After last time these two teams played, Fakers complained about one foul called on Shaq. I think refs deliberately fouled out Yao in OT to please Fakers. Maybe arranged by NBA officials. If they call offensive fouls like that, Shaq will be out in 15 minutes every game. I think Rox has to complain the calls this time. Then next time something in favor of Rox will hopefully be arranged.
Well, being perfectly honest, I thought Yao's 6th foul happened the trip BEFORE that call, when Kobe ran into him. Sure, Kobe plowed into Ming, but Ming was far from set and had even jumped into the air a little bit. I kind of saw the two calls offsetting each other. What REALLY pissed me off was that on our final shot of the first OT, we didn't even get any rim. Why did we not get rim? MARK FREAKING MADSEN.
Rock solid truth. If you want to win on the road (this applies to the last Lakers game, too), you don't let refs factor into the game - the aggressor & home team always get calls. If you are neither, you are SOL.
The Rox FAILED to score on the last three possessions of the first overtime period. That's where they lost the game.
it's hard to win a game if the refs take your best player out of the game intentionally and then turn a blind eye when you get hacked shooting the game winning shot. turnovers or no turnovers, the refs were working against us.
I agree that the refs made the wrong call on the Kobe charge. But that was a tough call and it took a replay to be sure. The foul called on Yao to get him out of the game is inexcusable. It was obviously not a foul and they gave the call to Madsen? This isn't Kobe or Shaq or even Vlade, it's Madsen. Horrible call.
Even it's a payback to the wrong calls on the Lakers, it's far more costly. Kobe wasn't taken out by the offensive charge, but Yao was.
Terrible officiating. But we had our chances to seal the win but oh well for some reason I didn't feel as bad as the previous losts. I hope the rockets play like this all the time. Playing the right way will get you more W's than L's.
They both had enough shots tonight, the problem with these guys is shooting. That's a technical problem than can be fixed and needs to be addressed soon.
The foul-out call on Yao was laughable, but don't pin this loss on the officials. In the NBA you're rarely gonna get calls going your way on the road - just gotta play through it. Rox didn't deserve to win this one. Pretty disappointed in direction Rudy is NOT TAKING THIS TEAM D R
As much as i hated seeing that bulls&*t call on Yao, I have to admit that Kobe did not charge on Yao. So take your pick. Furthermore, the refs had nothing to do with Yao's errant pass, or the Rockets not hitting their shots.
They had been calling crappy fould on the rox all night against Kobe....If Kobe breathed as he went into the pain the Rox were called for blocking his breath....the Kobe charge was a tough call, but it was hard until the replay...but then the call on Ming when Madsen is hanging on his arm just prior to that is so weak.....of course, Ming should not have thrown the ball away just prior too. Bottomline: you are not going to win the calls on the road especially against a smaller defender on Ming and against Kobe...Refs will always back the smaller defender.... In retrospect, Francis hits his usual arsenal of jumpers and we hit our throws earlier in the game and we win going away..... I think it is interesting that Francis keeps having these dreadful games against the best teams....something to think about. Sure he has big ones too, but there seems to be as many dreadful ones too recently
I hate that little circle, I mean come on, if it is a charge, it is a charge. The circle makes no sense, make em play the game the right way. All that being said, we got outsmarted, Madsen outsmarter our rookie, it won't happen again. DD
I was glad to see our Rookie have a good game to lead the Rox. Our leaders have lost their touch. Francis was having problems with his shot etc. but only had 6 assists in a double overtime game. I feel this is the starting point of all the Rox problems and the fundamental of Team Basketball. Before we even consider anything we must answer the question are we building our team arround Francis or Yao Ming? The Answer must be our starting point.
I didn't see it that way. The refs blew calls each way. Kobe got off because of slow and/or weak double teams. Kobe went to the free throw line 11 times. Francis and Mobley both shot 8 ft's apiece.
Two things made us lose that game: First, Mobley is too stupid to pull up and hit an easy ten footer to win the game. It looked like every time he drove he wasn't going to settle for anything less than a dunk even though he was wide open from five feet away. Second, the refs pulled an absolute screwjob. I don't know what replay Rockets TV showed, but on TNT, they froze it with Yao's right foot inside the circle, but they froze it after the contact had started and Yao had been driven back inside the circle by the contact. That notwithstanding, they called TWO straight phantom offensive fouls on Yao. On the "hooking" call, Yao's arm was above Madsen's back and he was just trying to free it up, not gain position. But you knew the Rockets weren't going to win when they called Taylor for an offensive foul in one of the worst calls I've ever seen. No Laker expected to get that call. Bottom Line: Rockets got screwed by the refs, but they had a chance to overcome it and couldn't deliver in the clutch. Just a piss poor play by Mobley, plain and simple.
Yeah, no joke. He was hanging all over Yao, and when Yao shrugged him aside, Mad Dog fell over, and they called an offensive foul. What a joke.
