Yao fouled out twice in this young season and got 2 quick PFs within 3 mins or so in two games. With a quick search, I was shocked to dicover that the lead referee for ALL these 3 games was the same person: BILL SPOONER. Those three games were: 1) at Bobcats last night (called his 2nd PF at 3min mark; fouled out 2 mins before regulation ended); 2) at New Jersey Nov 15 (called his 2nd PF at ~3min mark); 3) vs Sac at home (fouled out in regulation; game went to OT). Rewinding the tapes, you will learn that a lot of those calls were BS phantom calls, not to mention numerous no-calls committed by his defender. Why don't Rockets send the NBA and Stern a tape compiling an analysis of the calls and no-calls against Yao by SPOONER in those 3 games?
Good find Nautic, damn thats crazy. I swear we need to pull a Pat Riley and call out some of these refs....
I think calling him on it will only make things worse unless the ref would get fired or suspended (which wouldnt happen). The last thing we need to do is piss off all the other refs.
"Yao fouled out twice in this young season and got 2 quick PFs within 3 mins or so in two games. With a quick search, I was shocked to dicover that the lead referee for ALL these 3 games was the same person: BILL SPOONER. Those three games were: 1) at Bobcats last night (called his 2nd PF at 3min mark; fouled out 2 mins before regulation ended); 2) at New Jersey Nov 15 (called his 2nd PF at ~3min mark); 3) vs Sac at home (fouled out in regulation; game went to OT). Rewinding the tapes, you will learn that a lot of those calls were BS phantom calls, not to mention numerous no-calls committed by his defender. Why don't Rockets send the NBA and Stern a tape compiling an analysis of the calls and no-calls against Yao by SPOONER in those 3 games?" That would require that JVG actually stand up for his players. It's not coincidence that the lowest average numbers of PFs a game that Shaq had throughout his career was when he was in LA under Phil Jackson. JVG doesn't care about his players unless it's to berate them and beat them down.
nice work Nautic. Now find out his phone number and where he lives. We'll send some Yao Maniacs after him.
I remember in an article, Yao told Chinese reporters that a black ref has been given him bad calls ever since his rookie year. It started few years back during the World Championship in Indiana. This ref called a travel on Yao, and Yao complained to him, ¡°Do you know what a travel looks like?¡± Ever since this minor altercation, this ref went out his way to make some ridiculous call on Yao. I don¡¯t know who Bill Spooner is. Is he an Africa American? If he is, then he is the guy that Yao mentioned. I don¡¯t know if Yao told JVG about this. However, Rockets organization must do something to stop those ridiculous calls.
The uncalled fouls hurt us not only by keeping Yao from scoring, but also because they prevented us from opening up the offense. If Yao can't do anything inside, we won't be able to free up our shooters outside for open shots. That's why we were taking contested shots all night.
Athletes who tries to break the status quo has always faced challenges in their new environment. The likes of Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe faced much more hardships than Yao have faced, yet they have succeeded despite the many injustices and are now honored for not only their athletic abilities but also their mental toughness in the face conflict and racial slurs. Yao, being the first real Chinese athlete to take center stage in a mainstream sport in the U.S. should expect such abuses from the referees. Instead of complaining with that same pouty expression and cowering under the prejudice, he should take it like a man and play on with a vengeance. He should not allow the wills of the narrow-minded few to change the course of his own goals and aspirations. Frankly, if he continues to succumb under the so called ‘scrutiny’ against him then not only does he deserves the lack of respect from the referees but should not get a lick of compassion from us fans either, especially the Asian American fans.
It's amazing that I always thought that I had seen the worst officiating on Yao (in the league) and yet the officials constantly outdid themselves. Last night was just amazing: Yao made a nice baseline move to the hoop = offensive foul; Yao tried to shoot, got mugged by 3 hands at least = a Yao TO; Yao got an offensive board, tried to dunk, got slapped on the arm by two defenders = a Yao TO; that little guy jumped into a standing Yao with perfect position and with feet firmly planted to the floor = a Yao personal foul. It does not matter whether you are Shaq or Wilt. You are doomed to fail at the mercy of these bastards refs, maybe should be called ****ing refs with racial biase on their dirty minds. A bunch of gay, sissy refs who deserved to get pounded behind the bars not on the NBA court.
Your research was wrong. Yao was not fouled out against Sac at home. He scored 33 and led us a win in OT against the Queens. I guess that it was at home against Paul Gasshole and the Grizzles that we won the game in a thriller.
If the empires always made bad call when Jackie Robinson was at bat, could he get .311 avg? You are very ridiculous. Almost every players complain about bad calls against them, and it is a right thing for Yao to do that too. I do not see Yao ever played racial card in any of his own words, so how did you get the crap in your post? You also sound like it is Yao's fault when refs give him bad calls.
It was very effective what Mark Cuban did. I think he kept great details of referees officiating the Mavericks games. Being a referee is an honor, and I think Cuban threatened the livelihood of many of these referees. They know where their bread is buttered.
This is why Yao should a develop a killer jumper that will allow him not to be affected by the referees on the road. I'll take Brad Miller's jumper over Yao's hook shot on the road.
I do not deny the greatness of Jackie Robinson, but there is something different between baseball games and bascketball games. For example, bad calls make different degree of impact on a baseball player and a bascketball player. If the empire made two bad calls against Jackie Robinson such as calling two strikes instead of balls, it did not hurt that much. but when Yao gets two bad calls, he faces the possibilty to be completely out of the game.
Someone should make a compilation of bad calls on Yao. Especially with clips of the commentators mentioning it.
