The Rockets team physician is saying that the injury to Yao's left foot could end his season and possibly his career. It's early now, too early to say definitively what happen. Yao could have the surgery that Cleveland's big Z had - but right now little is known except an injury that was expected to get better is now worse.
What does this mean for the league? We know it means little for the Rockets, they weren't winning anyway - but Yao was to China what the US beating Brazil in soccer the other day would have been. More than that, Yao is the most offensively skilled big man in a decade.
I'll never forget watching Yao throw a one-handed touch bounce pass through the lane his first season. He and Stevie Franchise never did it like I wanted them to - but they had some good runs. Personally, I think Tracy McGrady brought the injury bug to Houston with him.
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am i missing something? wht do you mean "they weren't winning anyway?" they had great run during 08-09. not to mention, they presented the strongest challenge to the Lakers during an eventual championship run minus McGrady and Yao.
They didn't present the strongest challenge to the Lakers. The Nuggets? Even Orlando? The Rockets overachieved this year, and I don't think anyone really believes that the season was indicative of anything more than that.
Really man, what are you talking about. They're the only team who took the Lakers to seven games. Not the Nuggets and certainly not Orlando, who got steamrolled. And they did it minus McGrady and Yao. Denver may have been a better team during the season but certainly didnt provide a stiffer challenge to the Lakers. Orlando had a comparable regular season record albeit in a much weaker conference.
I didnt raise the original point to prompt a discussion on who had the best year. Orginally, I thought TNC's comments were wierd given how successful they were in 08-09 regardless of whether Yao or T-Mac played.
err my fault thought it was TNC originally
The Rockets won 2 flukey games because the Lakers couldn't adjust to the smaller lineup and didn't seem to really take them seriously.
The Magic and Denver went against a Lakers team playing at it's best and in the Magic's case were two plays (Lee's layin and Howards's missed FTs) away from being up 3 in 1
I think the writing has been on the wall for a while that the Rockets were not going to be a championship team as long as those aspirations hinged on having a healthy Yao and T-Mac... two guys who for whatever reason are just too injury prone. T-mac is an asset for them at this point only because of his massive expiring contract and from the looks of it Yao might swiftly be worth even less.
That said, they did provide the Lakers with their biggest challenge these playoffs, and it wasn't because the Lakers took them lightly at all, it was because they happened to match up just right with the Lakers, and in a lot of ways the injuries improved this match up rather than harmed it.
Los Angeles this season had two major weaknesses - they couldn't stop small, quick point guards and two of their key players (Odom, Bynum) could be bullied. Houston was equipped to take advantage of both of those things. Meanwhile, LA's strengths were: Kobe Bryant (Houston had two of the leagues premier perimeter defenders to throw at him), playoff experience (the yao and t mac injuries took any and all pressure off of Houston, so there was no danger of a rocket losing his composure), as skilled a 4/5 combo as we have in the league (injuries forced Houston to play smallball, negating this advantage partially), having Trevor Ariza to harass the opposing team's go-to scorer (rockets didn't have one), and just generally having an incredible amount of talent (which is why they ended up winning in the end, despite all this).
Its not the Rockets fault that the Lakers overlooked them during the first six games of their series. If I remember correctly, the Rockets were the only team that made the Lakers sniff elimination this year.
And yeah, I ditto Negus what do you mean by "they weren't winning anyway?" While I don't think anyone thought they were gonna be favorites, I think there was a strong consensus (at least in Houston) that if the Rockets got a star player to go with the core group they had a serious chance of being in contention for a couple more years.
At this point, without Yao, I guess its rebuild time....at least with Daryl Morey and Rick Adelman, I have more hope for this organization than my Warriors.
Tracy McGrady was supposed to be that star player - and since he dominates the ball, I doubt they could have brought someone in to play with him. But it's like you said, the Lakers slept on the Rockets and they paid for it - but that doesn't make the Rockets closer to repeating that success. Definitely not without Yao. Can you imagine the team that took two from the Lakers even making the playoffs?
By "they weren't winning anyway" I meant that during McGrady's time there and Yao's time there they hadn't gotten out of the first round, and this year seemed a fluke to me. Or are you telling me you thought the Rockets were in line to be contenders now?
Yeah and honestly the only reason they made it out of the first round this year was because the young Blazers came out for game 1 with deer in the headlights.
I guess I should make it clear that I have fairly low standards for my teams....in Baseball: Keep me interested through September 20th...
and in Basketball / Football I'm a Warriors and Raiders fan.
So yeah, by those standards, the Rockets w/ Yao would have been winning big time - even when they were getting pushed out in the first round....
No kidding. One or two more pieces for the Rockets, or one or two fewer for the Lakers, and they might have been champions.
Dude you can say that about 10-12 teams. One or two pieces makes it sound like they just need a couple spare parts from Home Depot. The reality is simply finding the key players is tough enough, now you need a team to trade them to you or have cap space and get teh FA to want to sign with you.
T-mac is just bad news all around. He's like that character in the Lil' Abner cartoon who walked around with a black cloud over his head.
T-mac: the very definition of a loser.
Too bad about Yao. He was just starting to understand the intensity level he was going to need to win a title and it was fun to see his growth as a player. He was finally putting a big-time hurt on opponents, finally using his incredible size and strength.
And I'm sure he was also maturing as a person. You could see it on-court and in his off-court dealings.
Hope it turns out well for him, despite the fact that I know he"ll end up hurting my team, if he comes back healthy..
"T-mac: the very definition of a loser."
Check out his playoff splits. I know there is more to that as far as being a winner, but I simply don't agree with that. The dude came to play.
T-mac's record speaks for itself.
he's never been out of the first round.
at least a couple of times, his teams have been up 3-1 in a series and have gone on to lose.
mysteriously, his ex-teams also appear to get better when he leaves.
when - and if - he ever does anything but score points - usually when it doesn't count - and actually wins a playoff series or two, he'll throw off the loser mantel.
until then, his record is clear: a perennial all-star who has never been out of the first round in the playoff. a guy who has lost every playoff series he has been in.
loser.
He did a lot more than score. His playoff numbers are really, really good. He was up 3-1 in a series in Orlando. I believe it was against the Pistons. That was the only time he was up 3-1.
Don't be so quick to throw the "loser" label out. Remember, Kevin Garnett was a perennial loser until he got paired with two legitimate All-Stars near their prime.
Is Yao really the best offensive big man in the last ten years? I'm not coming up with anyone post-Shaq, so maybe so. But that says more about the offensive skills of today's big men than anything. It's like calling Vitali Klitscko the era's best heavyweight. (Or Wlad, if you prefer, but I think older bro knocks him out.)
By 10 years does he mean that they had to debut in the last 10 years? Otherwise how does Duncan or Garnett figure in? They aren't Centers but they are both 7 feet tall.
I was thinking centers when I wrote the best offensively skilled big man. Duncan and Garnett have him, but they're both power forwards. And probably more than anything else my comment pointed to the lack of great big men in a good while.
I'll give you Garnett, But Duncan is a Center as far as I'm concerned, the Spurs may call him a PF but I don't buy it
I gotta say, I'm not sure how old you are, but I have always had a problem with "the lack of big men in a good while" stance. Has there ever been a time in pro-ball where big man were plentiful anddominated? I am 33, I was born and raised in Dallas, and the best big man my beloved Mavs ever had was Roy Tarpley(not counting Dirk). And in his prime, the only other dominate big men were, Jabar, Olajuwan, Ewing, Robinson(although he was considered soft until Duncan)Shaq and...who am I missing. Those 6 guys take up about 25+ years worth of basketball(and about 30% of the rings). When was this golden age of centers, Chamberlain and Russell, and who else? The fact is, truly talented, dominating centers are very rare. Yao had the potential to be one of the greats. But like most of the centers in the league he may end up as a guy on the "what ifs" list.
By the way, I have to disagree with the threat the Rockets posed the Lakers. That series was not about the Lakers "not taking them serious enough". They posed some real match up problems up until Yao got hurt. They had a two pronged attack of going after Kobe in a way that nobody else in the league could in Battier and Artest. They had two quality big men to defend and score on Odom and Gasol in Scola and Yao. And they had two quick pg's in Lowry and Brooks to take advantage of the Lakers lack of speed at the point, unlike any other team in the league. Not to mention guys like Landry, Wafer, and Barry that can come off the bench and hit an open shot -- something more likely to happen with a guy like Yao on the floor. To me, they matched up the best against the Lakers, and the series reflected that...until Yao got hurt of course.
Doesn't look good for Houston really. A hard luck team. W/out Yao they might compete, but they won't ultimately challenge the Lakers or Denver, and Portland could overtake them. With Yao and McGrady and the rest, especially Battier (and as a Warriors fan Battier seems so special, what it is to have a lock down defensive player), they would have to been taken seriously. Too bad for them. Feet--tough for those big guys pounding em up and down the court. Think how great Shaq would have been, as great as he has been, were it not for his feet.
How about Walton? I can't believe people don't talk about his career arc more. Robbed of his best years by fragile feet.
Looking ahead, I think former NJN running mates Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson are going to give a big lift to Orlando and San Antonio.
Yao? Most skilled big man?
That now would be Paul Gasol, who showed that Kobe passes the ball to him, he would average 20 & 10 and 5 assists easy. Gasol understands the game really well.
Yao is skilled, but time is getting away from him. Reading the reports of his injury recalls Bill Walton, who was perhaps the best passing big man of all time.
Brian you're right. I was sleeping on Gasol when I wrote that.
Brian Gilmore--rack him! Gasol has an arsenal of moves.
The Rockets galvanized the Lakers, who played at a much more intense level from that 2nd loss on. I am happy to see all these other teams scrambling to adjust, but championship teams aren't assembled like a car; this Lakers team was years in the making. Kobe aside,don't negate the depth of their bench. How debilitating is it to get your a** knocked around by a 7'0 Bynum, until he picks up the two fouls, only to have Odom, with his 7.5 wingspan, who is a rebounding machine, dominate while Ariza flies over people to swat a shot? Then Fisher comes out of nowhere to hit a 3 when its needed most. Put THAT together, GMs.
The under-reported part of this whole story? The fact that David Stern is currently pacing around his office, chain smoking unfiltered Luckys, screaming at all his assistants to find the next Chinese star so he can continue to make inroads into biggest collection of basketball fans in the world. And scene...
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Assistant #2: "Sir, we can't find anyone. Wang ZhiZhi was a star at home, but he's been about as good as a filled diaper here in the States."
*Stern hurls an ashtray at intern, it crashes into the wall*
Stern: "WHAT ABOUT YI JIANLIAN?! I WAS PROMISED HE'D BE AT LEAST SOLID ROLEPLAYER!"
Assistant #2: "Sir, all reports say that Jianlian is looking like he's going to be a Chinese Bison Dele. On the high side."
Stern: "BISON F****** DELE??!!! YOU GOTTA BE S******* ME! THERE'S 2 F****** BILLION PEOPLE OVER THERE!!! YOU KNOW HOW F****** BIG THAT TV DEAL WAS GOING TO BE?! I COULD BE RICHER THAN GOD!!!! TELL ME SUN YUE HAS A PRAYER OF ACTUALLY PLAYING!!!" *takes a drag from two cigarettes simultaneously, shakily reaches for the Johnnie Walker Blue-Label bottle*
*looking down at papers, tremorously muttering* Assistant#2: "Sun Yue scored 9 ppg...in the NBDL. It looks like he won't even be a Chinese Smush Parker."
Stern: "OH MY F****** GOD, SMUSH F****** PARKER?!! WE ARE SO F*****!! WELL, THERE GOES OUR SHOT AT DOMINATING THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, AND NOW I'M GOING TO BE STUCK BEGGING LEBRON TO MOVE TO NEW YORK AND MAKING SURE KEVIN DURANT GETS OUT OF OKLAHOMA ASAP INSTEAD OF COUNTING THE BILLIONS FROM CHINESE JERSEY SALES. F***!!!!"
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(at least that's how I imagine it.)
Very funny.
David Stern reminds me of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It's obvious that their success is mainly the result of luck. I’m not saying that they bring nothing of value to the table, but not billion$ more than the average Joe or Jane.
Bird & Magic & Michael, then Kobe & Shaq, and now LeBron. It would have taken a GWBush to f*ck that up.
no, they won't be championship contenders- especially considering the way rosters out west are shaping up thus far- San Antonia w/RJ comes to mind. i dont think a playoff appearance is too much of a stretch though.
I have no doubt this is a result of Yao playing in teh Olympics even though he was recovering from another foot injury.
No one thought he should play but he had no choiuce as China was hosting.
So, he may have traded 4 blowouts losses for a career. Sad.
The original post rubs me raw. Even if I grant your premise that the Rockets weren't winning the title, losing Yao is a huge deal to the Rockets. It means losing attendance. It means losing national television exposure. It means losing ground in a market of over a billion people.
A career-ending injury here - and all fans of the NBA are hoping it isn't - transcends championships. This is a bigger story than Artest going into the crowd in Detroit in terms of its ramifications.