Yesterday, Yao was in the post on the weakside. I think it was Luther who dumped it off to him to the post and instantly cuts to the basket on the baseline. When Yao recieved the ball, he would face up and pivot towards the baseline. While he was doing that Head's defender ran into one of Yao's gynormous butt cheeks and Yao got called for the foul (I'm assuming for a moving pick with the ball??). He did not dribble towards the defender..he simply turned his pivot foot to face up before making his move. If he didn't have the ball, that pick probably would have been called illegal most of the time even though it was the defender running into Yao. I've never seen this done over the years at any level. Yao have done this several times and he gets called a foul every time he tries it. The only example that comes close to this is a guard dribbling on a fast break and you have a big defender running down trying to catch up from behind and the guard dribbles towards the path of the wild running defender. He gets run over and the bigman gets called a foul. Why is it the other way around in this case? If it's Dirk, I guarantee you he'll fall down from the contact and they will call a foul on the defender. I guess it's one of the disadvantages for Yao being so big? Shouldn't it be at least a no call? I'm really curious as to what the NBA rulebook says...Any zebra's in da house that can elaborate on the rules?
i don't think that was a set play for yao to pick head's man off. it looked like he just turned around and the dude ran into him. how you can yao for a foul when he has two hands on the ball and just standing there, i do not know. still not as bad as when he was called for a foul for shooting the ball. unbelievable how sh!tty they referee him.
They used to never call it, they seem to have started calling it now. Yao had the ball in the post, Luther ran off of him, Yao pivoted to pick Luther's defender, and got called for the offensive.
no it wasn't last night, but it was a game this season. i can't remember which one off the top of my head, but i think there was a thread about it at the time.
It happened last night and the foul was called because Yao was moving. If he was standing in place it still would have been called, but would not have been a foul by the rules.
I saw that play last night and was wondering the same thing. It just looks like smart basketball to me. Last year, Yao used that move against Seattle to bump off David Wesley's defender and force their big man to rotate off Yao. Wesley then passed back to Yao for an easy slam. He didn't get called for a foul then, but it was called a foul last night. Yesterday Yao also got called for a foul by jogging backwards for post position when Dunleavy moved behind him and flopped. He's been called for a few fouls where the other guy just ran into him from behind and hit the deck. It's ridiculous.
When you are talking about Yao Ming, a lot of 'can's will become 'can't's. They have a different rule book to officiate him.
I thought last year(maybe the year before it), that the man with the ball can't turn into the other man's defender, which is what Yao did. Sure some people get away with it, but I think that's the rule.
This was actually a rule change instituted last year I believe. I think the rule is that you can't hand off the ball to someone without giving the defender space to get through. If I recall, it was Webber and Divac in Sacramento who used this all the time and it was virtually impossible to defend.
This is an interesting comparison. By this logic, the defender should be called for a foul. You're right, it happens all the time, a guy will just dribble the ball to the left or right, directly into the path of an oncoming defender and the defender gets called for the foul.
Yao should have just flipped that ball behind him for Head to pick up as he went by. Why he turned to face, I don't know. He would have made that play 3 years ago and everyone would have been raving about what a fantastic passer Yao is. Just flip it over your shoulder big fella.
"If two opponents are moving in the same direction and path, the player who is behind is responsible for contact. The player in front may stop or slow his pace, but he may not move backward or sidewards into his opponent. The player in front may or may not have the ball. This situation assumes the two players have been moving in identically the same direction and path before contact."
It was couple games ago, Yao was shooting and the other guy defending him hit him and Yao was called for a foul apparently for contact of the defender's hand. LIke Yao was trying to hit defenders' hand when he tries to shoot. What a dumb ass call.
Thanks for the rule Gator. It clears it up a little and made me think. But this wasn't really the case though. They weren't moving in the same direction. The defender was moving into Yao's space. Yao was starting to face up into position to make an offensive move as the defender ran into him. I guess what is boils down to is if he makes the pick a little more subtle and make it look like it's inadvertant contact trying to make an offensive move, then he can get away with it. It looks a little intentional and unnatural as he screened the guy off (he stuck his butt back a little IIRC) Come to think of it, like a poster said before, TD does that alot and get away with it...but by being more subtle IMO. Yao's size and fluidity (or lack thereof) makes stick out even more.
