Ok, so you managed to justify the no call on Blount. I can see that and I accept it. How do you justify 2 hands on Yao's bicep dragging his arm downward by Raef? He sure ain't looking for no bug on the ceiling.
And you are able to determine the vector direction of LaFrentz's arms how from this still picture? IMHO and in real time McGrady's shot was so terrible and so quick to hit the floor that this single snap-shot distorts both how close the trio of players were to the ball and (due to camera angle from the floor) how far off of the floor the ball was in reality when the arms became interlocked. Observe that the trio is at the dotted "charge" line. The "charge" arc is 4' from the backboard. The backboard is 3' from the end line. The trio of players is 6 to 7 feet from the baseline. If you watch the play on tape or DVR, you will see that the ball went to the floor untouched and nearly hit out of bounds before Juwan grabbed it. Blount, Yao and Raef are 6 feet from the ball. All I've asked anyone to do is to go back and look at the play in real time because I think the picture distorts reality. Hey, intelligent people can disagree...but at least don't take the picture at face value without questioning it.
Okay, how bout this.....F*#k the picture. Okay? Pretend it never even existed. It is but a rumour. Moving on.....anyone who feels Yao is fairly/properly officiated game in and game out in accordance with the league rules handbook is either high, blind, or Mark Cuban. The problem is obvious and one (rumoured) picture is not going to hide or expose this problem either way.
I understand your point about how bad the shot was by McGrady and about how the contact did not effect this play because of the extreme downward trajectory of the shot. And a freeze frame does distort reality. But the fact of the matter is Yao gets roughed up continually and the contact is never called until he retaliates and then they call the foul on him. The picture is just an excuse to show what we have been complaining about. The pushing, grabbing, dislodging, happens over and over. If we wanted to break down film and look at every offensive posession, a video expert could string together several hundred pictures showing frame by frame pushing, grabbing, dislodging, etc. The biggest difference between Yao and the other players in the league is his extreme size and his mellow temperment. A lot of the contact on Yao would knock other players down, a lot less pushing would dislodge most other players, and the facts of the matter are most players with a lot less contact than Yao gets would retaliate with fisticuffs and draw attention to the pushing, pulling, hacking, and grabbing. Charge arc or not, 6 or 7 feet away or inches away, Raef is using his hands and arms to pull down Yao. And it happens all the time. Just because they are 6 feet away from the ball doesn't make it legal. He is being impeded. If he wasn't impeded, who is to say whether or not he would have got to the ball. He may have been in position before the shot got there. The picture just represents the frustration that we as fans feel when we witness the abuse game after game in 'real time'.
I don't know how you define interlocked. To me what this picture shows is two arms of one player locking one arm of another. No matter what angle the shot was made, or how bad the shot by TMac was, whatever, that picture shows a hard foul committed by two players on Yao and neither was called. I watched the whoe game on my recorded VHS tape and I did not see this horrible display of sportsmanship at all. The reason must be what you said, the it happened too quickly. But, I am not going to waste my time to review it because the picture makes it too damn obvious. It only shows how "skilled" some of the NBA players are when it comes to playing dirty tricks without being caught. No I am not whining. I am just looking for fair plays and consistency from the refs.
Maybe raef thought that the game had changed into a square dance..... This whole discussion reminds me of PR people covering for Bill Clinton - ie how do we redefine sex so it is not really sex, until of course, your wife finds out where little Willy has been. Then I can guarantee you she has a really fixed opinion on the definition. And if Shaq wrapped Raef's arm and threw him around like a rag doll I can guarantee you Celtics coaching staff would be going nuts screaming at refs for a call. A foul is a foul even if it is not called. Karla did bearhug Clyde and that was a foul.
Real time or not, the bottom line is Yao does not get the benefit of calls in the post. Yao contrary to what many believe is not a post up player. He really likes to face the basket and has done so primarily before getting to the league. The Rockets have forced him to try and become a player he is really not suited to be. I'm not saying that he should never post up or can't, if you asked him I bet he'd say he'd rather face the basket and shoot the 10-15 footer. I would love to see Yao become a dominant force inside, but in reality he will never be unless he magically becomes very mean inside with a " I don't care approach when he gets the ball down low. By that I mean he needs to "Get Big" which means when he turns with the ball in the post his elbows should be out and if he catches someone's jaw when he turns, so be it. I'm not advocating he hurt anyone, but he needs to send a message. Players in the league do not fear him in terms of the possibility of catching a elbow in the post. That's not the case with other dominant post players, past and present. Sorry for the rant.
Discussing Yao's fouls is a stupid thing. The Refs in NBA are the worst in the basketball world. This is why Ducan played like a rookie in the world cup because there is not discrimination treatment for a star or special guy. Business is Business. NBA is just one of the business. Hoping yao get a justify official is like a joke. When yao entered NBA, Many peoples told yao that he got a foul because his hands were not up right. Now Yao do stand in and put up hand, someone say because yao's body is slightly foreward he should take a foul. I think next time they will tell us because yao's head is not at the right direction he will get his call.
I think its not about Yao being so big and whe he turns he bumps and moves his opponents and the offensive fouls were called. What about Shaq? he is even bigger and much more aggresive, why is he not getting so much offensive fouls?
WEll its good to see all the fans upset about the bais officiating against yao. What we need to do now is write the nba emails about this bais. Not just 3 or 4 of us cause that won't make a difference hundreds of us need to flood the nba office with emails. Go to rockets.com and write our front office and get Jeff and carroll to respond by sending tapes in showing the bais. THis is how you start a trend and if the result is fair officiating thats all we ask. Go Rockets!!!
A LOT of this is on Yao.... The officials have been calling it this way for 3+ years now, why can't Yao adjust? Does he always have to stand in the way? Choose your spots to challenge the shot...other times...get out of the way...let em score...... DD
Bro, I hear ya, but in last nights game against the T-wolves he tried to get out of the way SEVERAL times and was still whistled for fouls. This borders on silly. i really believe he is the worst officiated big man in the game. YEs, Shaq gets fouled alot, BUT the refs let him get physical quite a bit. I would have no problem with the refs letting guys get physical with Yao, IF he could be physical in return. Unfortunately this is not the case.
I totally agree....Yao is getting royally screwed....BUT.....he needs to play a little smarter.... Let em score a bit, watch JVG get angry....but not at Yao...at the pathetic defense of the guards. Also, JVG could help a ton by playing an occasional ZONE defense. DD
I think Yao should just listen to Bullard and next time go up to block the shot rather than just standing there taking the charge. The refs are gonna blow the whistle ANYWAY..so might as well be intimidating. If the opponents think you will just stand there, they will take it at you every time, drawing more fouls.
There have been very few instances this season where the refs have let the big men bang and play down on the blocks. The only time I can remember is the game versus Miami and consequently Yao did very good in that game and he ended up dunking one on Zo. I think if Yao had been getting officiated consitently he would be more willing to bang and let bang, because in the end he would come out on top. Subsiquently Yao has been eratic on his defensive pressence and has been aggressive on some ocassions and in other instances he has been more willing to try and draw offensive fouls, which has been mostly ended up playing out against him. All I wish for is some sort of consistency among the refs in which he can have a better feel for which calls will go his way and which ones wont.
I agree with this. I am not sure why JVG doesn't like running a zone, at least part of the time. i know he addressed this issue once on 610am but I don't remember what he said exactly. It seems to me that running a zone when Yao is in the game may not be a bad idea simply to try to eliminate his foul trouble. When Deke or Stro is at center go back to man to man.
I wouldn't mind seeing more of this either. I think if he knocked a few guys to the ground, nothing cheap or dirty but tough and physical, guards MIGHT be less likely to attack him off the dribble.
