Yao to return to Houston on 9/26

BabyClutch · Sep 22, 2005

BigM said:

even if yao were here can you possibly imagine him at juwan howard's kids birthday party.
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My friend's got pics!

Hakeem06 · Sep 22, 2005

might want to delay his plans....

DaDakota · Sep 22, 2005

No doubt.....I guess no training camp in Galveston either.

AMS · Sep 22, 2005

Yao to pick his buggers on 9/29/05

poster one: lets take pics
poster two: ima try to get my bugger autographed.

wolfsheep · Sep 22, 2005

Are there any flights still coming to Houston with Rita coming?
But anyway, those of you staying in Houston, please do take care!

olliez · Sep 22, 2005

Right now Yao is in Hong Kong

dafatha00 · Sep 23, 2005

Finally...

qrui · Sep 23, 2005

yao may have to postpone his return to houston because of rita though.

m_cable · Sep 26, 2005

Here's an interview with Yao that you might find interesting.

pryuen from the Realgm and Yao ming mania boards said:

This article, an interview of Yao Ming, right after the Allen Iverson show on Sept 25, shows usYao Ming has determined to take up more responsibility for the Rockets in the new season.

http://sports.tom.com/1019/1094/2005926-697585.html

I will not do a word by word translation but in summary, this is what the article was about:-

Yao Ming said his original plan is to return to US in the morning of the 26th. Now suddenly there is a contract extention signing ceremony with the Shanghai Municipality Government as its Spokesperson in the afternoon of the 26th, therefore, he will have to postpone his return trip either to the night of Sept 26 or the morning of Sept 27.

Originally Hurricane Rita could have affected his return schedule. But now, since Hurricane Rita has weakened, and had not done too much damage to Houston, Yao Ming decided to stick to his original schedule.

He said even though Hurricane Rita had not done serious damages to Houston, the Rockets is still planning for some charity and fund-raising activities. Yao Ming felt those are the right time for the Rockets to repay the fans, as he knew without a solid and loyal fan base, Rockets cannot go anywhere.

To Yao Ming, the summer is over; even though it was lots of hectic competition and commercial/PR events in the summer, Yao Ming just could not wait for the new season to begin, as he is full of anticipation for the new season. He said: "I think I have had sufficient rest this summer. I had rested 3 to 4 weeks doing nothing but getting fat during my ankle recuperation. And in Beijing, actually it was just my rehabilitation program, and strength and conditioning training had become a form of daily life for me already.

As for the Asian Championship, Yao Ming said he treated that as part of his rehabilitation program too, as he did not feel he had any opponents in Asia. He said: "The Asian Championship was to a certain extent great for my ankle recovery. There is always some psychological barriers to overcome after an injury/surgery. Physical contest in the championship was not too intense, and I dared not use full force on some of those physical contests. But we had a great championship, and I viewed it as part of my psychological recovery process."

Yao Ming knew everybody is waiting for his return. Other than Yao Ming, Bob Sura and David Wesley had also recovered from injury, and almost every player, including Stromile Swift are working out in Toyota Centre.

Almost every media and analyst predicts a rosy season for the new Rockets. The only uncertainty would be the personnel changes and the surgeries that had taken place during the summer. But Yao Ming thought all those are minor stuff when compared to the dramatic personnel changes of last season. He thought the tough part of the Rockets is over.

Bob Sura may miss the pre-season training camp, and the Rockets is still finding the suitable starting point guard. But Yao Ming showed not much concerns. He felt that Bob Sura had his surgery before him, and since he had fully recovered, and therefore Bob Sura should have fully recovered too. The issue now is how the Rockets can turn some of those potentials into real team strength and capabilities. He does not feel the Rockets has peaked yet. He thought it is a bit too early to say they are ready for the championship; after all, he is only 25, and T-Mac 26. But of course, he won't mind the Rockets can be the champion this year.

Yao Ming also knew now that he has got the maximum contract, with it, he won't be treated as a rookie anymore and with the maximum contract comes the corresponding responsibility for a franchise player. He said that the psychological pressure and responsibility of a rookie and a franchise player with maximum contract are totally different. He felt he needs to shoulder more responsibility for the new season now that he has been offered the maximum contract.

So it is with this state of mind, he decided to stick to his original schedule, and say goodbye to his home city, Shanghai, where he only managed to stay for 4 days in this summer. He will leave China for San Francisco first, for a full medical check on his body, and particularly the ankle that had been operated on before reporting back to Houston for the preseason training camp.

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Say what you will about Yao performance, whether he's worth the hype, max contract, yadda, yadda, yadda. There is no denying his dedication to the game and the seriousness in the way he fulfills his responsiblities.

Has the Rockets hit the jackpot in franchise players or what. We have one guy who not only has a burning desire to win a championship, but has also learned that he can't do it alone, and that he needs to trust his teammates in order to succeed. And the other guy is truly a class act who operates with such a mix of dignity, grace, intelligence, and determination.

We are very lucky.

Fegwu · Sep 26, 2005

DaDakota said:

....I guess no training camp in Galveston either.

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I was wrong on this for a while too.

The Rockets do not host their training/pre season camps anymore in Galveston. I did not know this until last year. I believe this change came into effect since Toyota center became a reality. Their pre-season preparations is now done in Houston at Toyota center as home court....and no more Galveston. I stand corrected.

P.S. It is nice hearing Yao talking about the max contract and living up to the responsibilit[y][ies] that comes with it. But please someone remind him that the big money extention does not kick off until 2006-2007 season - so he has one more season to slack off and play "discounted rate" [rookie pay scale] basketball

RocketFire · Sep 26, 2005

so today is the day that our big fella comes home. Welcome back and now go kick some ass.

superden · Sep 26, 2005

welcome homeeee

Rox_fan_here · Sep 26, 2005

The article said he was not leaving until tonight or tommorrow morning. Either way he should be in Houston tommorrow.

qrui · Sep 26, 2005

maybe not. he'll stop in san fransico for check first, then, houston. so you make the guess...

Jeff · Sep 26, 2005

Rox_fan_here said:

The article said he was not leaving until tonight or tommorrow morning. Either way he should be in Houston tommorrow.
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No surprise considering the hurricane.

Jeff · Sep 26, 2005

Fegwu said:

I was wrong on this for a while too.

The Rockets do not host their training/pre season camps anymore in Galveston. I did not know this until last year. I believe this change came into effect since Toyota center became a reality. Their pre-season preparations is now done in Houston at Toyota center as home court....and no more Galveston. I stand corrected.
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They have not practiced in Galveston since JVG took over. He prefers keeping the team in their own gym because it is familiar AND he has greater control over media access.

Rox_fan_here · Sep 28, 2005

So what happened???

Its the 28th I would expect him to be here. Does anyone know any news or even better have any pics? Im suprised we haven't heard anything.

YallMean · Sep 28, 2005

According to Sina, Yao took the flight 27th Noon to San Fransico. He will stay there for sometime to check on his ankle recovery before report to the training camp. He should be in the States now.

Rox_fan_here said:

So what happened???

Its the 28th I would expect him to be here. Does anyone know any news or even better have any pics? Im suprised we haven't heard anything.
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pirc1 · Sep 28, 2005

YallMean said:

According to Sina, Yao took the flight 27th Noon to San Fransico. He will stay there for sometime to check on his ankle recovery before report to the training camp. He should be in the States now.
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According Sina articles, his angle is already healed, so I guess he is just there to do a checkup.

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