Holmes_Fans
05-02-2005, 03:58 PM
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3163289
Rockets up against more than just Mavs
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
DALLAS - The fix might not be in, but Jeff Van Gundy said something with the NBA is very much broken.
If his team isn't having enough trouble with the Mavericks — and it is — Van Gundy said the Rockets, and particularly Yao Ming, must also go against the officials, the NBA and Mark Cuban's willingness to pay any fine.
Van Gundy said he had been tipped by an NBA official that the league had ordered its referees to treat Yao differently than other players, a charge Van Gundy said his review of game tapes has confirmed.
"When you review his fouls, he looked — you've got to give Mark Cuban credit," Van Gundy said. "They said it on TNT last night. He's been calling and calling about Yao. You've got to give the guy credit. He's taken a lot of fines in his time. He's been on them hard. He's gotten the benefit.
"Before Game 3, I got a call from another official in the NBA who's not in the playoffs that I've known forever, and he told me they were looking at Yao harder because of Mark's complaints. It proved prophetic really the last couple games. I didn't think that really worked in the NBA, but in this case it has."
Cuban, who described Van Gundy as an "amazing coach," said the Mavericks have asked the league to review examples of Yao and Dikembe Mutombo setting screens but that the Rockets' centers have actually gotten away with fouls that have not been called against them.
"That's crazy," Cuban said. "It's also an insult to officials. They don't officiate individual players differently. Did he notice that Damp (Erick Dampier) has gotten two quick fouls in every game and has been limited by foul trouble? Has he ever looked at Shawn Bradley's fouls per minute? They both seem to have the same type of fouls called on them.
"I will tell you what we did do, and I can tell you it has had zero impact on the officiating of the games. We sent in a list of what we thought could be moving screens on Yao and Dikembe from a game in the series. We wanted clarification from the league if our assessment of what was going on was correct. The league came back and told us of the 28 that we turned in from this game, nine were actually moving screens and should have been called but were not.
"We have the same type of examples from every game in the series. So if anything, he has it completely backward."
This is not a new complaint for the Rockets, but in four games of the playoff series against the Mavericks heading into tonight's Game 5 at American Airlines Center, Yao has averaged five personal fouls in 28 minutes per game. He played 36 minutes in Game 2, scoring 33 points on 13-of-14 shooting. But in the Rockets' losses in Games 3 and 4, Yao averaged 22.5 minutes and 15.5 points.
"I think Yao all year has had a target on his back for whatever reason," Van Gundy said. "I don't know what the reason would be, whether it's his size, his kindness, whatever. There's many other things it could be, too. But you look at the foul calls he gets, and they're not appropriate.
"His illegal screen, then you look at Dampier's illegal screen. I'm not saying they should call Dampier on his illegal screen that got (Michael) Finley open late, but certainly it was the same type of movement as Yao.
"It's puzzling, and it's not because it happened all year. I give (Cuban) credit. He's worked the NBA about officiating and officials and calls. It was corroborated out of the blue when another official calls ... that I've known forever and tells you after we're up 2-0, 'Look, they're targeting him more. It's on their Web site. There's nothing you can do about it. It has had an impact."
NBA officials are required to do an online review of their performance in every game, including critiques from NBA supervisor of officials Ronnie Nunn. NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson denied, however, that there have been specific orders to officiate Yao "harder."
"No such directive was given to the officials regarding Yao Ming or any other player or team in the playoffs," Jackson said, declining to answer questions.
Van Gundy said during the regular season he had sent tapes of his complaints to league officials. But he said he saw no benefit from those efforts and no longer protests Yao's treatment in order to place greater emphasis on improving Yao's play and his teammates' ability to involve him.
"It didn't help us," Van Gundy said. "It obviously helped in this series, helped them. But it never proved profitable. I don't really want to go down that road after every game.
"As a coach, you can get overwhelmed about all that which you have no control over. We've got to play well. That's the No. 1 thing. We have to play well to give ourselves a chance to win. I don't talk to those guys anymore about that.
"I talked to Ronnie Nunn a few times early in the year about refereeing size better. He's a great man. He was a great official. But that had a more negative impact than a positive impact. I think Yao and I both got more frustrated. We just accept whatever bias there is against him and work through it."
Of the five fouls called on Yao on Saturday, one came on a screen, one came when he was working for low-post position, one came on a Jason Terry drive, one came on a Dirk Nowitzki drive, and one came on a defensive rebound. None was for fouling the player he was assigned to defend, and most left Yao shocked and appearing disheartened.
"It seems like he needs to stop worrying about the refs looking at him and whether he's going to get an offensive foul or the way he's posting up," Mutombo said. "The refs need to let him go with his game and not call the game based on his height or his weight.
"When you're young like him and don't have that much experience in the playoffs, you get caught mentally — 'If I post up strong this time, is the ref going to call a foul?' But he's growing up and learning a lot. He has to play. Just enjoy yourself. That's what I tell him every day."
Van Gundy said the Mavericks also did a good job defending Yao and making it difficult for the Rockets to get him the ball inside.
"You can't discount what they're doing," Van Gundy said. "The defense always has an impact on what you're doing. You're not out there playing by yourself. Certainly their defense has had an impact on us. At times we could have done a better job entering the ball into him and finding him. And yet he also has to be able to stay on the floor."
The inability to keep Yao on the floor has sent the Rockets searching for answers — and seeing more opponents than just the Mavericks.
Rockets up against more than just Mavs
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
DALLAS - The fix might not be in, but Jeff Van Gundy said something with the NBA is very much broken.
If his team isn't having enough trouble with the Mavericks — and it is — Van Gundy said the Rockets, and particularly Yao Ming, must also go against the officials, the NBA and Mark Cuban's willingness to pay any fine.
Van Gundy said he had been tipped by an NBA official that the league had ordered its referees to treat Yao differently than other players, a charge Van Gundy said his review of game tapes has confirmed.
"When you review his fouls, he looked — you've got to give Mark Cuban credit," Van Gundy said. "They said it on TNT last night. He's been calling and calling about Yao. You've got to give the guy credit. He's taken a lot of fines in his time. He's been on them hard. He's gotten the benefit.
"Before Game 3, I got a call from another official in the NBA who's not in the playoffs that I've known forever, and he told me they were looking at Yao harder because of Mark's complaints. It proved prophetic really the last couple games. I didn't think that really worked in the NBA, but in this case it has."
Cuban, who described Van Gundy as an "amazing coach," said the Mavericks have asked the league to review examples of Yao and Dikembe Mutombo setting screens but that the Rockets' centers have actually gotten away with fouls that have not been called against them.
"That's crazy," Cuban said. "It's also an insult to officials. They don't officiate individual players differently. Did he notice that Damp (Erick Dampier) has gotten two quick fouls in every game and has been limited by foul trouble? Has he ever looked at Shawn Bradley's fouls per minute? They both seem to have the same type of fouls called on them.
"I will tell you what we did do, and I can tell you it has had zero impact on the officiating of the games. We sent in a list of what we thought could be moving screens on Yao and Dikembe from a game in the series. We wanted clarification from the league if our assessment of what was going on was correct. The league came back and told us of the 28 that we turned in from this game, nine were actually moving screens and should have been called but were not.
"We have the same type of examples from every game in the series. So if anything, he has it completely backward."
This is not a new complaint for the Rockets, but in four games of the playoff series against the Mavericks heading into tonight's Game 5 at American Airlines Center, Yao has averaged five personal fouls in 28 minutes per game. He played 36 minutes in Game 2, scoring 33 points on 13-of-14 shooting. But in the Rockets' losses in Games 3 and 4, Yao averaged 22.5 minutes and 15.5 points.
"I think Yao all year has had a target on his back for whatever reason," Van Gundy said. "I don't know what the reason would be, whether it's his size, his kindness, whatever. There's many other things it could be, too. But you look at the foul calls he gets, and they're not appropriate.
"His illegal screen, then you look at Dampier's illegal screen. I'm not saying they should call Dampier on his illegal screen that got (Michael) Finley open late, but certainly it was the same type of movement as Yao.
"It's puzzling, and it's not because it happened all year. I give (Cuban) credit. He's worked the NBA about officiating and officials and calls. It was corroborated out of the blue when another official calls ... that I've known forever and tells you after we're up 2-0, 'Look, they're targeting him more. It's on their Web site. There's nothing you can do about it. It has had an impact."
NBA officials are required to do an online review of their performance in every game, including critiques from NBA supervisor of officials Ronnie Nunn. NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson denied, however, that there have been specific orders to officiate Yao "harder."
"No such directive was given to the officials regarding Yao Ming or any other player or team in the playoffs," Jackson said, declining to answer questions.
Van Gundy said during the regular season he had sent tapes of his complaints to league officials. But he said he saw no benefit from those efforts and no longer protests Yao's treatment in order to place greater emphasis on improving Yao's play and his teammates' ability to involve him.
"It didn't help us," Van Gundy said. "It obviously helped in this series, helped them. But it never proved profitable. I don't really want to go down that road after every game.
"As a coach, you can get overwhelmed about all that which you have no control over. We've got to play well. That's the No. 1 thing. We have to play well to give ourselves a chance to win. I don't talk to those guys anymore about that.
"I talked to Ronnie Nunn a few times early in the year about refereeing size better. He's a great man. He was a great official. But that had a more negative impact than a positive impact. I think Yao and I both got more frustrated. We just accept whatever bias there is against him and work through it."
Of the five fouls called on Yao on Saturday, one came on a screen, one came when he was working for low-post position, one came on a Jason Terry drive, one came on a Dirk Nowitzki drive, and one came on a defensive rebound. None was for fouling the player he was assigned to defend, and most left Yao shocked and appearing disheartened.
"It seems like he needs to stop worrying about the refs looking at him and whether he's going to get an offensive foul or the way he's posting up," Mutombo said. "The refs need to let him go with his game and not call the game based on his height or his weight.
"When you're young like him and don't have that much experience in the playoffs, you get caught mentally — 'If I post up strong this time, is the ref going to call a foul?' But he's growing up and learning a lot. He has to play. Just enjoy yourself. That's what I tell him every day."
Van Gundy said the Mavericks also did a good job defending Yao and making it difficult for the Rockets to get him the ball inside.
"You can't discount what they're doing," Van Gundy said. "The defense always has an impact on what you're doing. You're not out there playing by yourself. Certainly their defense has had an impact on us. At times we could have done a better job entering the ball into him and finding him. And yet he also has to be able to stay on the floor."
The inability to keep Yao on the floor has sent the Rockets searching for answers — and seeing more opponents than just the Mavericks.