Rocket Fans Must Face a Bitter Reality

If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion - Noam Chomsky.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Yao Ming could be out for the entire 2009-10 season due to the re-fracture of his navicular bone (foot) suffered in the Western Conference Semifinals. Worse, the injury could be career threatening.

This may be the time for Houston Rocket fans to come to grips that the Yao Ming era will likely end without a NBA Championship. Or at the very least accept that this notion is a strong possibility.

Houston’s front office has done everything right on paper to surround their star. They acquired a legit superstar in Tracy McGrady, filled out the roster with solid defenders such as Ron Artest and Shane Battier and have a solid core of young talent – Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, Von Wafer and Aaron Brooks.

Yet, even with these solid transactions – the Rockets haven’t been able to make a deep postseason run. Yao and McGrady have both played musical chairs with the injury bug over the years, further negating a potentially potent one-two attack.

You have to feel for a guy like Yao, because it’s obvious how much he cares about winning, honor and legacy. Even if he’s able to resume his playing career in 2011, how effective can Houston expect him to perform? Will he have to adjust to becoming a Zydrunas Ilgauskas type producer – solid, but nowhere near franchise level?

The time has come for Rocket fans to realize that if Yao can’t suit up, Houston’s front office has to take the necessary steps to rebuild the franchise from the ground up. No more illusions of championship hardware in the foreseeable future.

With the way McGrady has looked recently, the mere thought of even reaching the playoffs has to be considered a fantasy without the big fellow.

Lang
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