Bay Area head coach Brian Goorjian made it clear that he won’t ever say anything negative about the PBA, particularly about the officiating as the veteran mentor reiterated that he is no ‘crybaby’ that would complain every after loss.
The world-renowned tactician declined to grant interviews to the press after the Dragons’ Game Three loss to Ginebra in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals but explained that the disappointment stems from the match and the match alone.
“I’m not a crybaby,” he said shortly after their 94-86 Game Four victory, Friday night. “I coach on the sidelines. I’ll do anything as Coach [Tim] Cone would do to win. I will do anything and everything I possibly can to protect my team.
“And when the game’s over, I look at the man I competed against and I shake his hand. Nothing to do with referees, nothing to do with the fans, I was pissed after the last game that we let that slip, and we’re playing a team that’s well-coached.
“I can’t remember being angrier than I was after the last game, so I kept my mouth shut to the media and to my team, collected my thoughts, and went to the bunker knowing we didn’t have [Andrew] Nicholson tonight,” he added.
Fans on social media have become critical of Goorjian in this series but the 69-year-old repeated that he won’t ever dish out any disparaging statement regarding the league, where they are playing as a guest team.
In fact, he even used his past press conferences to prove his point. “I’ve been to this press conference 15 times. I’ve never said anything negative about the PBA. I’ve never said anything negative about the referees,” he said.
“After the game was over, I was angry at my team. I was angry at how I coached the game. I was disappointed. ‘Keep your mouth shut. Don’t do this.’ It was lessons learned after 40 years of coaching.
“But I’ve never once come up here and said a negative thing about the PBA or the officiating, ever, and I never will. That’s a crybaby, and I’m not that. Brought up differently,” added the native of Glendale, California.
What he does after losses is simply get back up and go buckle back down to work with the entire team to gear up for the next game, and that surely worked wonders as Bay Area now reduced the series to a best-of-three affair.
“I’m proud of my young team playing in a game like this and competing and getting a win. I’m really proud right now,” he said.
And surely part of that preparation is imparting lessons to his wards beyond the court, particularly to Myles Powell and Hayden Blankley.
The two ranted about the officiating after Game Three last Wednesday by airing their comments on social media, which definitely didn’t sit well with the league that led to them paying fines totaling Php 175,000.
Goorjian said that he had already discussed that matter with the two. He even apologized on their behalf and vowed that it will be the last.
“I told [Hayden], when you’re in Australia, that is common, what took place. I’ve coached in Asia and you’re not allowed to do it, and you’re not allowed to do it here,” said Goorjian, who began coaching in Asia in 2009.
“When you’re in a locker room, a lot of players — I’m sure their players too — feel when you lose, that emotion flows through you, and referees are always talked about. It shouldn’t have been done in social media,” he said.
“We apologize for it. It will never happen again.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
