So prior to the opening of the training camp, the Rockets had its Media Day yesterday (October 3). Every of the players showed up for the Media Day. Even Bob Sura came with his crutches after his surgery. Toyota Centre was filled with reporters; other than taking Q&A from the media reporters, team and individual photos were taken for the players. The relative positions of the players became quite obvious during photo-taking. Players like Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were accompanied by more senior Houston Rockets executives, while the rest of the players were led by ordinary working staff. Derek Anderson was asked to step aside and not included into the above photo taken with Yao Ming + Tracy McGrady + Stromile Swift together......obviously the 3 most important players on the team, the new nucleus of the Rockets. After the photo-taking, it was Q&A for individual players. Yao Ming was the last one to be interviewed. Without anyone interpreting for him, Yao Ming handled all kinds of questions from the reporters. When reporters asked him what was his biggest improvement since coming to NBA, his wittily replied: My English. And since a lot of the reporters came from all over USA, and spoke with different accent, sometimes Yao Ming had to politely ask them to repeat their questions for a few time before he understood. Yao Ming wittily put aside the embarrassment by saying: "Do you now miss my interpretor, Colin Pine ??" Rockets had a couple of new player additions for the new season, including the rookie, Luther Head. Yao Ming vowed that he will be their role model for the new season. And a good role model will be of absolute obedience to the Head Coach. Yao Ming quipped: "I think I set good example last season". On his ankle, Yao Ming said with confidence: "I am 100% fully recovered. No problem whatsoever. I think I can play with full strength in the new season with my new feet." Yao Ming seemed to be filled with confidence and anticipation of the new season. He said: "I had sufficient rest throughout the summer. The feeling was great. This was my first summer that I had that much of rest. I am now full of energy, and I am at 310 lb. My bosses (officials and coach at the Rockets) are all saying great things about me. I look forward for better results for the Rockets in the new season." BTW here's the roster Houston Rockets 2005-2006 Training Camp Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College/Country/H.S. NBA Exp. 8 Derek Anderson G 6-5 195 7/18/74 Kentucky 8 42 Vin Baker F 6-11 240 11/23/71 Hartford 12 20 Jon Barry G 6-5 210 7/25/69 Georgia Tech 13 35 Lonny Baxter F/C 6-8 260 7/27/79 Maryland 3 40 Ryan Bowen F 6-9 220 11/20/75 Iowa 6 9 Dion Glover G/F 6-5 225 10/22/78 Georgia Tech 6 44 Chuck Hayes F 6-6 242 6/11/83 Kentucky R 2 Luther Head G 6-3 185 11/26/82 Illinois R 5 Juwan Howard F 6-9 230 2/7/73 Michigan 11 13 Mike James G 6-2 188 6/23/75 Duquesne 4 0 Keith Langford G 6-4 215 9/15/83 Kansas R 1 Tracy McGrady G/F 6-8 210 5/24/79 Mount Zion Christian Academy 8 55 Dikembe Mutombo C 7-2 265 6/25/66 Georgetown 14 25 Martyn ?Moochie? Norris G 6-1 185 7/27/73 West Florida 8 3 Bob Sura G 6-5 200 3/25/73 Florida State 10 4 Stromile Swift F 6-9 230 11/21/79 Louisiana State 5 17 Charlie Ward G 6-2 185 10/12/70 Florida State 11 7 David Wesley G 6-1 203 11/14/70 Baylor 12 11 Yao Ming C 7-6 310 9/12/80 China 3 Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy (Nazareth College) Assistant Head Coach Tom Thibodeau (Salem State) Assistant Coaches Steve Clifford (Maine-Farmington) Patrick Ewing (Georgetown) Andy Greer (SUNY-Brockport) Assistant Coach/Video Coordinator Mike Longabardi (Frostburg State) Strength & Conditioning Coach David Macha (Almeda) NBA Advance Scouts Larry Greer (Northeastern) Jim Sann (Colorado) Athletic Trainer Keith Jones (Arkansas) Equipment Manager Jay Namoc Basketball Systems Developer John Cho
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Christ..I feel so bad for Bobby..C'mon Bobby!!! I know you'll recover and then play well without any further damage to his body please oh please..Bobby deserves a lot more than this :C Damn Yao is so beefed up!
Sura just had surgery a few days ago, so it's pretty reasonable that he's still on crutches. If he'd been on crutches the whole summer, then it cause the team to worry, but I don't think we should count him out yet.
Here's the Chron's take on it. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3381054 Also has a lot of other news. Ward's apparently going to be assistant coach and we're planning on releasing Baker. Everone's fairly confident about next season, a good sign.
