He's baaack!...well almost - After missing the entire 2009-2010 NBA season, Houston Rockets big man Yao Ming is expected to be back on the court come training camp. Having averaged 20-points, 10-rebounds and 2-blocks per game throughout his NBA career, it's pretty obvious Yao is a key cog for the Rockets franchise. But after battling injury after injury, including his latest encounter which was first said to be career threatening, there are some limitations to Yao's playing time. Hoping to reduce the wear and tear on his knees and hopefully prevent him from another injury that has plagued the 7-foot 6-inch center's career, is the team's new policy that has him playing no more than 24 minutes per game.
Since first being drafted by the Rockets in 2002, the 7-time All-Star has missed a substantial amount of games and his team has clearly suffered because of it. With Yao sidelined for all of last season, Houston's chances of making the post season were doomed, finishing the season only two games over .500. And now with the Rockets in their first full year of the post McGrady era, Yao would be the team's go-to-man, taking on a large portion of the work load both on offense and defense. But with his new limitation, it'll be much more easier to pick the Rockets apart once Yao's pulled from the game. With all that said, I don't think there's any chance we see the Rockets making the Playoffs given how young and well developed the rest of the Western Conference is, opposed to its counterpart -- the Eastern Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment