Isn't this before the "several weeks" quote? I hope Les is not rushing Yao back just so Rockets can make a little more money!
I just realized that article was old...damn. What's so deprerssing about this injury was the fact that Yao had overcame his stamina problem. Can he still retain that when he comes back?
6 weeks?...thats gonna hurt....couldnt this infection been prevented?...the rockets should of took better care of his toe after they removed his toe nail..i think this has to be on the rockets medical staff....
In a long run, there is no way that this team can be 500 without yao. Oh, it might happen if SS becomes a 16/8 player overnight.
thats all and fine except for one thing. The infected toe is the one that Yao removed the nail himself, and he commented later that it wasnt healing right. Should they have kept an eye on his condition? Probably....but if Yao tells him that he will be alright, and it doesnt hurt that much so he can continue playing...then what are they to do?
Wow, Yao getting out is a big thing. I was checking Google News and the Yao story is one of the top 3 stories right now in sports.
Keith Jones is the best in the business. Nothing gets by him. I guarantee you he has been watching Yao's toe and he made the decision that enough was enough and sent him home to have it fixed right when he saw that it wasn't healing right. By the way, for all you guys that think Yao is a wimp. Dude removed his own toenail. Wimp.............not. A little lame brained..........possible. But wimp???? Nope.
And when he comes back, his stamina will probably be where he can average about 2 minutes a game before dropping dead. Ah well, get well big oaf... it'll be interesting to see how this team responds.
Osteomyelitis typically requires 6 wks of antibiotics. Depends on what bacteria grows from the surgical specimen. This is just my experience as a resident. Looks like the All-Star break is more likely for his return. This is unbelievable considering the high hopes that we had.
Larry Smith became Mr Mean when he and the Rockets went on a tear when Hakeem went down for 20 or so games back in the day. Mutumbo and this team can do the same thing. A dislocated finger is not going to keep Mutumbo out when his coach and teammates need him most. I expect him to perform and to perform well in Yao Ming's absence. JVG is the perfect coach to have in such troubling times. He lives for the misery they say. It is when he is at his best. We witnessed it the other night in LA when his team won a game they had no business winning. More icebergs may be ahead but this ship is not going down as long as JVG is captain and Mcgrady is first mate. Forge ahead! Cpt. Gundy is at the helm.
Germans bombed Perl Harbor? Did I miss it? Come on now. Basketball season and 2nd world war, curb your enthusiasm .
Oh, boy, two extreme reaction to Yao's injury. Unwarrented optimists and tanking the season surrenders. It's going to be fun for the rest of the season.
From the Official Mandarin Website of Yao Ming (http://yaoming.sports.sohu.com/20051220/n227689175.shtml) - Roughly it goes like this: The surgery on Yao's big (left) toe went successfully. The doctor(s) estimate Yao needs to rest 6 weeks or so. They said the surgery should eradicate the problem and Yao will be 100% when he comes back. .... It says the news has been confirmed by Yao's agents. Yeah, it also said Yao's big left toe has been stepped on numerous times and as a result it got worse. The team doctors recommended that Yao have the surgery. Let's hope for the best. Get well, Yao!
lol..... i was thinking the same thing ... Germans bombed pearl harbor? hmm someome needs to watch the super lame asss movie.. . Pearl Harbor...
[Chron] Yao will sit out 'several weeks' http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/rox/3536414.html Yao will sit out 'several weeks' Center's big toe requires surgery, adding to Rockets' season of injuries By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Just when the Rockets' season, seemingly cursed with misfortune, had been getting better, their unrelenting injury problems got worse Monday. Center Yao Ming, who had been relatively indestructible in his first three seasons, had surgery on his left big toe Monday and will be out "several weeks." The Rockets would not be more specific about a timetable for Yao's return, but to expect him back on the court two weeks after such a procedure would be overly optimistic. The procedure was to treat osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone caused by bacteria. Yao is averaging career highs of 19.9 and 9.0 rebounds per game and has made 50.6 percent of his shots. And in keeping with a Rockets season filled with injuries, Yao's replacement, Dikembe Mutombo, dislocated and cut the middle finger on his right hand and will miss at least the next two games. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated next Monday. Mutombo's injury and Yao's surgery give the Rockets six injured players, with the centers joining guards Rafer Alston, Bob Sura, Jon Barry and Derek Anderson. In addition, the Rockets also played eight games — all losses — without Tracy McGrady. Dion Glover was hurt on the first day of training camp and never played. When he was released, the player the Rockets tried to bring back, Chuck Hayes, sprained an ankle and was not signed. With the centers out, Stromile Swift, who had played the position nearly as much as Mutombo, and Lonny Baxter will have to man the post. Neither had a rebound in Sunday's 76-74 win over the Lakers, with Swift playing 20 minutes. Swift had two rebounds in 16 minutes during an 89-81 loss to the Clippers on Saturday. "We have to get more out of Stromile," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said before Sunday's game. "From what I thought this summer would be our rotation, we have four perimeter players out and Yao, too. At the same time, we can still win. If you have Tracy McGrady on your team and you play really hard and really smart, you can find a way to be in a game. And if you can be in a game, you can win a game. We have no excuses. We don't want any." Though battered by their travels and travails, the Rockets made that formula work on a six-game road trip that ended with Sunday's win. Five victories made it the most productive trip in franchise history, enough to put hope into what had been a rapidly sliding season. "We felt like before the season started, leaving out all the injuries, we felt like we were going to be a pretty good team," McGrady said. "We started out slow due to injuries. It kind of set us back a little bit. But winning that home game (against the Boston Celtics), then going on a six-game road trip, that was either going to make us or break us. It was really going to determine our season. We were hungry, and we were really confident and went 5-1." Turning things around The Rockets have won six of seven games and seven of nine since McGrady returned from his strained back. After rallying in the second half to beat the Lakers on Sunday, they had won more games on the road trip than they had won at home all season (three). "I wish we won six in a row, but to win five out of six, I'm happy," guard Moochie Norris said. "Now we're playing the way we're capable of playing. Coach told us we're not overachieving — we're achieving. We're playing the way we're supposed to be playing. As long as we go out there and put that much in the game, I feel like we have a chance every night. "It's just an example of what Coach has been telling us all along from the beginning of the season — that we have enough players to win. When somebody goes down, guys have to step in, fill in and do their job. That's all that's going on — guys going down and guys stepping in. Before we left to come on the road, we had a goal to make this road trip be a big road trip to turn our season around." The Rockets came back from double-digit second-half deficits in three of their five wins on the trip, indicating how close they were to falling in an even deeper hole. No fading But unlike in the first weeks of the season, when they so reliably faded down the stretch of games, the Rockets were at their best in the final five minutes to pull out wins, capped by their short-handed rally against the Lakers. "I think it speaks loudly about what kind of team we can be," guard David Wesley said. "We still have a lot of work to do and a long way to go, but these are the games we can look back and say, 'This is how we want to play', or 'Why didn't we play like we're playing right now?' But we know we have it in us, which is a good thing for our confidence. "It's nice to get a win heading back home with guys all falling apart around us." Still, the Rockets would like to try winning games without losing players. jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROCKETS SUMMARY No protest Rockets owner Leslie Alexander, who joined the Rockets on their road trip, attending the last four games, did not protest the NBA fine for the team's side trip to Las Vegas. But he stopped short of saying he agreed with it. "We try to be good citizens in the NBA," Alexander said. "The league thought we weren't good citizens, so we have to abide with what they ruled. The league thinks if one team does it, everybody is going to do it, and it would set a precedent by letting everybody go there and get benefits above and beyond what the collective bargaining agreement calls for. I don't agree or disagree. That's what the league is ruling, and I'm going to abide by it." Wesley, Head heat up Heading into the second half of Sunday's game against the Lakers, Rockets guard David Wesley had made 16 of 38 shots in the first 5 1/2 games of the road trip, and Luther Head had connected on 11 of 30, making neither seem terribly likely to light up the second half. But Wesley made six of seven second-half shots, including three of four from beyond the arc, and Head was 3-of-5 with two 3-pointers to propel the comeback. "It felt good when I got a couple more good looks, and I kept on knocking them down," Wesley said. "You start looking, you start searching shots, you take a little more opportunities. I think I shot a floater in the lane — not my game — that went in, so you take more chances and get more to go, I guess." Wesley finished the trip making 22 of 45 shots (48.8 percent) in the six games, averaging 10.3 points and five assists and just 1.7 turnovers. Head averaged 6.7 points and 4.5 rebounds. "They had confidence in me shooting the ball," Head said. "They kept giving me the ball, and I heard them telling me, 'Just shoot it.' I just tried to knock them down." JONATHAN FEIGEN
Just read the news saying Yao's surgery was completed successfully, and there won't be any sequela. But surely he has to rest 6 weeks, like most of posts said. But I'm the optimistic one. I think TMAC and the team is in good shape now. Considering the light schedule ahead, they should win half of the games without Yao. Rockets is still a playoff team.
