Dude, I wear my moniker as a symbol of pride. You do not know me in my private life, and if you do, you will know the reason behind my using that moniker (which is not limited to just Clutchfans, BTW). On the other hand, I really wonder about you, and whether you are a front for a long established anti Yao forum poster, or whether you just joined this board just for the sake of criticising Yao. Like I tell alot of haters... just get out of this forum and go support whatever team that has your 'clutch' 4th quarter big man or such. Do you have any stats to show Deke's turnovers on offense? Is he even used on offense (except on dunks and putbacks)? The opposing players are not running into Yao. They are pulling his hands, pushing his back with two hands, ramming into him from the side and body checking him. You can't hold the damn ball if they are allowed to abuse you in that way. I am not sure how one can get a dunk when one's hands are smacked from above. I am not sure how one can get a dunk when one is pushed by two hands (maybe for you, the laws of physics do not apply?). I am not sure how one can get a dunk when one's hands are raked as badly as Yao. And players can afford to do this to Yao because they know he will not be officiated fairly. They can get away with alot of fouls; fouls that would have been called immediately if they were doing it to someone named Dwight Howard. Again dude, you are missing the point (and the focus). Some of his turnovers tonight are caused by fouls. Bad fouls. That's why they are fouls. They are fouls because they are not supposed to be done. They are not supposed to be done because who the heck can PLAY PROPER BASKETBALL if such fouls are being conducted on them? If I smack your arm hard from the top, I bet you would also lose the ball. Again you lost the focus here. What has 6ft guards got to do with tonight? Tonight was Tyson Chandler making BAD and OBVIOUS fouls on Yao that were NOT CALLED by the referees. Focus man, focus!
Not to make a bigger deal of it, but I've watched and played a lot of hoops. Played hoops on the d1 level and some of it is basic ball. I've beena rox fan since 77 and a nba fans that long. I've had the nba league pass since its birth,but that's not the point. Watch a modern day great pivot like Duncan.When he comes up with the ball, both hands are on the ball and he actually initiates the contact across the defenders arms and forces the ref to make the call. When Hakeem used ti take the jumphook in the lane, he would make contact with the defender, go straight up,pritect his body and the ball with his left elbow and shoot the hook with his right. I personally think Yao does a pretty good job of this at times,but when he gets fatigued, he gets sloppy with ball protection. I mean is any difference than what we saw in the playoffs last yr when he avg almost 5 to's pergame?
Dude, TO's are not the issue. Start another thread if you want to talk about that. Those last two "TO's" were fouls where Yao got hit across the arms. One of those non-calls effectively won the game for the Hornets.
But the point he's trying to make is that big men are going to get fouled without getting the call a lot. It's not uncommon. Yao does seem to turn the ball over more when he gets fatigued and some of that might be because he stops protecting the ball as well as he should be. I've seen the replay of the second strip, and honestly, even though there was contact, had yao held the ball with arms out there would have been no way for chandler to strip him of that ball - regardless of contact. Yao can take the ref out of the game. He didn't do that today. It's something he needs to do because obviously we can't depend on the refs.
If you're going to read the OP's title you should read his post too, where you'll find that his point was that Yao was "murdered" by the refs.
Its just like playing qb in the nfl. Proper mechanics tell the qb to hold the ball high and tight and close to the body. The qb's that do that are low fumble types. Guy like peyton and brady. The other guys fumble more like eli and big ben. I'm no expert,but when u protect the ball, u don't turn it over. Its like a young francis vs gary payton. One guy driblled the hell out of the ball and exposed it a lot. Payton used to use basic dribbles with a purpose. We know the results.
Once again I repeat: anyone who actually wants to make the claim that Yao was responsible for that turnover (or could've avoided it by playing differently) is a blathering idiot. A complete, blathering idiot. Somehow, in the alternate universe that these people live in, centers are supposed to be immovable supermen, have grips of steel, and phase through defenders to dunk the ball without committing offensive fouls. Or perhaps they are just complete ignoramuses. Perhaps Yao should clutch the ball so tightly that it nearly bursts under the sheer force of his steel grip. And then when a 7' big hacks across his arms, rather than lose the ball he can just carry him with the ball and dunk them both in the basket. Until Yao achieves this nirvana, he's not going to be a "dominate" player.
LOL!!! I just realized thta in another post someone wrote that " He should do like Tim Duncan because when he goes up for the shot they'll reach across his arms and get the foul" Yao did, Chandler hit him across the arms, but no foul was called. Twice.
I've never seen a more quiet 30/16 performance. Furthermore, Yao had a chance to put us up with 16 secs left. He didn't deliver when it mattered most. I am by no means bashing Yao but he's not "there" yet. Every time I watch him I don't get that sense of relief such as when Hakeem had the ball in his hands in the closing seconds of a game or the terror Kobe afflicts on me when the Laker's and Rockets are in a close game and Kobe's got the ball.
Your right, I have never felt comfortable when the Rockets are ever in the clutch, it seems like we choke too much.
Funny but that's always what they say about Tim Duncan. Announcer - Tim Duncan with another quiet 26 pts and 11 rebounds tonight. Just steady.
Shaq routinely gets the ball stripped from him these days too. Check out Shaq's stats and you'll see they are mirroring Yao's these days albeit at a lower performance level.
This game prove the fact again,that we can't let YAO as our leader,not cause his performance(which is really good),but referee's.
That one didnt go down. It's a pitty. Feigen said 'Yao had done all he said he would. He just could not do it all.' If he could have 2-3 minutes rest in the second half, If the refs did give Chandler a foul, If Yao's last two free throws was the end of the game, If Rafer could stop Paul's last layup ...the outcome would be turning around. And none of these 'sighs' could pop up I also know Hakeem and Kobe did miss not that few 'shots' which you'd expected them to make. So may we just sit back, take a deep breath, give the big man a rest, give the Rockets a break and let them play.
Most Rocket fans understand that the ticky tack stuff isnt called during the last few minutes. But fouls like that which are so over the top and game or at least momentum changing MUST be called. If Chandler's first swipe at Yao had even been 50% ball and 50% hand/wrist it would have been bearable as one of those moments. But 20% ball, 30% hand/wrist and 50% ARM is just one of those times that the call MUST be made. I have seen intentional fouls called on less. The fans were upset, but could forgive the first no-call as "hey, the ref missed one." Even though yes, it was the trigger of the fast break. That split second where the Hornets are buzzing up the court and the Rockets are looking at the ref thinking "WTF??" And then you get to the second no-call. In a row. On a carbon copy replay. As if to tell the Ref, "Here, watch it again. Yao is going to make his post move, come across the lane, and get his arm just SMASHED by Chandler so you can make the call this...time...and....what...are....NO WHISTLE???!!!!....and.....crap...fast....break....and....WTF!!!...You.....blow....the...%$%^@#....whistle...on...THAT???????!!!!!!!!!! Hey ref. Say hello to my little friend! RATATATAT"
........ and some rest. 42 minutes in a 48 minutes basketball game is a BIG NO especially you are 7' 6" tall .
That's exactly the problem. It's completely understandable if the refs let both sides get away with some pretty physical stuff in the last minutes of the game. The key phrase there is BOTH SIDES. When Yao gets hacked and gets no call that kind of implies that, since you'd assume both sides will be treated equally, that it's going to take a big time foul to get the whistle on the other end. The fact that Yao gets the no call on a pretty good hack and the Hornets do get the call on a play with a lot less contact--well, draw your own conclusions. I think chanting "FBI" at the next Rockets game where there's a garbage call is a pretty good idea, myself.
