I simply want to know everyone's opinion on this topic, so don't burn me. If Yao were a 7"6 African American male, do you think the league would want to market him more? I see all these NBA commercials showing blocks/dunks on Yao. Do you think they would show that less, and show more of his blocks/dunks if he was black? Would they call less touch fouls and give him star treatment like Kobe, Wade, LeBron, KG, and Amare? Hell, even regular/fair treatment would be nice. When Jamaal Magloire pounded on Yao, during Blazer's game, in the post (to no avail), the officials allowed it. When Yao tries to post up, the opposition can simply fall down and get possession of the ball. Or do they show all these blocks/dunks on him simply because he is tall? "Nobody roots for Goliath," quote by Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt still managed to score 100 points, while Yao would most likely foul out by 40. "Chamberlain was so invincible that pro basketball changed the rules, widening the lane near the basket, for example, to make it more difficult for a big man like him to score." Free throw attempts for: <u>Yao</u> 82 Games - 371 FTA 82 Games - 446 FTA 80 Games - 497 FTA 57 Games - 395 FTA 24 Games - 206 FTA (at this rate his average should be about 690 FTs in 82 by the end of the season) <u>Shaq:</u> 81 Games - 721 FTA 81 Games - 850 FTA 79 Games - 854 FTA 54 Games - 511 FTA 51 Games - 479 FTA <u>Amare:</u> 82 Games - 484 FTA 55 Games - 435 FTA 80 Games - 795 FTA <u>Duncan:</u> 82 Games - 482 FTA 50 Games - 358 FTA 74 Games - 603 FTA 82 Games - 662 FTA 82 Games - 701 FTA I personally think it's a little bit of both. Because he is very tall and Chinese the league takes any chance they get to make him look bad. Yao's treatment has gotten much better over the years, but it still isn't where it's supposed to be. This is probably an arid/trite topic so if the mods want to delete this thread, I have no problem with that.
guess one of reasons 4 shaq getting more FTs than Yao is his dominace.don't get me wrong, yao could become another legend center in NBA, bt before that,he has to prove more than what he has done so far.shaq's developed dramatically every yr since he join into the league; until his career heading downhill last season, he has changed the def rule, slaught every other teams inside, force them to make new stragety etc, even so ,he was stll unstoppable in most matches making his fellows better, his team easily being a title contender.in a word, he has incredible influence. compared to him, yao 's statistic rise relatively good every season, the only execuse i can c from those critics on him is rocs playoff history. i don't know how much people in this league would treat him in different ways just because of his skin color /nationality, therere lots debates on unfair calls even mentioned as double standard, bt if yao is good enough to carry the team and rocks make big noise in the playoff, every hater would keep silence. now everyone has agreed he's best center this season, let time tells what he could acheive in next 4-6 yrs
The only flaw i see in your arguement is that Shaq attempts more freethrows because of the hack-a-shaq technique, amare just gets fouled a lot because of the way he plays (i believe he may lead his team in FTA) and duncan gets pumbled a lot under the basket. Yao is more of a back to the basket, turn and face the rim and shoot type guy, and he rarely goes down low and battles. When he does get a hook shot/dunk it is most likely because he just grabbed an offensive rebound. Also, Yao used to be very timid, and this year he's gotten a lot more aggressive, so expect him to get more FTA this year. IMO, Yao won't average more FTA than Shaq nor Amare, but maybe more than Duncan
Look at the way Yao plays. He is more likely to turn and shoot a fadeaway than take it hard to the basket with a power move. Shaq gets to the line more because of hack-a-shaq, as well as the fact he always goes hard to the basket. Surely you have heard Shaq and Riley's constant complaints about how he never gets calls because of his size and strength. It's not Yao, it's giants in general.
Yao is marketed plenty, he's one of the more popular players worldwide. I don't think it has to do so much with his skin color, but Yao needs to be more animated on the court. Unfortunately, the players who yell out "foul," flail their arms, or exaggerate contact get the whistles. These players get the benefit of the doubt because it puts the officials under a pressure situation and it draws attention to that particular play. Yao needs to do more acting out there or learn some moves to force a defender to foul him. I'd like to see him use Duncan's move where he swings his arms under and up, through the defender to generate contact. Not only does it cause the defender to foul Duncan, but his momentum carries his arms up in a position to also get a shot off. In the Laker game, I also noticed Yao doesn't use his head fakes to draw contact. He will pump fake and slide from the defender for a dunk, instead of pump faking the defender, then jumping into the defender while the defender is in the air, and then getting a shot off at the same time.
<div class="quote_poster">DIRK4L1FE Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The only flaw i see in your arguement is that Shaq attempts more freethrows because of the hack-a-shaq technique, amare just gets fouled a lot because of the way he plays (i believe he may lead his team in FTA) and duncan gets pumbled a lot under the basket. Yao is more of a back to the basket, turn and face the rim and shoot type guy, and he rarely goes down low and battles. When he does get a hook shot/dunk it is most likely because he just grabbed an offensive rebound. Also, Yao used to be very timid, and this year he's gotten a lot more aggressive, so expect him to get more FTA this year. IMO, Yao won't average more FTA than Shaq nor Amare, but maybe more than Duncan</div> I was going to put Dirk's FTAs up there as well, but I didn't want everyone saying, "I didn't know Dirk was black," or something like that. Dirk avereaged more FTAs per minute than Yao and they have somewhat similar styles of play in that they are not aggressive and don't take it in much. Dirk has become more aggressive over the years and Yao has as well. <div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yao is marketed plenty, he's one of the more popular players worldwide. I don't think it has to do so much with his skin color, but Yao needs to be more animated on the court. Unfortunately, the players who yell out "foul," flail their arms, or exaggerate contact get the whistles. These players get the benefit of the doubt because it puts the officials under a pressure situation and it draws attention to that particular play. Yao needs to do more acting out there or learn some moves to force a defender to foul him. I'd like to see him use Duncan's move where he swings his arms under and up, through the defender to generate contact. Not only does it cause the defender to foul Duncan, but his momentum carries his arms up in a position to also get a shot off. In the Laker game, I also noticed Yao doesn't use his head fakes to draw contact. He will pump fake and slide from the defender for a dunk, instead of pump faking the defender, then jumping into the defender while the defender is in the air, and then getting a shot off at the same time.</div> I don't know why I never thought about that, but what you said is very profound. As for the pump faking. I have seen Yao pull that move twice becore and the officials just don't give him that call. They don't call anything, and Jeff Van Gundy screamed at him and told him "You can't do that!"
Some notes: - I think part of Yao not getting FTs is his <u>relative</u> lack of athletescism. - Amare is probably one of the most athletic and agressive 6'10 guys ever as well having Nash hooking him up with passes in a very high paced offense. - The Rockets are one of the most defensive teams in the league and have a slower pace than most teams (therefore less shots per game). - Teams probably have different fouling strategies, Shaq has a terrible FT%, so foul him as often as you want. Teams probably are willing to foul Shaq on almost any possession. - Tim Duncan's FT% isn't very good either, so teams will foul him more to prevent easy baskets, or even medium-easy baskets. - Yao shoots a high FT%, teams are going to avoid fouling him more often than a player like Shaq or Duncan. So I guess the best comparison would be to Dirk, both shoot FTs at a high %, while Dirk drives to the basket more (and gets FTs that way), Yao posts up more (and gets FTs that way). In 04-05. , Yao got 497 FTAs in 2500 minutes of playing time in 04-05, Dirk got 708FTAs/3008 minutes which is .236 FTA/min. Yao got .203 FTA/min. In 05-06 Dirk got 598 FTAs in 3089 minutes, or .193 FTA/min for the season. Yao got 398 FTAs in 1949 minutes, or .204 FTA/min for the season average. I just want to say I'm not saying Yao isn't athletic, just comparatively not as quick as other players at his position. Yao is obviously an athletic guy for 7'6 compared to many many other people who are 7'6 and could not make an impact even as good as Shawn Bradley's impact.
I started this thread because the NBA keeps showing these high-lights of Yao getting dunked on or blocked, but Yao has his fair share of nice blocks and dunks that they never show. 1/4 of their high-lights involve Yao, it's like they go out of their way to make sure they get every dunk/block on Yao aired as much as they can. Forget the FTAs, the NBA is obviously biased and it can never be pointed out enough, nothing I can do but b*tch about it. Time to be hypocritical,
<div class="quote_poster">igotask8board Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I started this thread because the NBA keeps showing these high-lights of Yao getting dunked on or blocked, but Yao has his fair share of nice blocks and dunks that they never show. 1/4 of their high-lights involve Yao, it's like they go out of their way to make sure they get every dunk/block on Yao aired as much as they can. Forget the FTAs, the NBA is obviously biased and it can never be pointed out enough, nothing I can do but b*tch about it. </div> I couldn't agree more. I think its because he's Chinese/10 times more dominant than they imagines Yao to ever grow/Tallest player that they like to pick on him or better yet, try to downplay his achievements and his great play. All in all, they just try to hate on Yao and try to divert the positive attention that Yao gets for being so dominant.
I don't really watch highlights all the time from all the different stations. I think any big dunk on a tall center will get highlights. (Carter on Zo, Tmac on Shawn Bradley, Stro on Yao, Kobe on Dwight, Lebron on Tim Duncan, etc.)
I think Wilt's quote says it all, everyone wants to see Goliath fall, especially because Yao's personality was timid and reserved in the beginning. Obviously he has grown to be more aggressive and American, and I foresee him getting more calls and respect. IMO Yao should be the face for the NBA, he carries himself with class, humbleness, he's family oriented, he's very witty, and he's not afraid to make jokes on himself, he's a rare breed in the NBA.
I clicked on this thread hoping to see a funny Photoshopped image of Yao with dark skin. Instead I get this?
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I clicked on this thread hoping to see a funny Photoshopped image of Yao with dark skin. Instead I get this? </div> Happy?
good points made.....I have to agree that there is a lot of cism directed towards Yao....I constantly hear the "soft" label from critics...I just don't see how he's "soft".....the guy is a force to be dealt with down low.....and nearly every big man that's ever played the game has been dunked on, people act like it only happens to Yao.
If Yao was black, Shaq wouldn't hate on him. If Yao was black, he wouldn't be criticized about. Like other said, If Yao was black, he wouldn't be called soft. lol funny pic igotask8board.
