It was against Desmond Mason who picked him up and threw him to the ground. Yao laid there and let it happen. This is the type of crap I'm talking about.
I think you are overreacting. Yao doesn't need to 'act' tough, whether that be by shoving/pushing/flagrant fouling someone etc. I think the way he responded (by raising his game) is the right way to do it. I also think that he has been doing that consistently for the past year and half (raising his game when faced with the flagrant fouling/hacking etc). Has he been able to do that in every instance? Obv not. He is human after all. Perhaps you are letting your personal experience cloud/bias your judgement of the situation a little bit.
By the way, change of topic here, but this reminds me... I think what this team is missing is a pit bull. A Mario Elie/Charles Oakley type to keep the game in check if the other team tries to pull something like Seattle did last night. Right now the closest thing to a pit bull we have is our coach. But he's more like a chiwuhaua.
That's a fact. there are different ways to respond when someone makes an affront to you like that. His team let Collison know that that sort of thing would not be tolerated, and yao let everyone know that they couldn't hold him. Did you see how many times yao dunked after that? I'm tired of all these people who bag on yao for not being tough enough. Do you not remember the "you can't F***ing stop me"? Do you not see yao step up more for games against Howard and Shaq? Do you not see yao stare people down? Remember when he shouted at theo ratliff? The Yao double chest pound after every big play? His talk about how he needs and wants to dominate? The fact that yao does his fighting by stepping his game up doesn't mean he's a punk, it means he's classy. He RESPONDS when someone pushes him, and is INTENSE, which is all we can ask of him. HOW HE RESPONDS is with class. Anyone who still thinks yao is soft isn't paying attention. And what happens if he responds by fighting? He brains some scrub on a lottery team and he, a perennial all star, gets suspended. Even if it's only a one game suspension, his team is way more likely to lose the game that night during a close race for home court advantage. That, and when a big guy gets into a fight, its dangerous. Tell Rudy T that Kermit Washington just needed to look tough so some idiot journalists and jockos on the web would respect him, i'm sure he'll understand (hopefully some of you know what i'm talking about). My point is that there are various ways of responding to a hard foul like that. The right way to respond is to play intense and to elevate your game. The best player is the best example--whenever Jordan went into the lane against the bad boys pistons, he got fouled, HARD (the Jordan Rules, for those who are uninitiated). He responded by kicking ass. This is what yao does. He gets mad, yes, and he kicks ass. Listen to what everybody says about Yao--he's one of the most competitive, driven, hardworking people in the Association. If you want fights, go to an Aeros game.
Well, don't get me wrong. I am happy with the fact that Yao has greatly elevated his game over the past couple of years ( thanks in large part to JVG giving him tough love ), but I think as time goes on and teams start realizing they can't beat him fairly, they'll start providing cheap shots more and Yao can't always have Juwan and Tracy fighting for him.
Enough said, you just cannot expect a Shanghainese to pick up a fight! Which is classy and good for both Yao and rockets, however there are still some people would rather give up all the good and go for a silly fight.
If Jordan got thrown like that, he would've clocked someone. And Jordan got into a few fights when the line was crossed. You have to fight back when the line is crossed. Always. This is not to say one must retailiate every single time, but when that line is crossed you gotta make some attempt at fisticuffs. I mean, like, next time some one does what Collison does to Yao and it's not the playoffs ( or maybe even if the playoffs ), Yao should get in their face, even if it's just for a stare and a few words. And if it esculates? At least shove the guy. You can't allow yourself to get thrown like that, whether if it's in a basketball court or some guy comes up to you at the mall and throws you down on the ground.
I like what Shane Battier said: I think that Yao's response showed much more "toughness" than he could have shown if he had just lowered himself to Collison's level. Finding it within himself to elevate his play, punishing Seattle without losing his temper- that showed real inner strength.
I agree with the "get in his face" part. I think yao does that, maybe not outwardly so casual spectators like us can appreciate it, but it was apparent how hard yao played after that point. But fisticuffs? The point is, when jordan made it past the pistons to the finals , he didn't clock anybody, he just proved to be indomitable. look at our most recent finals MVP---fall down 7 times, get up 8, right? They foul you because they can't stop you. So just get up, dust off, and be unstoppable--that's what Jordan did, that's what d-wade did, that's what yao did last night. I guess it's the debater in me that makes me think you don't have an argument unless you have a warrant for it, and lord knows there is no warrant for "You have to fight back when the line is crossed. Always." That's not an argument, that's the bullsh!t machismo that nearly got Rudy T killed, dropped the nuggets a couple of seeds in the playoffs, and could have lost us our best player, a game, or the HCA. Simply not worth it. Yao did not "punk out." He showed that they couldn't stop him even by tackling him, as a matter of fact he showed that would only make him mad and they'd pay for it on the scoreboard. That's a way bigger statement then knocking yourself out of the game and hurting your team just to "defend the line." The basketball court isn't the mall. It's not the street. Honor out there isn't won by fighting, it's won by dominating. Yao did that, and i think that's way tougher then KOing a scrub who's a foot shorter than you. Just my opinion.
I think I said everything that I want said. It's gotten beyond the point of a broken record. Surely it's not the lack of people misunderstanding anymore what I'm trying to say. I guess most of you, if someone tackled you, would let that happen, just stand back up, look down on the floor and continue doing whatever is you happen to be doing. And you'd translate that as taking the high road. And if you start developing some kind of reputation as a pushover and others continue to pester you, you just walk the other way and probably let your little brother or mom or wife defend you, it's called taking the high road. Then if someone wonders why you're not putting a stop to it you say things like that is what gets Rudy T almost killed ( huh? ) and call it the high road then... ...what more can I say? We simply disagree. But I do know a bit about Chinese people and some of you might too, and I can guarantee that it's far easier for Yao to let others fight for him and work around the problem than face anything directly. This is something I get a feeling he does naturally and it takes no courage on his part to do what he does. On the contrary, if he had a history of fighting and he improved upon that ( a la Hakeem ), I would've respected it more, but this is completely the opposite. Turning the other cheek and avoiding eye contact is more of a product of his cultural upbringing than anything courageous. But anyway, he's improving a lot on it and he's a hard worker, but the toughness can be improved. Seeing how he played in the third quarter last night shows that there is a higher level that how he usually plays and his passiveness is holding my boy back. If, one day next season, he snaps, gets into a fight ( harmless fight, not one of those Rudy T/Kermit fights ) and then comes back kicking ass like he did and averages 35 and 15 for a whole season, this thread will be realized for being ahead of its time. To all, I bid you good night. ZZZ.
that's an excellent point!! I always wonder why all the fights in NBA or in other major sports in US are fist fights, no legs, no knees.
and do you honestly believe Yao doesn't get into a fight when provoked because he thinks all about his endorsement deals in the heat of moment?? that's just a lame excuse for him being too scared to stand up for himself.
You don't know squat about Chinese people if you think they don't like to fight. Just because you know some college students or sons of engineers, doesn't mean you know Chinese people. The fact is that most Chinese people we Americans come in contact, whether here or in China, are the elite intellectual class. These same groups in the U.S. are loathe to fight too. It's not a matter of race or culture, but class. I know too many Chinese hoodlums who brawl at the slightest things, often drunk. It's not something to be proud of, or even courageous. One of my first memories of Beijing was at a McDonald's. The customer got pissed off at the cashier, and jumped over the counter to attack the employee. I've seen so many fights in China, more than in the U.S. I don't know where you get your cultural authority from, ZZZ.
I am Chinese and I agree that there are parts of chinese culture teach people to be non-confrontational...however same as you I wish Yao could stand up on his own - for one, I don't think Collison would dare to fight Yao is Yao gets into his face. AND, the generalization of chinese being timid is overdone. There are a lot of Chinese who would stand up for themselves and not being pushovers, myself included.
Depends on where it happens, einstein. What we are talking about here is during a NBA basketball game when thousands pairs of eyes are watching and ESPN is waiting to put that on their networks. Do you get it now?
to me its not so much yao that needs to fight, is that we dont have one fiery personality in our rotation, no one with the demenor of a bob sura or mike james would would have flown head first into collison if they were on the court at the time. I think as long as we have it in the rotation, we dont need it from Yao and Tmac, i wish Yao stood up a little faster, it was kinda odd for people to be fighting and no one helping him up
