Something about how Yao goes up for blocking shots

Eaton had long, long arms:

 

Arms, schmarms -- Eaton was 7'4" with a 6" vertical, while Yao is 7'6" and can jump at least twice as high as Eaton ever did in his dreams. I think it's more about timing and technique than anything else. Yao could block guys in the Chinese league without really having to learn how to do it properly. Here in the NBA, he can't. Time to buckle down and learn, big fella.

 

Im sorry just i have yet to see Yao jump high in any game this year. Thats one of his main problems he just dosnt jump

 

I never said he jumps high -- I said he jumps higher than Eaton ever did. Admittedly, with these two guys, we're talking vertical leaps that are measured in centimeters, not inches.

 

You missed the one in LA game, where he ran towards Atkins(?), who was siting at the right corner, from from 20 fts away. Unfortunately, he went for the fake, and the Lakers had an easy 2.

I don't want him jump much because I won't want him to land 300lb+ on those knees & feet repeatly. If he just straight his arms up, timing a little better, it will alter majority of the shots, get most of the rebounds.

 

LOL true..

 

How right you are. I remember Reaf LaFrentz once had over 3 blocks a game.

 

I agree with you. The way the refs call the game on Yao is absolutely ridiculous. When he goes straight up and his hands are straight up, and the defender runs into him, it is not a blocking foul unless he is inside the lower circle. Yao is consistently called for this and he shouldn't be. If this one call was changed by the referees you would see a totally different Yao defensively as well as offensively because he would affect the opponent's shots and drives to the hoop much more and he would not be in foul trouble constantly. Just compare the physical contact that guys like Ratliffe, Big Ben, Shaq, Deke, and others are allowed compared to Yao. It is utterly absolutely ridiculous.

It reminds me of the Shaq rules. Shaq and his coaches complain constantly about the amount of contact that the defense is allowed on him with just cause. He gets beat to death in the paint. But when Shaq came into this league, he initiated 90% of the contact when he had the ball. The refs did not whistle him for even 1 out of 5 offensive fouls that he committed. The only way that they had to even up the game was to let a lot of contact go on Shaq. Hence, he started getting hacked, slapped, and pushed constantly. If you remember the young Shaq, he would grab the ball, and do the Barkley Big Butt backdown move, and then turn and hook the defender around the kidneys while the defender stood straight up with his hands in the air. Shaq would then get the dunk and the foul call for the 3 point try from the FT line. We saw that play a couple thousand times and no foul was ever called on Shaq. The defender got called every time and most of the time they are standing there rubbing their kidneys wondering what they did to get the foul call since Shaq initianted 100% of the contact. The refs decided they couldn't call that offensive foul on Shaq. So they let all the pushing and hacking go on Shaq.

Now with Yao it is a slightly different story. The refs are looking at the dude and he's 7'6". They know that nobody can realistically block his shot if he turns and faces. They know he has the clear advantage there. So, what do they do? They don't call any of the fouls when his forearm, wrist, and elbow are tapped or any body contact when he is shooting. And on the defensive end, because he is 7'6" they are holding him to a much higher standard on the defensive contact than the Ben Wallaces and Ratliffes in this league.

Yao has the right to space but because he is a 7'6" giant with skills the refs are limiting his space defensively because if they didn't, most of our games would be no contest.

I don't think it is a conspiracy with the refs but rather it is the general attitude that one player cannot possibly be that much better and have that much of an advantage just because he is so big. The problem is Yao is a big man with skills. If he didn't have skills, then he would be just another big lunk. And that's what the refs think he should be, just another big lunk.

You see, if the refs called Yao correctly, then he would start getting a lot of calls on the offensive end and they would hold their whistle a lot longer on the defensive end. This would in turn take pressure off our other defenders to help out Yao and instead of committing a lot of reaching in fouls and such, they would just defend hard straight up and if they got beat to the bucket they would be depending on Yao for the bailout and would just rotate to cover Yao's man. That would make our defense so much better and would put us in the same class with San Antonio defensively. And there would be a lot less people on this board complaining about Yao's lack of aggression. It's hard to be aggressive when you know the refs are gonna blow their whistle if you rub a pinkie on the opponent.

I'm not saying that Yao never fouls or never makes mistakes. I am saying that at least half of Yao's foul calls are total bologna and he doesn't get but about half the foul calls for him against his defender that he should on the offensive end as well. If you watched the last Denver game, it was so obvious. There were at least 5 blatently obvious fouls while Yao was shooting and the refs did not blow the whistle. The replays clearly showed the hacks. Not to mention the body contact on him underneath when he is going up for the layup/dunk.

My problem is that I don't think Van Gundy is anywheres near vocal enough about how the refs call the game on Yao. He will say on a talk show on the radio that Yao is the worst refereed player in the NBA but during the games, when the whistle is blowing or not blowing he just makes passive comments to the refs about the calls. If I were him, I would have gotten thrown out of that game against Denver intentionally when the game was well out of hand if not before hand. Yeah, supposedly the refs will retaliate and call it worse. But the league will not let it go on forever if it gets out of hand. However if all they have to deal with is Van Gundy complaining a little then they aren't gonna do anything. Van Gundy has to make an issue out of it, and take some fines for making strong comments, and the Rockets front office people need to string together the video and not only send it to the league but publicize it so that it becomes a big story in this league and does get attention. Van Gundy needs to talk about the fact that the calls on Yao affect his play and he feels it is unfair and he has to annunciate incidents during the games that illustrate such. Each game is just more proof. You could take video of Yao playing offensively and defensively and compare it to Camby and KMart playing offensively and defensively and show what Yao got called for and what KMart got away with, show all the hacks on Yao's shot, in just one game. It's not like it's just an occasional missed call. It is consistently bad refereeing on Yao. Every game the evidence is abundant. There are dozens of calls and no calls every game that prove the point.

The refs are obligated to call the game fair and square and when it is proven that they are not calling it right, then they will have to change or find another job. But none of this will happen as long as Van Gundy is as passive about the refereeing as he is. Last year, Steve and Cat were the ones that had to do all griping, begging, and pleading, and taking all the technicals for this team. Yao isn't going to ever do that. The most he will do is to walk up and question the ref about a call. Somebody has to have his back and that somebody is sitting on the sidelines with a suit on. Van Gundy is the one who has to apply the pressure with the referees to get fair treatment for Yao.

 

Very good post I agree with you. Damn it is sorta frustrating cuz Yao really does not get any good calls for him..well rarely. It sucks cuz they limit him like you said. Damn officials someone needs to complain. very good post I agree with jopatmc

 

if yao would swat at the ball when going for a block he would be called for a foul everytime.

the guy can't even stand with his hands up and not get called for a foul.