Was anyone else outraged like me at the way the refs called fouls against Yao Ming? It seemed to me that the Bobcats gameplan for the whole game was just to have someone dribble penetrate and then force contact with Yao to get a call. Felton in particular tried this strategy on every single Rockets player, not just Yao. It became such a problem that, after Yao made his last free throws which ended up being the margin of victory, Adelman took him out in favor of Hayes since he would be less prone to drawing a foul. I know the league office mentioned that they would not penalize Yao for simply guarding his space and just jumping straight up, but the refs tonight obviously did not get the memo. I know it was on the road, but do you think this kind of treatment will continue?
I saw it too, especially in the 4th when Felton pushed into him while Yao just stood there with his hands up. Terrible call. Then they kept double teaming and fouling him and Yao didn't many of those called.
for the most part this year i have been somewhat surprised that yao has been getting more equitable foul calls. granted he will always get whistled for bs calls but it seems like they have declined this year. anyone else feel this way?
To be honest, I feel that Yao is getting more calls than usual. As in more no-calls than usual when guys run into him. There were more than a few plays where the offensive player initiated the contact and Yao didn't get the whistle, so at least there's some improvement there. As for getting taken out in the end, I'm as big a fan of Yao as anybody, but he got taken out due to his vulnerability to pick and roll plays. Nothing else. Just like a lot of big men, Yao has trouble defending the P/R (Early in his career, Shaq routinely got bounced out of the playoffs by P/R teams like Utah). In a one possession defensive situation, you got to take out Yao.
The worst call of the season so far on Yao was when they called a "moving screen" at Utah when in fact he set an immobile pick... If it wasn't for that yao should at least had a decent game.
with this new rule (which obviously wasnt implemented during tonight's game)... what does this do the the circle under the paint now? so someone takes a charge and their feet are outside of the circle so its a good charge but if theyre inside of the circle they should jump instead of maintaining their defensive space? its seems like the inside cirlce and the new rule of big men can jump and own their vertical space are conflicting
IMO, this isn't even a debatable point. The officials have clearly changed the way fouls are being called on Yao. We all saw the bad call tonight and that wasn't the only one, but overall I'm satisfied so far this year.
I think that's one of the reasons that Yao is averaging more than 2.7 blocks now, 'cause in the past at least 1 or 2 of them would be shooting fouls It' was definitely a good play by RA and had nothing to do with Yao's play/performance.
One thing to for sure is, if Stern wants more happy fans from china and $$$ endorsement there, he needs to tell the ref to be fair to Yao.
completely agree, for the most part yao has been officiated much more fairly than in the past. i like how the league has given big men the right to the space they occupy, even if a little man jumps into them, there have been some funny plays when little guys have jumped into yao and he holds his ground and then swats their shot. this rule change and the fact that yao isn't trapping the pick and roll are the reasons his block shots are up to 2.7 per game this season.
If the defender goes straight up while inside the circle there is to be no call. If outside the circle, it's charging.
I dont see where you are coming from. I am in Charlotte and was at the game. I think there were at least three or four times Yao made contact but was straight up and was not called for the foul. I think the refs are doing a much better job this year as far as not calling fouls on Yao when players jump into him. Its only when he doesnt keep his arms straight up that he is being called for fouls. Just look at the games so far. He hasnt really been in horrible foul trouble for most of the season, which was not the case in years past. Even in this game, he had four fouls, but foul trouble was never really a concern. No matter what he will be tough to officiate. I think the moving screen fouls end up being a lot cheaper then when players jump into him.
Anyone else get the feeling that the offensive foul on G. Wallace at the end of the game was a make up for the bad call against Yao on the Bobcat's previous possession?
I am not sure about the previous call on Yao, need more specifics on that. Was it the defensive foul or offensive foul? But the one on Wallace was legit, after slow motion replay, even the Bobcat play-by-play announcers admitted the call was good. Maybe the ref had the angle to see the foul most of the spectators didn't.
Yao jumped straight up and (Felton?) ran into him while attacking the basket and was awarded free throws. It was a horrible call.
