I don't know if Yao is limping but the Spain game has inched me closer to the crowd of China hurrying up and eliminating itself. Blinebury didn't mention any limp but he did mention how Yao was struggling on the court in this morning's game: But while he's working hard in rehabbing the broken bone in his left foot, he's a long way from being back. He can't move the way he wants. He can't run the way he wants. He is unsure of himself and can't play the way China needs. It's a good thing for the Rockets that there are still nearly three months until the NBA season opener, because there is still plenty of work to be done.
daam, yao seriously play most of his games next season. if hes out for half a season again i dunno who it'll effect most...the rockets, china, or him. godammit just stay healthy. if jason collins can do it than god ****in dammit you can do it too. go rox. plz stay healthy thx
i have watch his two olmpics games with spain and us.he was really limping,which is easy to discover if you take a look at his staggering and dhis struggling to run.i think he will be down in one of the following three games,what's worse,his injury will not only make him miss his national team's left games but also keep him off the field at the begining of the season.i real hope yao could say no to his national team and quit the olympics before getting injuried.and it's toooooo exsessive for the china's basketball team to squeeze yao soooo much.please leave yao his health as you have already taken his money.i suggest morey buy out yao's contract and sign a lle with yao,then yao will not have to give so much money to his nation and morey will have adequate space to sign more capable rosters. besides ,i suggest yao give up his present shoe supporter,which makes ai's body full of injuries.i think yao should give up that damn shoe brand before getting as injuried as ai.maybe lining is a good option for him,lining lighted the main frame on the ceremorny so i guess he can bring yao good luck.chuck and shaq both wear lining shoes ,don't they? besides lining ,the new balance may also be a good option for yao,because new balance will be very important for yao when he loses his old balance and is falling down
I don't think Yao is brainwashed....for Yao, this is everything to him. It means everything. I mean, think about it, would you rather win a champsionship in a foreign land or would you rather be a hero and patriot here in America? Which would mean more to you? If a bunch of Chinese thought you were great, or if you had a sense of pride for serving your nation??? I think from that perspective it's easy to see why Yao would sacrafice so much to play in the Olympics - and what it means to him and so m any of his countrymen. To Yao - the whole point of his career was this moment. I am not going to condemn anyone for Yao playing in these games. This is what he wants more than anything.
Ilgauskus played in 82 games his rookie year and started 81. He was clearly a starter on that team. The next year injury held him to 5 games. The next year to 24 and the following year to 62 (though even worse than that as he only started 23 of those). Since then, over a 6 year timeframe, he has average 78 games a season with his low being 73. I think, to a certain extent, these longer, season ending injuries are freak event as much as anything else. I think given Yao's physiology, the probability that said freak accident will happen to him are definitely higher then for other players, but I still think that is relatively low nonetheless, making them still freak occurrences. I think it is much more likely, over the next 5+ years that Yao misses 5-15 games a season for a myriad of minor issues. Will I be surprised if Yao goes out for the season again next year? No. Will I be surprised if he sustains a career ending injury? No. Again, he is just so tall, he is definitely more prone to those types of things. But smaller players have also had similar problems...typically not "super-stars", but then, you don't really get to that status unless you are a healthy player, so who knows. Elton Brand missed a whole year last year. Gilbert Arenas has missed considerable time. Amare missed a whole year. Michael Dickerson was never going to make the hall of fame, but he put up a couple of very solid stat seasons before injuries cut his career considerably short. Heck, Shaun Livingston may have grown into a hall of fame type player. He was (and still is) so young, and had the skill-set. Jay Williams - career over. The list could go on and on. Let's just hope Yao's commitments to China go way down after these Olympics and we have a little bit of luck on our side and hope for the best.
I hate to say it, but if yao goes down for a extended period of time for the 4th season in a row....Its time to make that trade
I like the comparison of Ilgauskas as far as bodies go, however their playing style is different, yao is posted up so many more times than the cleveland center making him more vulnerable to constantly get stepped on. Remember when barkley took that knee from shawn Bradley, he was out for a good while. Then of course his season ending retirement injury he suffured in Philadelphia, both were hard to watch, My point is which one is a freak accident? Both happened to a fairly tough guy. Yao is going to miss more than your average of 5 to 15 games per year as his career goes on. The rockets are going to have to find someone decent to throw the ball in the paint to back up Yao. He can even contribute when Yao is healthy. Clevland instead of giving lebron help they gave it to their Center; Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Anderson Varjeo, Gooden for a time. They all give ilgauskas a rest during the season. Plus we all know which center has the best work ethic, yao will play hurt and in pain.
if yao goes down again, do you think someone will give up a lot of value for an injury plagued superstar? no - the will give you junk because they don't want to take a risk. The best thing we can do is just let Yao be Yao and do his thing. Limit his minutes and bring him back easily this year. With Artest on board, hopefully we won't need to push Yao too hard to early. Let him have an easy November and December - that's what I say. 20 minutes a game max. Limited practice.
