True, but rocket fans don't get your hopes set too high. Remember that Yao, has a long history with the injury bug.
In 2005 he had surgery on his big toe of the left foot for an acute case of osteomyelitis, Let me enlighten you here. Yao's foot was stepped on repeatedly and b/c he wanted to be tough and play through the "annoying" but not serious pain and did not tell the trainers about the extent of "nagging" pain he had..this resulted in an infection that spread to the bone. Yao knows now that if this occurs again to tell the trainers, & he can be held out precautionarily and given antiobiotics instead of dealing quietly with the pain in a macho kind of way. Poor fitting shoes also contributed or facilitated some nail issues on his big toes. All of his shoe fitment issues have been corrected.
then in 2006 he had surgery to repair a broken bone, again on his left foot. You say AGAIN on his left foot as if to imply that it was related to his big-toe infection. I have news for you, it was NOT related at ing all. Yao was fighting for position in the paint and Okur kicked the SIDE of his foot(not the front/toes) causing a small fracture that only b/c of his 300 lb frame was of significance. AK47, seconds later stepped on the same area of his foot.
Fast forward to Dec 2006 when he fractured his right tibia
Again, this was a freak incident in which 2 players(tim thomas and c.hayes both impacted his leg...450lbs into your leg)that on any other player would have resulted in larger fracture and soft-tissue damage, arthritis, weight-gain and diminished mobility; none of which happened to Yao. In fact, doctors and trainers alike have agreed that his leg/knee is stronger than prior to the hairline fracture thanks in part to his tree-trunk lower body and very-quick healing body and disciplined rehab.
Will his tender joints and broken bones hold up the grind that is the NBA season,
Yao does NOT have tender joints nor any lingering or reccuring injuries or fractures.
and how many of those seasons will he continue to be effective?
He will be effective, posting great numbers and playing team ball.
TMac is not what he used to be. How many games has he missed in the last 2 years alone due to chronic back spasms? Don't you remember the TNT interview where he talked about his body slowing down? He even went on to claim that he was not as explosive as he used to be.
Tmac does have a sensitive back and with treatments from the Waco-back therapist John Patterson, he has had no serious issues or time loss from his back like he did in 05-06.
As great as Ming and TMac have been, they've never been known as clutch players evidenced by the fact that they've yet to sniff the second round.
You act like they have played together for 7 yrs
. In 04-05, they had the misfortune to land a HOT mavs team in the first round and forced the series to 7 games and 05-06 was injury plagued beyond belief and 06-07 they forced the jazz to 7 games with no offensive help beyond tmac and yao and with yao coming back from the fracture after missing 1/2 the season.
So while Duncan may be approaching his twilight years, the rockets predicament may be just as dire.
I don't agree here, however there is only so much time left for this duo to get it together. I am hoping with the new scoring threats added along with a deeper bench and offensive minded(and defensive too) coach in RA, things should be on the up and up for Yao, Tmac and the rockets. You better hope they don't stay healthy, b/c they will defeat your tim-led spurs. .