Their latest heartbreak, the center's season-ending injury, turns the league's hottest team into a playoff longshot but does little to alter balance of power in West.
Winners of 21 of their last 24 games, the NBA's hottest team, the Houston Rockets, were just officially notified by Fate that it's still fickle.
The Rockets announced Tuesday that center and centerpiece Yao Ming, averaging 22 points and 10.8 rebounds, will miss the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his left foot.
Owner Les Alexander told a Houston TV station it was "the most heartbreaking . . . the worst I've felt."
Unfortunately for the Rockets, this particular heartbreak is all too familiar to them.
The tandem of Yao and Tracy McGrady has fabulous potential but an awful medical history.
McGrady has recurring back trouble, not to mention recurring moods. Yao's feet have to carry his 310 pounds through a full NBA schedule plus a full Chinese international schedule.
Between them, they've already missed 121 games in the last two-plus seasons, 61 for McGrady, 60 for Yao.
Houston must now inevitably fall by the wayside unless the Rockets can find another highly skilled 7-foot-6 center.
Oh yeah, there's only one on the planet.
This is heartbreak on a global scale with the Houston-based media contingent from China that follows Yao's every move looking at months of medical updates.
Now to get to the concerns of local fans who want to know one thing after taking a moment or two, tops, to sympathize with the forlorn Rockets and the gallant Yao:
What does this mean for the Lakers?
Essentially, nothing.
Even with the West in a state of flux, the Lakers were looking at six West teams capable of becoming good enough to beat them, which included Houston.
Now it's down to five. The Lakers must be feeling sooo relieved, or not.
At this point, I'd have the Spurs as the Lakers' lone peer. The new Shaquille O'Neal Suns and Jason Kidd Mavericks are wild cards with the Utah Jazz a dark horse and the New Orleans Hornets longshots getting longer by the day.
Losing to anyone below them would be a major upset. Even with No. 8 Golden State and No. 9 Denver close to a 50-win pace, both are falling by the wayside.
The Nuggets are so anxious, they pursued Sacramento's Ron Artest, which would have added yet another outlaw icon to Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith and the rest of their Hole in the Wall Gang.
Golden State is still a matchup nightmare but Coach Don Nelson is so desperate, he's starting Chris Webber, showing there's such a thing as too much imagination.
Now after learning that at 34, Webber is -- gasp! -- even slower than before he sat out half a season, Nellie may do something even wilder (for him), playing rookie Brandan Wright.
Winners of 21 of their last 24 games, the NBA's hottest team, the Houston Rockets, were just officially notified by Fate that it's still fickle.
The Rockets announced Tuesday that center and centerpiece Yao Ming, averaging 22 points and 10.8 rebounds, will miss the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his left foot.
Owner Les Alexander told a Houston TV station it was "the most heartbreaking . . . the worst I've felt."
Unfortunately for the Rockets, this particular heartbreak is all too familiar to them.
The tandem of Yao and Tracy McGrady has fabulous potential but an awful medical history.
McGrady has recurring back trouble, not to mention recurring moods. Yao's feet have to carry his 310 pounds through a full NBA schedule plus a full Chinese international schedule.
Between them, they've already missed 121 games in the last two-plus seasons, 61 for McGrady, 60 for Yao.
Houston must now inevitably fall by the wayside unless the Rockets can find another highly skilled 7-foot-6 center.
Oh yeah, there's only one on the planet.
This is heartbreak on a global scale with the Houston-based media contingent from China that follows Yao's every move looking at months of medical updates.
Now to get to the concerns of local fans who want to know one thing after taking a moment or two, tops, to sympathize with the forlorn Rockets and the gallant Yao:
What does this mean for the Lakers?
Essentially, nothing.
Even with the West in a state of flux, the Lakers were looking at six West teams capable of becoming good enough to beat them, which included Houston.
Now it's down to five. The Lakers must be feeling sooo relieved, or not.
At this point, I'd have the Spurs as the Lakers' lone peer. The new Shaquille O'Neal Suns and Jason Kidd Mavericks are wild cards with the Utah Jazz a dark horse and the New Orleans Hornets longshots getting longer by the day.
Losing to anyone below them would be a major upset. Even with No. 8 Golden State and No. 9 Denver close to a 50-win pace, both are falling by the wayside.
The Nuggets are so anxious, they pursued Sacramento's Ron Artest, which would have added yet another outlaw icon to Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith and the rest of their Hole in the Wall Gang.
Golden State is still a matchup nightmare but Coach Don Nelson is so desperate, he's starting Chris Webber, showing there's such a thing as too much imagination.
Now after learning that at 34, Webber is -- gasp! -- even slower than before he sat out half a season, Nellie may do something even wilder (for him), playing rookie Brandan Wright.
0 comments:
Post a Comment