Yao plans to stay in Houston this summer and relax.....

Good news..

 

YAY!!!

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2057268

HOUSTON -- Yao Ming rested comfortably in a chair and smiled at the thought of a summer without basketball.


Yao Ming

At long last, the big man will get a break.

"I just want to relax," Yao said. "I don't want to do anything. I'm not too used to being relaxed."

Yao will head into his first NBA offseason without any obligations, a big change from the previous two summers when he returned home to play with China's national team.

At 7-foot-6, Yao was already one of China's biggest sports stars -- quite literally -- after entering the NBA in 2002 as the No. 1 draft pick. But he won even more fans back home for leading China to the Asian basketball championship in 2003 and helping his national team reach the quarterfinals of the Athens Games.

However, the challenges of year-round basketball and travel have taken a toll.

His commitments to China's national team have limited his ability to improve his conditioning and skills in the offseason and he is often hurt by fatigue during the grueling NBA season.

"What you want and what happens is not totally in your control," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Everybody understood there were going to be other commitments that he was going to have to honor. We respect Yao for honoring his commitments."

Sitting at the Rockets' arena Monday before he and his Houston teammates scattered for the offseason, Yao said he'd consider playing for China in the Asian Games, which start July 19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but wouldn't commit to doing much else for the summer.

"The first thing about my summer is I don't want any scheduling," Yao said. "I don't want to wake up and think about what I need to do."

The Rockets already have drafted an offseason program in case he sticks around.

An MRI exam will determine if he needs surgery to remove loose particles from his left ankle, followed by rehabilitation and training in Houston for at least a couple of months.

Rockets strength and conditioning coach Anthony Falsone, who traveled to China with Yao and trained the Chinese national team last summer, has marveled at Yao's durability and on-court production despite a schedule that leaves little time for improvement.

"He's gotten tremendously better in a lot of ways," Falsone said. "He takes a lot of criticism but playing year-round basketball is not easy. It's hard to recover."

Regardless, Yao has gained upper-body strength to match his natural lower-body power. Falsone will try to keep Yao at about 300 pounds, however, saying that any added weight would further limit his mobility and jumping ability.

The next offseason goal for Yao, Falsone said, is to improve his stamina, something that former Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon also dealt with.

Despite the limitations, Yao made modest gains in his third NBA season. He led the Rockets to their second-straight playoff appearance and showed signs that he could eventually develop into the dominant center he once was expected to become.

Yao averaged 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and two blocks during the regular season. His numbers went up in the postseason as he averaged 21.4 points in the first-round loss to the Mavericks.

"I think he has shown a lot of improvement and he's been here for only three years," said Dikembe Mutombo, Yao's backup and close friend. "I think that a lot of it [the expectations] has to do with the weight that he carries while representing the continent that he comes from.

"You talk about a billion people following one person. The expectations are so high for him ... I wonder how he goes to sleep."

The best of Yao could be to come. With more time to prepare, he could make marked improvement over the summer.

"He's not Shaq, he's not Hakeem Olajuwon, but he's going to be the best Yao Ming he can be," Falsone said. "He'll make a name for himself in this league if we give him a little time."

 

Great news. Hopefully, he won't get the Wang treatment from China.

 

I swear that when we drafted him, I remember people saying they would be thrilled if we could ever get 18 and 8 out of him.

 

yeah very good news =) Yao need to rest

 

OMG this is the best news I've heard all day.

Rest up Big Man you deserve it!

 

If Yao does stay, he'll be a beast next year. a MVP candidate.

 

Best news i have heard yet. It would be great if he stayed in H-town this entire summer and did not go to China to play in the Asain games.

 

Awesome! Great news!

 

Wow, that's really great news. Hopefully we'll see a big improvement this next year with all the rest. I'm just worried that he might take TOO much time off and have to rehab AND get back into shape for the season...how can you improve if you take a few months off without training? I'm sure he'll do the smart thing.

 

Great news! I guess after Yao saw Tmac played his heart out in this series he relized that he needs to do more to improve his game, starting with a 4 month vacation of doing nothing

Maybe Yao should consider practise Yoga. It will make him more coordinated and less stiff on the court.

 

This is indeed good news, but he still said he is comitted to play in China comes July. What will be the deciding factor if he actually gonna go for real? I hope he doesn't go at all though, as staying here will tremendously improve his game and physical condition. Can we say domination for next season?

 

I think it depends on his rehab after the surgery. I don't know what I should wish for. A quick recovery or a slow one

 

Is Yao staying mainly because of his pending surgery? Last I heard, it seemed Yao was gonna go through another grueling summer of bball in China. Now... all of a sudden he's staying?

Also, I never realized Olajuwon had problems with stamina. He's an athletic freak of nature - how did he get tired?

Regardless, I echo everyone's sentiments when I say great news that Yao will get a summer off and chance to possibly improve his stamina.

 

Here's my offseason training program for Yao.

1. Lock him in a cage. No books, just a few dumbells.

2. Feed him only slabs of raw meat.

3. Come by every few hours and poke him with a stick.

4. Force him to watch a tape of all the times he has been dunked on or taunted in any way.

5. For his conditioning, chain him to a post with a long chain so he can run around in a circle.

I'd like to present your 2005-2006 MVP, Yao Ming.

 

You know the guy NEVER gets a vacation when just the fact that he is getting a summer vacation makes national news...

You guys should Google Yao- and all the headlines are about him getting a vacation...

 

Just as an addendum, he will be making some trips back to China this summer. I know that he's already committed to doing Basketball Without Borders in Beijing in July

 

howbout taichi? and start driking ginseng and other chinese herbs