I know it's only two games into the preseason but Yao is currently getting 8-9 FTs in only 21-22 minutes of play. Extrapolate and you get 12-14 FTs a game depending on how many minutes he plays. But we expect at least 30-33 minutes right. Considering he has only averaged 5.4 attempts over his career this seems promising.
I think they've gotten better at getting Yao the ball in the deep post. They are definitely trying to force-feed the ball to him. I could see some players trying to direct him into the post when he was trying to set a pick up high. He's not messing around with dribbling the ball either - he's just taking the shot. I saw one play that looked like it was designed to beat fronting defenses early in the first quarter.
I think most of the fouls have just been pretty obvious. However, they are still inconsistent. One trip down the floor, Yao could get thrown to the ground without a call, and then the next play they call the defender for pushing in the back with two hands. I think if anything, it is a combination of playing against sucky players and getting fed the ball in deep position.
Well, I watched last night's game and the fouls on Yao was just so obvious that the refs have no choice but to make the calls.
i think it's the level of competition Yao has been facing. but I think/hope it's partly some respect/recognition for Yao. If he can start getting just HALF the calls he should, he'll make a killin' at the line. that's good for us.
He got more calls, but he still didn't get a fair shake. Defenders were continually crashing into him when the ball was being lobbed into the post. Refs just seem to allow defenders to do anything to Yao until he gets the ball. I really hope they make some more calls that allow him to get position.
agreed...if anything yao is receiving the same respect as he did last year, but not more...however, its still just preseason so not a whole lot of justification can be presented in these games...
