To be fair to Bogut, I really don't think it's fair to compare him to Yao. Nobody can stop Yao one on one. And I really like the fact that he's willing to play physical and throw his body around, especially when Yao's not on the court. But at the same time, I thought Bogut (the Chinese guards as well) showed some inexperience. For example, with about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the game very close, the Aussies missed an outside jumper. Bogut got the offensive board right under the basket and Yao closed on him. Bogut then tried to lay it off the glass, missed, got the board, tried to lay it off the glass again, missed again and finally got it in the third time. Certainly, credit Yao's intimidation factor, but Bogut didn't think why Yao was just standing there with his hands up straight up in the first place. Yao and Wang were both playing with 4 fouls and one more and his out. With the game very close, I would have taken it up strong and tried to draw a foul. As for the Chinese guards, you know both your big men can't challenge the shot too much or fight too hard on the board. I would have came in and wrapped up Bogut instead of letting him get off shot after shot.
Reading MFW's recap, I have serious concern for officiating on Yao. Unlike NBA playoffs where referees have leeways to offset/balance their one-sided officating in previous game(s) of the same series, in all international tournaments the games after group plays are one-shot deals. Hate to see that referees, not the players, are the decider. As it stands, Yao Ming always seems to be an odd man out in CNT, who receives extra attention from the refs [insert your "Yao is difficult to officiate blah blah"]. Indeed, even in a meaningless exhibition/warm-up game like this that's played in China, refs wasted no time to screw Yao. Maybe MFW is a little biased in his own assessment, maybe Yao is at fault mostly, I don't know.
People often take Yao's Intimidation factor for granted. he changes countless shots which are not given as blocks or registerd in the boxscores. he's Interior defense is as good as anyother big man in the league. BTW, Australia is not a bad team, they rescently beat a star studded french team including Diaw, Parker and diop.
Believe me, Yao owned Bogut alright. The kid tried too hard to come at Yao that he was embarrassed with Yao only in recovering status. He's a great center as well, but shouldn't have irritated the "little giant". Yao's pure existence in CNT has made them a much better team overall. The Aussies was beaten badly before Yao got into the foul trouble.
If you think the Rockets have no one other than Yao and Tmac. Then CNT really has no help for Yao. Wang is only half the player he could be due to injury, Yi and Chen are still too young. The rest of the team are junks.
Thanks for the clrafication . i believe yao will only improve from here on. my only worry is that he or the Chineese national team might rush he's comeback. i hate to see our franchise player be re-injured again. personally i would have rested him in these pre-championship mini tournies.
Unless he doesn't play in the WC, otherwise he need some real game conditioning befoe hand. A 85% Yao is 10 times better than anyone else on the CNT team, so the coach has no choice if he want to make any progress in the WC tournment.
This quote from the Boomers coach really described the game clearly. With Yao on the bench, the Australia team really dominated the game. But with Yao on the floor, it's entirely a different story. Link= China downs the Boomers
Personally i would have ratherd he sat out the World -championships, but i guess yao has way too much pride to do that.
MFW, thanks for the excellent recap. And now, any link to the torrent file of this game? Many thanks.
[SIZE=1]Yao scores 21, game-winner as China tops Aussies Associated Press KUNSHAN, China -- Yao Ming scored the game-winner and finished with 21 points Tuesday to lift China past Australia, 63-61, in its final exhibition before the World Championships. Andrew Bogut's jam tied the game at 61, but he missed a free throw and a chance to take the lead. China took possession with 15 seconds left and Yao scored the winning basket. The game turned into a battle between Yao and Bogut, the Milwaukee Bucks' No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, who scored 20 points. Yao seemed to get the better of most of their exchanges, with Australia grabbing only 12 rebounds in the first half to China's 23. [/SIZE] So, not only did Yao play great, but China won a close one. I love to see Yao close out games, and this is an excellent example of his progress and maturity as a player.
Yao did own Bogut in this game. Bogut racked up most of his stats against the injured Wang (whose defense is non-existant even when healthy). That's not to say Bogut is not a very good player. I liked his aggressiveness.
