this probably doesn't deserve it's own thread but it can't be worse than another fire JVG one. is it legal for a defensive player to extend his arm in the back of a post-up player? i'm almost positive they created a specific rule saying that's an automatic foul, yet defenders are allowed to do that night in and night out on yao with no repercussions. the difference between leaning in with all your weight shoving your hand in someone's back and having to use your forearm is pretty significant. wallace clearly had his hand straight in yao's back right before yao fouled out.
Ben Wallace's forearm extension is not illegal and is almost universal in NBA low post defense. B. Personal Foul Section I--Types a. A player shall not hold, push, charge into, impede the progress of an opponent by extending a hand, forearm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal. Contact that results in the rerouting of an opponent is a foul which must be called immediately. b. Contact initiated by the defensive player guarding a player with the ball is not legal. This contact includes, but is not limited to, forearm, hands, or body check. EXCEPTIONS: (1) A defender may apply contact with a forearm to an offensive player with the ball who has his back to the basket below the free throw line extended outside the Lower Defensive Box.
Did Wallace have his hand on Yao's back (arm extended, like a stiff arm) or was it just a forearm in the back? A forearm is legal, but if that arm is extended, it should be a foul.
I didn't think it was illegal unless it's a push. People do it all the time, including Yao. It's very common, when your man doesn't have the ball, to keep a hand on him to make sure he doesn't go anywhere without you knowing. Also having a hand touching the other player is the sure way to avoid the 3 seconds in the key call.
I think it is illegal. Yao doesn't have the ball a lot of the times when this happens. But this stuff does happen a lot anyways. It certainly seems to ahppen to Yao a lot more though.
He had both at different times during Yao's offensive moves. None of the "stiff arm" moves were IMO hand checks. When Wallace extended his arm fully, he usually did not impede Yao from moving forward. Wallace is very quick and strong (he's a small C at 6-7) and very good at the manuever. Like it or not, it's part of what Ben Wallace has been able to establish with virtually all NBA officials. He commits less than 2 personals per 48 minutes.
Two things: 1) defenders often extend their forearms to push Yao from back BEFORE he catchs the ball. 2) Yao often get a push when he starts a turn around J. The exception in the rulebook doesn't apply here but Yao rarely is awarded FT's.
It all depends on the ref's intepretion for the situation. Technically, a defender cannot use his arm or body to MOVE the offensive player, but you can make the contact, that's why you see the defenders use their forearm on offensive players' back. It's up to the refs to say whether that is just a legal contact, or actually a foul because the defender is trying to move the offensive player.
it says you can't extend your hand and push someone in the first section. the exception to that says you are allowed to use your foream to apply contact but that wasn't what ben wallace did. anyway's i'm not really concerned with that one play or ben wallace's defense on him in general. it seems to me that i rarely see a defender only have a forearm in yao's back. the refs let them get away with any tactic they can, including two hands pushing into him, without blowing a whistle. basically anything in section 1 has no application to yao ming. i'm seriously convinced that refs are deliberately allowing defenders leeway so that yao's advantage isn't as significant.
If (like a large number of posters here), this is a case of "don't confuse me with the facts...my mind is made up", then there's really not much point in discussing the matter. Is Yao difficult to officiate because he's 7'6" and a far cry from Bradley, Eaton and Boll? Yes. Is he difficult to officiate because he's Asian? Hell no. Does Yao enhance the difficulty of officiating him because he's vastly inconsistent with his level of aggressive play? Absolutely.
