Alternatively, the Rockets may exist at the first or the 2nd round, even they would have won 16 ~ 17 games, just as their Texes cousins did (San Antonia and Dulas, even they have won 16 ~ 17 games).

Zoe

i mean i’m a lakers fan; lived pretty much all my life in southern california. my next favorite team would be the rockets. t-mac’s my favorite player. and yao’s definitely up there.

and you don’t see me wishing the rockets just bomb out.

and i’m afraid to say, but i think the rockets are going to be screwed as long as they have yao ming. playing year round means he’s going to always be injury prone. he needs a break badly. a lot of players suffer injuries after olympic/world championship years. yao pretty much has that EVERY year, plus he’s not the most sturdy person. the cba needs to cut him a break if they want him to win an nba championship.

N.E.V.E.R. underestimate the heart of a champion …

I thought about what I wish Yao can get in his career. 1, NBA Title. 2, Safely finish his career without any career ending injury.

About the injury, it is big. But it is diagnosed early. It can have bad influence in Yao’s future. But it is not the worst. What’s more? The injury will warn people and Yao himself that he is not a superman. He should not play 84 times 40 minutes every year and wasting his time on too much social activities in the offseason. This in turn will benefit Yao for his future career.

About the NBA Title, I do not think Rox can get the title without Yao this season. We have to be realistic. Although TMAC+underdogs are getting better and better, they are not good enough for a title. So we can hope for the next season. After all, Yao is only 27 and TMAC is only 28. Think about MJ. He got his first title at 28. If you insist on a center, Olajuwon got his titles at 31 and 32. So Yao still has a lot of chances. We can all see that this Rox is in good shape now and will only be better.

Yes, Yao lost 4 months in his career. Yes, Rox lost 4 months and a postseason experience to practice and improve the current system. They can be good for the rest season. But when Yao come back next season, they still have to adjust back and hope the system is good in postseason 2009.

It is heartbreaking. But it is not devastating. People will always cherish their time more after they lose a lot. I believe Yao and Rox will only be better in the future. Let’s wait.

Is it heartbreaking? Yes.

Is it devastating? NO!!!

My first thought when i heard of this was - too many minutes he has played this season - injury and fatigue go hand in hand. How can a big center play 40 minutes a game regularly, especially sometimes for the entire quarter? This kind of practice reminds me a Chinese saying - “to catch the fish by draining the lake”.

My 2nd thought: when his right foot was injuried during the game with Bucks (by Yi?), even his left foot was not injuried at that time, his left foot (good foot) has to take more weight to compensate his insjured right foot obviously and subconciously. He should have rested a few games instead of playing through insuries. Hope the Rockets, coaches, Team Yao and him self will learn from this.

My third thought: Injury likes plague that can infect people around. T-Mac’s frequent injuries obviously has to make Yao overloaded and over-worked, not even mention the bad luck or feng shui.

My 4th thought: Yao should have stayed with Nike instead of changing to another endorsement company. This is my personal view. Nike kid should stay with Nike.

My 5th thought: CBA’s role in every summer, Yao has never had a break. And the only thing that grants him a break is injuiry ironically.

My 6th thought: NBA’s referees do not stop any physical abuses against Yao, even Yao has so many injuires from head, face, nose, arm, leg, foot, everywhere. They see nothing wrong and see nothing, which is the encouragement for the abusers and attackers.

My 7th thought: Team Yao, Rockets and CBA should work together to explore some possible medical prevention from frequent fracture.

I have so many flying thoughts. I’d better to stop here.

I am sure Yao Ming will be able to overcome this major injury and become stronger and better. At least, he gets a break now, finally.

Yao is the most important player for the Rockets. If Rockets lose without Yao, then it’s a good thing because that will prove to everyone that Yao is the best player, the most important player, on the Rockets.

i started watching basketball because of yao……..and started to like the rox team because of yao……now even if the rox wins it all….i’l still be happy for the rox but is different w/o yao being a part of it…….big different..

yao done so much for chinese people and i’m chinese myself….before when i go on vacation to countries / places where there aren’t too many asian people, they would think bruce lee or jackie chan, now is yao ming….when i went to cancun mexico two months ago, some spanish people call me yao ming…haa