Yao scores with 2.7 left on the clock to give China a 63-61 victory over Australia. Stat for Yao: 25 min 21 pts (8-13 fg 5-6 ft) 10 reb 4 asst 2 bl 2 to 4pf. bogut 27 min 20 pts (9-19 fg 2-8 ft! Shaq2?) 9 rb 1 asst 2 bl 4 pf.
How did he "totally" own Bogut. there numbers are pretty much the same. obviously yao is a way better player, but he did'nt totally own bogut. he got the better, ya, but owned is taking a step to far.
I didn't watch the game, just have the boxscore. But I guess Bogut was trying to guard Yao, we can see how well he did. I don't think Yao was guarding Bogut.
Yes, but bogut was also scoring some big buckets at the end of the game. i wouldnt say yao owned bogut. he got the better of him ya...totally owned is like yao getting 40 and bogut about 15 or so.
Yao was guarding Bogut. I wouldn't call it "owned," but only 2 of Boguts baskets and 2 FTs came against Yao. Most of his points came when Yao was on the bench with foul trouble from ridiculous calls. Here is my post in another thread: 63 - 61 China. Yao scored 21 (including game winning basket) and 10 along with 2 blocks and 4 dimes. Positives: - was able to establish deep in the post and seal off his man - did decent against fronting by Bogut - showed good aggressiveness and was unstoppable one on one - controlled the paint including stopping dribble penetration. I count about only 5 baskets in the paint from Australia when Yao was on the court. Jumped straight up when challenging dribblers and stop flat footed for shorter players. Got two blocks and altered a bunch. Basically Australia couldn't get in the paint when he was on the court. Most of their points in the paint came off offensive rebounds - played the first 16 minutes without getting significantly winded, although one has to keep in mind that this isn't NBA level pace. But credit the Chinese guards for actually doing a marginal job at controlling the pace and getting back on transition D - only had I think one turnover - did very well finding the open man against double teams, including a Moochie-esque (from the rookie season) handoff to Liu Wei Negatives: - still getting screwed by the refs (Rockets fans should be familiar with this). I don't know if the fact that the head ref was American has something to do with this as he sure as hell is getting screwed in the NBA. 2 of the fouls were from trying to grab offensive boards. Not over the back, just plain ridiculous fouls. Definitely won't be called in the NBA. Got hacked by Bogut on a baseline spin dunk and missed it, when getting p1ssed off and tried to come right back at him, got called an offensive backing him down. Andrew freakin' Bogut got more star calls. Considering that this is played in China, I don't what the hell is gonna happen when he gets back to the NBA - still a step slow. You can tell that his signature baseline spin doesn't quite beat his man as cleanly as he does in the NBA - jumpshooting still a bit off, although he got in a bit of a rhythm in the 3rd quarter, it was quickly killed by the refs thanks to a ridiculous foul call, see above. - still has problem letting go sometimes. Got beat cleanly by Bogut on a high pick n' roll thanks to his even slower than normal footspeed. Still tried to block the shot from behind and ended up giving what would have been an And1 if Bogut didn't miss the FT - not yet developed chemistry with the team. Went too hight (almost to the FT line) on an 1-3-1 zone and ended up giving up an easy basket due to nobody being under the paint. I wonder how much JVG's teachings have to do with this. Other rants: - refs were a HUGE factor. Put Yao in foul trouble since early in the 2nd quarter which made China's 16 point lead dwindle to 5. Put him in foul trouble again in the 3rd when China started playing better which allowed Australia to catch up. The Aussies where hacking like crazy, including Hack-a-Yao and blatant two handed pushes to keep him out of the paint. Yao's not the only one getting screwed either. When a Chinese player drives to the basket and bumps into a player, it's an offensive. When a Chinese player is standing underneath the basket with arms straight up and an Australian charges in, it's a defensive. Also, they were basically allowing the Australians to play NBA level contact, which is fine if they allowed the Chinese to do the same - Chinese guards suck at taking the ball across half. In the second quarter before the Aussies went into full court press, one of their 4's would come and stand between the two Chinese guards with the ball. The guard would then try to pass over his head which of course, made it very easy for another player to come in and steal the ball while it's in the air. If you are a guard and you can't freakin' outrun a 4, go home, put your head in a brown paper bag and NEVER play basketball again. - Liu Wei sucks. I don't know why he's starting. I don't even know why he's on the team. He can't control the pace of the game at all. Chen Jianghua can't either, but at least he's only 17 and actually knows what to do with the ball sometimes. Even Wang Shipeng plays better. I can understand if a guard tries to drive to the basket on transition play. But Liu Wei's teammates where all behind him and the Aussies already went back on D, including 3 big guys underneath the basket. He tried to drive to the basket with a floater and expectedly had it almost swatted back to half court. On set plays, assuming he makes it across half court (which usually is at the 14 second mark), he'll dribble 6 feet from the top of the key for about 8 seconds and then try to drive to the basket (which he can't) or put up a shot (which he can't make). - the Chinese played good D by their standards but you can still tell the Australians are a lot better. Their switch very quickly from full court press to trap to man on man to zone. - the CNT's rebounding problem is quite simple. Certainly rebounding technics is an issue, but by far the most important reason is that nobody other than Yao knows a lick about boxing out. They also have very low defensive awareness. Number 9 on the Australian court drove to right under the Chinese basket while 3 of the Chinese players still have their back turned running in position. - Is it me or does Bogut flop more in international competition - The Aussies shot terrible on FT, missing something like 8 of them. Ignoring the sucky ref factor, if they made more, they would have won the game. Of course, I believe they also didn't send their best team.
Well, Yao Ming scored the winning basket about 8 seconds before the buzzer. It was Wang Zhizhi who showed his heart and experience, fouling the Australian guard in the mid court, leaving the Australian only 2.7 seconds for their last offense, and they missed their 3-pointer prayer, and lost the game. But China should have won this game easily, if not the difference between international versus NBA rules, and the referees that got Yao Ming into early foul trouble in 3Q.
Great read MFW. great summary. as i said months ago, bogut has a long way to go to reach yao's status. yao will just get better once he gets more match hardened. his fitness will only improve.
From this game I would say that Yao is at least 85% recovered from his injuries. After he dominates the WC while staying healthy, he should be ready for his MVP season in the NBA.
Great summary, MFW. Now we need somebody like aussieRocket to provide the other side's POV on this game.
Yao dominated. Bogut had to get his on 19 shots. Yao got his on 13 shots, leaving a lot more possessions as good shots for his teammates.
Yao Ming just came back from his first major injury...you guys should give him the time to adapt...he is the Houston Rockets franchise player.
What is important is Yao had 4 assists. That's at least 8 points created off the ball. If he can avg around 4 assists per game for China, I think they have a shot of reaching the final 8 or even final 4.
