Yao got his first T when he dunked on Ratliff Plus, this T was a result of Yao putting his hand on the official's back asking for explanation.
The one against Ratliff was indeed cancelled. Today's tech was a stupid one to call. He barely put his hand on the ref, big freakin' deal. There's a chance he coulda cussed, too, but I doubt Yao would do that.
The announcers said Yao threw the ball after getting called for the foul and that's what got him the tech.
I hope that the tech doesn't deter Yao from talking to the refs. I'd like to see him talk to the refs on questionable calls. I'd like to see him dunk on someone's azz and yell, scream and hang on the rim.
I actually thought that T in today's game was bogus. He was just asking for an explanation. What in the world can Yao say to get a T? Sure he touched him and you aren't suppose to do that but I've seen alot of players put their hands around refs shoulders in a non-confrontational way and not get called. On a different note, I love Yao being more vocal and asserting himself more, but there is a fine line for sticking up for yourself by talking alot to the refs (which he is doing more and more) and getting into whine mode. Hopefully he doesn't get that rep while he continues to talk to the refs. I surely don't want Yao getting the Pao Gasol rep.
Definitely bad call, that T but I loved the way Rockets' bench celebrating Yao's T like he just won the lottery. Brian Skinner was getting away with a lot of hooks. He wraped his arm around Yao's waist or pulling one of Yao's arms when Yao tried to go for a rebound.
That's what they said, but when they showed the reply, the tech was given after he put his hand on the ref and then said something a couple of seconds later. If he threw the ball it was well before the replay started and well before he got the tech.
Did anyone else notice that after Yao got the T, the officials were calling the game more loosely on him? A couple of times Peja just barreled into Yao, which would have been a sure foul on Yao a month or so ago but now, nothing. And it;s been like this for the past couple of games. The more aggressive Yao plays, the more the officials back off. JVG's strategy of daring them to foul Yao out is working. And, in a breath of fresh air, Yao's actually getting some superstar calls for once. Like that over the top/hook on Skinner when they were going for the rebound that was called on Skinner instead.
Unless Yao was trying to make a move on him, that T was bogus. Even JVG was complaining in the Chronicles about how ridiculous that T was, and how Yao did not get calls.
Actually you can see that Skinner pulled Yao's arm down over him trying to get the call. I was surprised that the announcers didn't see it on the replay, but the ref appeared to have seen it.
Snippets from the Houston Chronicle regarding Yao's T... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3083513 ..... Technical problem Yao Ming was hit with his first technical foul this season, though he did not show off his improved vocabulary to get it. Yao said he touched official Ron Garretson in the back to get his attention and demonstrate how he thought he saw the play, getting the technical with 8:23 left in the first quarter. "That was a joke," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Of all the things people say to officials and he touches a guy, and Yao gets a (technical) foul. You're not telling me that's not taking advantage of Yao. Whatever it is, there is something going on there when you're going to give Yao Ming a technical foul for touching you and trying to get your attention. I don't know what it is. But there's something wrong with how he's officiated and in particular with that technical foul. "I heard other people cursing at the referees tonight and that's fine. Yao touches a referee and gets a technical foul. There's something wrong with that." Yao, struggling with the flu that he has had the past few weeks, did not speak immediately after the game, but later said he was trying to demonstrate the foul he believed Brian Skinner committed. "Skinner, he used my arm to go by me," Yao said. "We were just fighting together and he called a foul on me. I wanted to show him how he did it. I didn't push (Garretson)." ..... Press row view Perhaps the call would not have seemed so touchy had Ron Garretson explained his thinking. He called Yao Ming for a technical foul for touching him, and then stomped around the court in a huff rather than explain his thinking, barking only that Yao touched him. When Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy tried to talk to the official in a timeout as coaches often do, Garretson, walked away and made a show of turning his back on the coach, making himself look angry, rather than judicious. Garretson is in his 18th season as an official and should know how to handle tempers. In this case, he seemed to have lost his own, and for no clear reason.
That one bothered me, too. I thought it was pretty obvious in real time, not to mention slo-mo, but the announcers insisted it should have been called on Yao and I began to question my own sanity.
