HUGE PRESENCE

Yao Ming (left) and
Houston Rockets
coach Rick Adelman
in file photo.

Yao Ming’s presence is casting a big shadow as he slowly but surely works his way back into the Houston Rockets scheme of things and coach Rick Adelman is happy with the initial results as training camp finally began. Adelman said the team will try to bring up Yao gradually and carefully during the camp as the Chinese behemoth tries to bounce back from a serious foot injury. There are still lots of work to be done with regards to the timing and balance in Yao’s game, but Adelman confidently said it will all come back in due time, according to Chron.com.

“I was really pleased with Yao. He was able to do a lot of things today. Now we’ll see how he responds tomorrow — if he can walk.  

“For the first day, he probably did a lot more today than he did in a week. We’ll have to be real careful watching tomorrow. He went through all our drills defensively. He went through everything we did, except they limited his time scrimmaging. 

“He’s just such a force around the basket. He can score. The biggest thing is getting his balance and his timing down. The ball comes off the boards, for instance. He might be a count late to get it. He’s not reacting like he used to. And there’s some things he’s not comfortable doing. But when he gets his footwork down and he gets that jump hook, it’s automatic. Right now, he can’t expect too much. I just like the way he went through it. You can see the presence he gives us on the court. His presence is huge.”