OT loss leaves Yao fit to be tied Center's 6th foul a turning point for both teams By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Yao Ming was so frustrated he actually considered giving up. The thought crossed his mind to just tie his hands in Game 5 and let the Lakers score at will in the paint. After all, he figured he can't be any less effective than he was Sunday in Game 4, when he fouled out and had to sit and watch his teammates squander their overtime lead. The Lakers took advantage of Yao's absence and defeated the Rockets 92-88 at Toyota Center, giving Los Angeles a chance to end the first-round series with a victory Wednesday night at Staples Center. "I will just put my hands on the back of my head and play defense like that (from now on)," Yao said. Yao's frustration mostly stemmed from the sixth foul the officials called on him, which came with 1:27 left in overtime. The Rockets led by four points when Lakers forward Karl Malone drove toward the hoop and pulled up for a nine-foot jumper. Yao fouled Malone on the drive, and a continuation was called, so Malone's basket counted. "If that's a foul, then I can't play defense," said Yao, who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Yao tried to question the officials about the call, but no one gave him an answer. After the game, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy referred to it as the "play of the game." After the foul, Malone made his free throw to cut the Rockets' lead to 87-86. Yao went to the bench, and the Rockets completely faltered. Kobe Bryant stole the ball on the next possession and took it the length of the court to give the Lakers an 88-87 lead. The Rockets never led again. "I think you could see it was a big blow to us," Yao said. "I think that foul on me was a real turning point. It really hurt us." It was the second game of the series in which Yao fouled out. He also was sent to the bench with six fouls in Game 1, in which the Lakers pulled out a narrow 72-71 victory. On Sunday, Yao played his fewest minutes (34) in a game this series. He spent all but four minutes on the bench in the fourth quarter after picking up his fifth with 10:27 left in regulation. Consequently, Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal stayed on the court the entire time. "Obviously, not having Yao on the floor hurt us," said Rockets forward Maurice Taylor. "When you take your best player off the floor, especially in overtime, and you're playing against a guy the size of Shaq, you definitely want Yao in the game." Despite Yao's obvious postgame frustrations, he left the arena saying, "Tomorrow's a new day." The Rockets will need him to bounce back for Game 5 and continue trying to deal with O'Neal. Yao already has done it twice in this series. He played 40 minutes in Game 2 and had only one foul. In Game 3, he played 42 minutes and had four fouls. Yao's teammates said he is learning a lot about playoff basketball and that they expect him to be fine come Wednesday. "One of the things he is going to have to realize is that Shaq already comes in with the mentality of hitting you first," Taylor said. "So when you hit back, it's obviously going to be a foul, even if you think it's protecting yourself. So Yao might have to get the mentality that he's going to have to hit Shaq first, maybe be tougher on him on the offensive end so maybe he can draw some of those offensive fouls like he did in Game 2. "I know he's frustrated. You foul out of a playoff game, it's overtime -- you're frustrated. But at the same time, we can't let him get away from what he does. He still has to be Yao. He's not Shaq. He still has to focus on doing the things he does." -------------------------------------------------------- I hope fouling out won't cause him to be hesitant on defense in Game 5. If the foul was indeed bogus, the refs will see it when they watch the tape of this game. Maybe that'll send some calls Yao's way when he's posterizing Shaq ... or when Shaq drives through Yao again .. and again.. and again.
I'm waiting on someone to tell YAO to STFU and PLAY or that he Whining Rocket River BTW . . .YAO IS RIGHT his last two fouls were BS to me
That foul on Malone was a phantom foul. I know the Rockets had their chances but that one foul did change the whole game, not only do they cut the lead to one but get Yao out of the game.
Yao has yet to understand that his overall lack of aggressiveness hurts him with the officiating. Getting the calls (aka "respect") in the NBA is an art form, especially with respect to the big guys. Karla is a great example of a bully who has learned to milk the system to his benefit. Putting your hands behind your back saying "no not me" won't get it. And on top of that Yao still gets 2 or 3 really mindless reach in/over the back fouls every game - he should be too smart for that. The NBA game really make no sense in that the player initiating the contact usually gets the calls, but that's how it is. Better figure it out. D R
Hey Rocket River, I've Tivoed and watched every rockets game this year, dyed my hair red Friday and have visited this site everyday. If you consider Yao a whiner then you have not seen the NBA in the past 5 years. On most calls you will see some players start yapping to the Offcials about the call especially Paul Gasol, Karl Malone, Steve Francis, Shaq O'neal, Kobe Bryant the list can go on and on. But the majority of the time Yao keeps quiet. It is about time that Yao says something Publically about the foul he gets called for and the lack of calls he gets on the othe end. However, I do believe that he should not bring it up again unless it starts to get really lopsided because he does not want to be a broken Record. I Believe this is the first time Yao has spoken about the officiating, if I am mistaken I apologize, so this can't be portrayed of Whining if you don't complain all the time.
I think Rocket River was making a statement to the biasness of some fans, who will criticize anything Steve Francis does. They will twist any quote, play, or demonstrative act into something awful, and showing a lack of desire, leadership, or willingness to work within the system. Yet some folks that do this won't apply that standard equally across the board. I could be wrong, but that's how I read the statement.
