Yahoo Sports: Yao's comeback concerns

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/nb...lt=Aphm3ZxNGXL.yN7_bdI.Uj68vLYF?urn=nba,24930

By Adrian Wojnarowski

Thursday, Feb 22, 2007 11:21 pm EST

Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has always insisted that Yao Ming's life in the NBA would be much easier if maybe the center was perhaps five or six inches shorter because the seven feet, six inches of length deliver a beating to Yao's lower body.

Yao is working to rehabilitate a fractured right leg for an anticipated mid-March return, and on Thursday, Van Gundy confessed to concerns with the process.

"It's not a smooth thing," Van Gundy said by phone. "He's got to wear a knee brace and it's giving him a little problem running. If it affects how he's running, we're worried it will lead to other problems.

"All his injuries have had to do with the lower legs and each in itself is no big deal – an ankle, a toe – but it is a problem when they multiply. The only thing that can derail this guy is health. That's the only thing that can get in his way."

The Rockets have been far from the sub-.500 team that most expected once Yao went down in late December. They've gone 18-8 without Yao, leaving themselves within two games of San Antonio for the third seed in the West.

"The question is can we keep it going with Yao, or drop back like people thought we would without him?" Van Gundy said.