Early in the first quarter yesterday against the Mavs, there was a sequence where Yao stood there on defense outside the dotted line, and held his hands up. Yao clearly had established position as Jason Terry drove into him, yet they called Yao for a shooting foul. In my mind, if that had been any other player besides Yao, it would have been a charging call if any. I think we're so used to these bad calls against Yao no one even notices them anymore. Now I'm not trying to make excuses for Yao's poor play as of late... the guy needs to be more aggressive. Also, I'd support any player on the team if they were calling these BS calls on them. The point is though, the refs have played a part in derailing Yao's game. My question is would it help if Yao started flopping after the contact is made and draw some charging calls? A lot of times Yao just stands there stoically after some guy charges into him on the drive. Maybe if he was more of a drama queen ala Vlade Divac, he would get the calls. Sure flopping is for losers like the Jazz, but little things like this make huge differences IMO. 2 free points for the opposition turn into a turnover, demoralizing them. Yao doesn't have to sit on the bench. Turn this weakness of ours into a weapon... we all know Yao has a knack for getting in front of the driver and putting his hands up.
No, flopping is pathetic. I would rather watch us lose. Oh, and flopping inside the no-charging zone, where a lot of Yao's blocking fouls occur? That's not a very good way to win basketball games.
Yao does flop once in a while to draw charges. It's kind of pathetic looking though if you see a 6'1 PG runs into a 7'6 Yao and Yao crashes onto the floor and pretends he was hit by a 8'0 Shaq...
Not sure if I want Yao to be frequently hitting the ground, intentionally or not. The risk of injury is just too great anytime someone his size hits the ground. I do think Yao should talk to the referees more, especially each time some bogus call is made. The action happens so fast on the court, sometimes the referees blow their whistles without having really seen what happened, they just assume there must have been a foul since some guy just bounced off of Yao. I'm not saying Yao should whine and cry like Gasol or Divac but just politely ask the referee what he did wrong, let them know that he didn't move an inch and just had his hands straight up in the air.
No. Refs won't buy it and Yao will be labeled even softer. Worse, he'll get a bad reputation among the fans, it's going to hurt his image and marketing ability.
I know flopping is a dirty tactic but hey... 75% of the NBA does it. I don't care if Yao gets labeled as soft as long as we win ballgames. Thats the bottom line. Besides, it takes guts to draw charges... Yao might as well get calls for those plays instead of fouling out after some guard crashes into him while he has established position. For those of you worried about him getting injured, I mean he doesn't have to fall to the ground, he could just flinch backwards in an exaggerated way. And I'm telling you, A LOT of NBA players will do that to draw the charge.
The Refs don't even look at that anyway, if the defender moves into Yao's space it's a charge. They tell Yao he has to be firm, and strong, in that space to get the call.
Why did Ryan Bowen draw a charge yesterday and Yao didn't? Both of them had established position outside the dotted line. Well, besides the fact that Bowen isn't a 7'6" Chinese guy, I think its cuz he fell to the ground after the contact was made.
are you also one of the ones that wanted to pick up karla?? i say no..yao tends to get pushed around enough, no need to add any more flailing around then already goes on...
Stern and refs refuse to change, so Yao must make the players change instead. He should be administering hard fouls on anyone that dares to drive into him. Slam their asses to the floor. These little guards will then be hesitant to drive into him and additionally, the refs will be forced to tighten the officiating in the games overall and start calling all the pushing/tripping/grabbing that Yao receives in the post.
I have a heart attack everytime I see our 7'6" center hit the ground. I don't know how many more times I can take. PLease no flop.
Yeah start... instead of standing there stoically. These are just little tricks of the trade everybody in the NBA knows, that Yao hasn't picked up on playing ball in China. If someone charges into you, make a motion so the refs see that you got hit. Its as simple as that. Ryan Bowen did it yesterday and he got the call. I dont want it to come to this, but hey, its like the refs are forcing our hand cuz of those calls. As for Karl Malone, he's a hall of famer and I respect him despite his career of elbowing people in the face. If us getting him means we win a championship, I'm all for it.
Mutombo has certainly established the reputation of his elbows. I saw a player the other night ducking low when Mutombo came down with the rebound. Really funny. Ming just doesn't get his money's worth on the fouls. I doubt that he will ever make hard fouls, though. Not in his personality. Ming needs to develop a "nice" form of violence.
I would say most posters here will be willing to give up a championship if it means Karl is gonna get a ring. Karl getting a ring through the Rockets? unimaginable
i think it is better if Yao slams those short guys to ground hard and that will earn him more respect. As a matter of fact, I want him to stick out his elbow and knock a couple of guys unconcious.
i agree with those who say flopping will make yao appear even softer....i remember a time he fell when damon staudamire drove into the lane.......that was pathetic.... our 7 foot 6, 300 pound center falls .....not really what you call intimidating...bad enough that everyone in the league feels they can dunk right on him.... then again you have to take the good and the bad
