George Karl you fat b*stard maybe you should look at your own team before you start to use the "playing dirty" card. Nuggets stole a game from Phoenix just last week along with those elbow calls in the Dallas game in which Mark Cuban had words with JR Smith. So Denver is no angel, they deserve to take this one up the ass.
I just think there is a sort of reverse discrimination in the NBA - based on attitude. Nice guys are pushed to the curve and the league allows it. However guys with mean streaks and nasty aggresive play are rewarded over and over again, with the Refs help. And it's all based on a guy gaining a reputation. Yao's reputation is that he is a polite human being. But in today's game against Denver, when Yao got the technical foul, the "MEAN Bully Yao", came out of his shell. And the Refs, saw that! All of a sudden the Refs were seeing every fould done to Yao Ming. And Yao became unstoppable! Simply unstoppable. It was a wake up call - to the Refs.
not admitting that you didn't work hard enough to win and that the Other team got better breaks is what LOSERS do. It's classless and a sign of WEAKNESS. I really didn't like the officiating in this game but when their players needed to make a layup or FREEthrows, they didn't so, tough wafer!
Shame on George Karl. Yao gives a little of what he has taken ever since he joined the NBA. PS Also remember that ESPN is very anti Yao Ming!
He is partially correct. Nice guys don't win in professional sports, mean guys do. Yao respects his opponents, but if he does it then he isn't playing as aggressive as he should be. The referees don't make things any easier for Yao. Only guys like Shaq and the great Mutombo, who give absolutely no respect to his opponents during a game, can become a referee respected dominant center. Mutombo is in no way a dominant center, but his elbow, attitude etc. keeps players from pushing him around. Yao first needs to make sure he is not pushed around by the opponent before he can get the help of a referee. If a referee ignores the fact that Yao is getting pushed and shoved on one end, Yao should do the same on the other end. When the refs call a foul on Yao, Yao should give the refs a mouthful. It's about being intimidating that gets calls.
That's just comical. Not sure what Karl was thinking. Probably just frustrated about the loss. Fact is, I wish Yao was a dirty player. He's not even close. He's far too nice.
This came from the guy who led Team U.S.A. to their worst finish ever in a world championships...on our own soil. Yes, George, you suck.
I don't think it's applicable to this game, when Yao seemed to be more the recipient than the originator of uncalled fouls, but he does get away with offensive fouls aplenty, specifically on his oft-used spin move on the low block. As seen here: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ndeEyDHaDo4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ndeEyDHaDo4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> He uses his off hand to fend off his defender, i.e. offensively foul, virtually every time he does this move. As it's one of his go-to maneuvers, this happens quite often, and is virtually never whistled. As with Wade's traveling or James' (rarely called) crab dribble, Yao's spin move is one of the NBA stars' calls that should be whistled, and every time.
There is a thin line between a push and your arm swinging out on the spin-move. For balance your arm has to swing out naturally in order to stay balanced. The tough part for the ref is whether or not the player making the spin-move is pushing off wit that arm. Yao spins and his arm comes out but very little force is used to the naked eye which is why it doesn't get called too often. If a defender were to flop or lose actual position from a push-off then it would be a foul but you have to at least allow for the natural movement of the arm. The thing about Yao though is that he's so mechanical that some of his offensive fouls are a lot clearer to see than some of the players who can foul smoothly, if that makes any sense.
I agree it's a fine line. To my memory, Olajuwon's similar spin move didn't involve the exaggerated helicopter motion of the off arm, which Yao usually uses to make contact with / dislodge his opponent. Of course, Olajuwon had a speed/quickness advantage against every opponent that Yao decisively lacks. I agree it might not always prove a decisive advantage, but, again at least to my eye, there shouldn't be much leeway given to an offensive player intentionally making contact against a defender when he has the ball. Yao employs his off arm when he's half a step past the defender, often keeping it extended against an opponent's body as a blocking force, maintaining the advantage of the move's surprise, making it unlikely for the defender to catch up to the play. The posted YouTube of the practice vid was the only thing that popped up searching for "Yao spin move." This highlight package shows a few better examples. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r8STO24L_NY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r8STO24L_NY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> In play number ten, I think Yao's off arm decisively shoves then-Knick Deke, influencing the play. In play number one (around 2:25 in), though less decisive, Yao employs the same move, using his upper arm to block the defender's recovery (kind of like a defensive end's swim move), before summoning the spirit of #34 for the highlight. I don't want to beat a dead horse (and Yao is often beaten, sans whistles, as badly as a dead horse), but I always feel cognitive dissonance when rooting for Yao when he employs this signature move, which in my mind relies for its success on an uncalled offensive foul.
