What to make of Yao Ming's encouraging results

by Tom Martin on Aug 31, 2009 5:30 PM CDT in Random Commentary

Sam Alipour of ESPN the Magazine was able to extract the following from Rockets GM Daryl Morey during a recent interview:

"Yao Ming is progressing well. I don't think that [a career-ending scenario] is something that will happen, based on what I'm hearing from the doctors," Morey told Alipour. "They do know that the bone will heal and he'll get back on it. And they have not actually ruled out [his return] this season. I think that's less likely than likely, but they haven't ruled it out."

Be careful with this, because while it may sound optimistic, the "Yao for 2009-2010" bandwagon is one that you should avoid jumping on.

Instead, you should be more receptive to this kind of news, again from Morey:

"And next season, the outlook is very good. He just took off the cast for a short period [two weeks ago], so the doctors could examine it, and everything is going well. Everything is on track."

Now that is what we like to hear! With Yao, it's all about next season. Not this season, but next season. If you have yet to separate Yao Ming from the 2009-2010 Rockets, you'd better do so immediately. There's no point in getting your hopes up, and there's certainly no point in rushing Yao back to a team that may or may not make the playoffs without him.

From the start, the plan was to rest Yao until he was perfectly healthy. For a while, nobody thought of even mentioning a 2009 return, much less a 2010-2011 return. The fact that the injury was reported as career-threatening scared the bejesus out of Houston, China, and the NBA. As a result of this, Yao chose a procedure that would help save his career in the long run, with an underlying rule in mind:

Do. Not. Rush. It.

But now, after preaching patience throughout, we're talking about bringing Yao back this year? There should be no deviation from the plan. Results such as this are what the Rockets want to hear - that's the whole point of the procedure. However, a single optimistic sign should not encourage Yao to decrease his recovery time.

I hate to quote a Bush, but in this case it feels appropriate. All Yao needs to do here...is stay the course. One wrong move could produce exponentially bad results.

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Comments

Completly agree

Same goes for Tmac. Let them both rest up while the supporting cast develops, it makes absolutly no sense rushing our injury prone stars into a season where we most likely will not make the playoffs. That being said this is most excellent news.

by HereCuzImBored on Aug 31, 2009 5:37 PM CDT reply actions

Haste makes waste

So don’t rush it . For sure in 2010-2011, Imagine our line up guys..we will be a force to reckoned with. Go Rockets!

by CONAIR on Aug 31, 2009 9:20 PM CDT reply actions

yes same for t-mac

but the problem is that i dont know if t-mac would agree. its a contract year for him, and he wants to get paid, so taht might force him to play when he shouldnt be.

Its so damn hot... milk was a bad choice

by Golden Ratio on Aug 31, 2009 10:50 PM CDT reply actions

Amen.

The last thing anybody needs is for Yao to come back too soon and tear up his foot permanently. Dude just needs to start rehab, keep shooting from a chair in the practice court, and look forward to 2010-2011.

by RedRyan on Sep 1, 2009 12:29 PM CDT reply actions

yeah...

let the youngsters learn and fend for themselves this year without yao and tmac and get some rest for both, while at the same time our guys will know how it feels to fight for success this year and will not have the luxury of an all star. going into this season is that much easier knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Waiting for the return of the Mac"

"Let VY loose, give him the chance to play his heart out. for himself, for the titans...and for mcnair"

by kg_2005 on Sep 1, 2009 3:26 PM CDT reply actions