise to manage him so that he does not burn out easily and also steadily build his stamina.
I think if RT continues to monitor his minutes that he will be fine. He's got strong, young legs and I believe that his lower body's build will help him tremendously. There will be times where he has to play an inordinate amount of minutes on certain nights (overtime, double overtime, if we suffer injuries in the frontcourt during a 4 game 5 day road trip, etc). Overall, I think he will be fine.
