Back at practice: Yao Ming and the next big step

[king]

It's only March 1st. Keith Jones said late March for Yao's return. Let Yao get healthy and be at 100% for the playoffs. The guy broke his tibia bone that holds his 300 lbs of weight. Tmac must be a leader and lead the team. He is after all the captain with 10 years of experience and 17 million a year in salary. For once in your life Tmac lead.

Tracy was doing that until FANS STARTED CHANTING MVP AT THE DALLAS GAME. That started the slump. Tmac has always been a guy who does well when people bash him but once he gets some success he becomes a bum.

Up against the pistons in round one "Glad to be in the second round". Up 2-0 vs the Mavs.

Stop praising tmac and instead bash him so he has a chip on his shoulder.

Yao has not been out 11 weeks.

Yao got hurt on Dec 23rd vs the LAL.

December- 8 days out

january- 31 days out

Feb- 28 days out

Total 67 days

67/7 = 9.5 weeks.

Doctors says a tibia break could take up to 12 weeks before a player is CLEARED FOR PRACTICE.

Yao's been rehab since 7 weeks. REMARKABLE.

Jonathan you really should have a talk with your stats guy. 9 1/2 weeks is not 11 weeks. In sports stats matter a lot and your stats guy has dropped the ball a number of times.

Yao's injury is suppose to take 12 weeks to heal and a few weeks more to rehab. That means Yao should be back around the first game in April. Keith Jones said late March.

The Rockets should not risk Yao's health. The Rockets are NOT going to over take the Spurs for the #3 seed. SA is really heating up now for the strech run like a real elite team.

The Rockets will likely face the Jazz in round one. Seeds 7 and 8 are way baehind the Rockets. The 9th best record in the West is way behind the Rockets. Houston should make the POs.

With a healthy 100% (health and conditioning) Yao the Rockets may make some noise.

Rehab Yao. Don't come back at 40%. Come back at 100% not even 90%.

[king]

HOUSTON -- During halftime of Wednesday night's game against the Toronto Raptors, Rockets center Yao Ming had a routine check-up on his right knee and was informed by the team's doctor that he could return to the practice court.

He wondered aloud whether he might make a more immediate appearance on the hardwood.

"The doctor told me last night, 'OK, you can start practice (Thursday),'" Yao said. "I said, 'How about the next 24 minutes?'"

Unsurprisingly, the medical staff didn't clear the Rockets star center for the second half.

That's not to say he isn't getting closer to his highly-anticipated return.

Nearly 11 weeks after fracturing his right tibia against the Los Angeles Clippers, Yao returned to practice Thursday afternoon without any limitations.

He participated in full-contact drills, battling Dikembe Mutombo and Jake Tsakalidis in the paint. Yao jokingly told the media after the workout that he was most surprised by his ability to "go coast-to-coast dribbling past five people for a slam dunk."

Team doctors haven't pinpointed when the the 7-foot-6 center will return to game action, but he almost certainly won't be on the floor when the Rockets visit the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.

Still, the big man finished his first practice in months feeling like he wasn't too far away from getting back in the lineup.

"It's hard for the first day, but it went better than I thought it would," Yao said. "It was another step closer to playing."

The Rockets (35-22) could certainly use a lift from the big fella.

Despite mostly playing well since Yao has been out of the lineup, the Rockets have suddenly hit a rough patch. Houston has dropped four of its past six games and has been outrebounded in six consecutive performances. Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has been disappointed with the tenacity of his big men on the glass of late.

Van Gundy would like to be playing Yao sooner rather than later since the center has been cleared for practice, but said he understands why others will determine when the center comes back.

"He did alright," Van Gundy said of Yao's first practice. "I don't really understand why he's able (to participate in contact practices) and not play (in a game), but it's not for me to decide. Nor should it be. It's up to the doctors and Yao."

Van Gundy added that Yao is still hesitant about wearing a knee brace.

"He doesn't want to play with it so it seems like it's a little bit of a stalemate right now," Van Gundy said.

The positive sign is that Yao feels like he is in good shape.

During the past month, the Rockets center has been working with the team's training staff and showed up Thursday in fairly good condition even though he hasn't played an NBA game in two months. While the center isn't sure how his leg will react once he returns to game action, Yao said he was surprised by his energy level in his first full practice.

Asked about battling his new teammate in practice, Tsakalidis said Yao held up well.

"He was very good for his first practice back (since the injury)," Tsakalidis said. "He wasn't too tired during practice."

The Rockets star center was in the midst of his best season when he went down against the Clippers. He is averaging a career-best 25.9 points per game to go along with 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.

How soon could Yao be dominating the paint again?

"I don't know," Yao said. "The knee is very important for a basketball player and I don't know if it's going to bother me in a live game. Practice and a game are still different."

He's at least getting closer to finding out.