"There are moments, flashes of the past and perhaps the Rockets' future.

Yao Ming began his career as an experiment, a 7-6 tower of talent to be developed. Eight years later, for all he has accomplished and all the questions he has answered, he is still surrounded by uncertainty.

Yao is back, but the Rockets don't quite know what that means. They know only what it could mean, and for now, that is enough.

"You can see the presence he gives us on the court," coach Rick Adelman said. "His presence is huge.

"(Players) can feel that. It gives us confidence. We missed that."

Yao's presence has never been uncomplicated — from the negotiations it took to bring him to the NBA and his responsibilities unlike any other to his impact on those around him. For the Rockets, however, Yao's return brings new questions - not just for him as he attempts to come back from surgery to realign his left foot but for the season as a whole.

"I think it is an experiment," Adelman said. "I really don't know when you play him in games. Do you play him with the same group? Do you keep the second group as its own little entity? You try to figure out how to be the most productive as a team. I don't have any answers right now.

"It was easy in exhibition season. You play him his minutes. You get him out. Now, you're playing the games. There's some games he may not be effective against certain people. You may not be able to play him even the 24 minutes. You'll have to judge that. And not playing him in the back-to-backs changes the roles for everybody."

Yet, for all the uncertainty in Yao's comeback bid - starting with the questions of what his best will be and when he will reach it - the seemingly intractable 24-minute limit on his playing time will impact everyone around him. No one is quite sure how having a star player limited to half a game will work."