Their arms had some separation, from what I can see in the blow-up. Looks clean to me. Robinson was putting out one hell of an effort. If his back was OK after that play it must be in pretty good shape. Yao will be shooting over and around the Admiral soon enough. I think he's going to catch on fast. He'll be drawing plenty of fouls by the second half of the season.
It might be in the book. The ref could call it either ways. I have seen it many times before. Quite often it depends on who is shooting the ball too.
getting a little hand really doesn't matter when you get all ball as well. that's probably why that rule is in there. that block was right on target and also probably the last one that robinson will get on yao. wait till the regular season.
David Robinson blocking Yao's shot, to me, is embarrassing. David is as weak as they get. What would people be saying if the first to block Ming was Hakeem?
I don't think being blocked by Robinson is embarrassing. He's one of the greatest shot blockers in NBA history. Sure, he's old now and can'y jump as high and quick. But he still has the long body and the good timing. I bet if Ming was blocked by a scrub (like that Jackson guy who dunked on him), they would have made a big deal out of it.
To me it doesn't matter whether you get blocked by Robinson or Jackson. The key to greatness is conssitently changing / blocking others shots (like Eddie) rather were you ever blcoked by one person. Sometimes it just a matter of timing, right place etc. (dont ask Rudy about Kermit). If Yao is going to be blocked everygame then he needs to adjust.
It wasn't that he or I or anyone else knew every nuance, he was calling me and others out and acting like he did know and that he had looked it up. That foot he swallowed was sticking out of his rear end he swallowed it so far... I'd change my name. The only thing worse would be Clutch posting it on the front page...
I realise that David is a "great shot blocker" just I have this thing against him. Let's just say I'm a "David Hata".
I think that as true houston rocket fans... if we dont wanna see calls like this, then we must take action..by somehow telling the refs that the yao's hand is in front of the ball and that the block from the fron is allways a foul. if we dont do this then, look forward to seeing it again. Some how the refs need to know this because it will be detramental for our season....any one know how to pass the word...
That's a clean block. If you don't think so you must not play ball or be a soft little shooter. The portion of the hand that is on the ball has been considered the ball for decades. Ie fingertips etc. You can't just poke the base of someone's hand.
BTW, I pretty much seem to agree that contact on the hand and ball should probably be a block, but what about this rule. I mentioned this in another thread, but it didn't catch fire. This is probably a judgement call where the ref choses what to do. I will try to explain the hand rule like someone else put it. (the following is a not really my words, but an argument I read from someone else.) If the hand is part of the ball, why are there so many fouls when Steve and Mobley go for the ball? They can't be missing sombad as to touch the wrists. Most swipes should hit the hand or ball. However, fouls are called. If this is not the case, people can just slap the wrists. Also, if hit on the hand during a shot, isn't the rhythm affected by the contact? (that's what I remember from their post.) I don't think this is just for that pic. From the looks of it, it appears to be a clean block. But I'm trying to clear up the part about hitting the hand instead of the ball during a shot. Anyone care to explain? Because I'm pretty confused. edit: the poster was "RocketsRuuule." He kind of said these things in the "three things" thread. (may be 3 things. I can't remember.)
I guess the part of hand which is on the ball is "part of the ball". The part which is not on the ball is not "part of the ball". The "hand being part of the ball" rule is really necessary. Think about Magic Johnson. His hands almost cover the whole ball when he holds it with both hands. The ball becomes untouchable if his hands on the ball are not considered part of the ball.
So people can just smack his hand as hard as possible and mess up his rhythm, then, right? I never knew about this rule and I don't see people smacking players on the hand continuously.
I guess so. I also think it is legal to smack a player's face if the player is covering the ball with his face.
RC, no offense intended here, but I've seen a lot of your posts and Crash's too, and this thread has just been killing me all day. Ok, I'm surprised people aren't familiar with the "hand is a part of the ball" rule, but anyone who ever played pick-up games as a kid learns it pretty quickly (usually when a guy two years older and a foot taller knocks you into the concrete). But RC honest, if you watch basketball games you are seeing people's hands getting slapped. As was pointed out above some players hands are so big it's likely their hand gets hit everytime the ball gets stolen. I don't know how close to the court you've been to watch games, but if you're close enough you can hear the "slap" and of course tell the difference between a guy who gets all ball and one who gets mostly hand. Don't you often see players either rubbing their hands or flexing it several times after a steal? I'm not dogging you here or Crash or a couple others who are looking at the DR block and maintaining there might be something wrong with it. It was a perfect, beautiful, legal block. This thread has done some damage to some reps. here. And your further astonishment just isn't helping. Houston is the home of the greatest shot blocker to ever play the game, and Eddie has has a serious rare talent for it as well. A Rockets fan really should be able to identify a block. I'm not trying to be a jerk here. But honestly, the responses to this topic (sorry about the thread deterioration W&S) has caused some serious eye rolling. Let it rest. Great photo W&S and I too liked Yao's comment.
