Shocking news: Yao out for season and playoffs
February 26th, 2008by John
I am absolutely devasted about the news. Stress fracture in his left foot. Out for the season. I can’t remember being so knocked over the head by unexpected news in the NBA — maybe back in 1991 when Magic Johnson had to retire because he contracted the HIV virus. No one saw this coming. I feel like crying.
The stress fracture didn’t occur because of a single event, but occurred over time. Yao had complained of soreness in his left foot during All-Star weekend, so the doctors did lots of tests and finally found out the reason.
I’ll have more analysis later about what happens next for the Rockets. I’m still in too much shock to collect my thoughts. What do you think? Do the Rockets have a chance now? How will they play tonight against the Wizards? Will there be a big let-down? Should they have kept Bonzi for his low-post presence as an insurance policy?
Here’s Ric Bucher’s take on video.
Update: Here are some of my thoughts since my original post above:
I think the Rockets will have to play more up-tempo without Yao, a la Phoenix before the Shaq trade. The Suns proved that formula can work, so Luis Scola and Carl Landry will definitely get more minutes. They aren’t bad offensively, but the lack of height will be a problem defensively. They will also have to rely more on the outside shot, so players like Steve Novak who weren’t getting much playing time will probably get more. Taking more outside shots, though, doesn’t bode well for big success the rest of the season. Especially if Tracy McGrady takes most of them — he doesn’t shoot well from the outside; he’ll have to attack the basket even more.
An acquisition of some sort will be made for a big man (As a side note, even though Brent Barry isn’t a big, I can’t imagine him signing with the Rockets now that the Rockets’ championship chances just took a huge hit. I’ll be shocked if Barry does become a Rocket, but maybe he will since he knows he could get more minutes. I don’t know.)
Ric Bucher mentioned Jamaal Magliore is available, but that doesn’t excite me too much even if the Rockets sign him. Obviously Dikembe Mutombo will get more minutes, but they won’t score much from down there with him in there. Chuck Hayes will also play more minutes for defensive purposes, but still no scoring there. So Scola and Landry will have to pick up the slack down low.
Can you imagine if Dikembe, after being designated as a cheerleader for his final season, dusts off the cobwebs and contributes to the Rockets winning a ring this season? That would be one of the greatest sports stories in recent history, but it’s highly unlikely.
One question I have is if Yao was in pain during All-Star weekend, couldn’t they have sped up the tests to get a prognosis before the trading deadline? That would have given them 3 or 4 days to work a deal.