Last night was a rare thing. Did Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars all line up creating a cosmic rift that ripped right through the Toyota Center? The refs called an extraordinary number of fouls on Yao's defenders while Yao only received one. Look at the stats. Last Night: Yao - 1 foul Yao's Defenders - 16 fouls Before Last Night: Yao - 4.0 fouls Yao's Defenders - 5.3 fouls (partial guess based on opposing center stats) I don't think we need a poll asking about everyone's perceptions of how the refs have treated Yao thus far in his career. There isn't much to argue about - Yao doesn't get the calls he deserves... and most franchise players get tons of calls that they don't deserve. They are allowed to travel, palm the ball, and charge whenever they want. I actually think that last night Yao received several calls that he did not deserve. Are the refs capable of actually calling play in the post rationally? Not yet. We have swung from one extreme to the other so far this season.
Regardless of what calls he got throughout the game the non call on he dunk attempt was insane, if you cannot see someone jump straight and recieve a push to the midsection you are blind.
Not to mention his freakin' hand was all over Yao's forearm... I was a mad man. But it all evens out over the course of a game and you have to fight not to be in that position in the first place.
I hate that phrase cause bad calls through three quarter cannot be made up in the 4th . . . bad calls put u down twenty. . . . make up calls in the last 5 minutes of the fourth are BS Rocket River
yao's hyper-extended elbow is perhaps the best thing to happen to the world since sliced bread. instead of shooting those lame arse jumpers from 10 to 15 feet the dude is starting to get bad and bang it in with the big boys. there's enough people on this team that shoots jumpers... we didn't need some 7'6" guy to do the same. luckily the elbow injury threw off his shot to the point where he can now operate on the inside, shoot a higher fg%, and quit being a wuss. go yao. i'm thinking that having mutombo to go up against in practice may be helping with this a tad bit as well. now, to stay on topic with the thread... i don't think there's a bad foul that's called (now when fouls aren't called... then yeah). it totally depends on which team has the momentum during the game to where the majority of the fouls are going to be called. it just so happened that the rox spent the majority of the game trying to come back, so the momentum was in their favor during the whole time they were trying to climb over the hill. and the time that they were trying to erase the deficit (sp?) yao had the ball most of the time. this team is going to be bad arse. i'm suprised at the amount of optimism on the board though we've lost more than won. good job fellas.
You may be on to something there. Yao made that comment in that Chinese article about since his outside shooting was off, that he'd rather operate in the post instead of running the pick and pop for open jumpers. And last night I remember a play where Yao got the ball for an open 10 footer, and he did a pump fake, took it into the lane for a five foot hook shot that was good. The only bad this is that his FT shooting is decidedly off so far in the season.
Reffing Yao During the last couple games, Bill has made comments that Yao was getting pummelled in the post but they weren't calling it. Last night he drew the apt comparison to the reffing of O'Neal, where all of the slapping and shoving is not called. I thought that was an excellent comparison, and I have been noticing that Yao is indeed being reffed in the same manner as Shaq has been, with one noticeable exception: Yao is not allowed to drop his shoulder and bull his way into the paint as Shaq has been. It seems like every game Yao gets called for at least 2 offensive fouls. I would prefer the refs just call everybody the same way, but since that is not going to happen, at least let Yao get away with the same stuff Shaq does when you let their defender play the same way.
Yao should stop trying to draw charging foul. That's quick and small guy's technique. Most refs won't buy it. Yao, learn from Dikembe what big guy's defense skills.
I say we install a electic shocking device of some sort inside of yao's brace. Everytime Yao attempts a lame fade away or a weak layup, he gets shocked. Negative reinforcement works. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Shockkkkkkkkkkkkk
That has always been a pet pieve of mine. I've always contended that if the refs called normal charges on Shaq, he would foul out after the first 6 posessions.
You might hate that phrase but it's reality. Bad calls didn't put us down by twenty. An injury, poor coaching through two quarters and bad team play put us down by twenty two. One call didn't make or break that game. Until we learn not to put ourselves in that position it won't change. you take all the bad calls for both teams and it all evens out over the course of the game. it doesn't matter which quarter in which it happens. That was certainly a bad call and i was as frustrated as Yao was, but again, it's reality. **** happens. you have to keep your team in a position in which that won't make a difference in the forth quarter. If Yao had shown passion and dominance from quarter number one it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference and that game would have been ours.
The bad calls do not even out. Just look at Yaos whole career now. He gets way too much attention on the defensive end, and not enough consideration on the offensive end. Up to now the refs HAVE been consistent.................they consistently deal him a bad hand. The latest non call on the dunk attempt is just another in a whole string of bad calls and non calls. Besides that, who wants to watch the refs dictate the game, and ........even it out in the end? Just call the game fair and square for petes sake and quit interrupting the game, changing the flow, and dictating the outcome.
That is why the refs have never called all the pushing and hacking on Shaq. They cannot possibly call all his offensive fouls, so to keep it fair and even it out, they dont call all the defensive fouls. This is the Shaq effect. The Shaq effect has led to low scoring games with way too much pushing, shoving, hacking, bumping, kicking, slapping, and flopping. Probably one of the reasons that we lost the gold medal. We have gotten away from pure basketball and have replaced the game with a wrestling match in the paint. The Shaq effect along with the zone defense is killing the NBA.
And if they would call the hacks on Shaq, he wouldn't have to lower his shoulder. He be easily able to beat his man for position, get the ball and dunk.
Those were some interesting fig's. The game against LA marked the first time I've ever seen Yao complain to refs. That might have something to do with it. He's been blocked by language first and culture second in the past - but now he appears to getting over both those barriers - and also - coming around to the fact that the refs are human - the sqeaky wheel gets the oil - players have to represent themselves.
