Anger flowed through Bright Akhuetie’s veins after he and the rest of the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons were schooled by defending champions Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles.
UP succumbed to their neighbors, 63-89, on Sunday evening. And everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Bo Perasol’s squad — especially in the third quarter.
The said period saw Akhuetie incur his third personal foul of the contest, then get a technical foul minutes later for continuous complaining. Perasol was also ejected after the veteran mentor stormed onto the court with 6:23 left in the frame.
“The referee was s****y no doubt, f*****g stupid. Basta the kalbo guy, he’s very stupid. Trust me. I was going to do the same thing coach Bo did, but I was gonna jump on him, but I had to keep myself together because I wanted to win. But that was stupid,” explained the Season 81 Most Valuable Player.
“(The referee) gave me a tech for what? I was far away from him and he came to me, then I was like, ‘No!’ Then he gave me a tech. It was stupid. But it’s okay, coach Bo. It happens in the game, like… You know when you get fired up in the course of the game. It’s fine.”
With Perasol off the court, things went further south for the Fighting Maroons. The Blue Eagles took advantage of the exit of their former mentor, as the back-to-back champions extended to as much as 27 points. Meanwhile, the UP gallery struggled to accept what was unfolding in front of them.
“There was no leadership on the court because (Perasol) wasn’t there. It affected me so bad because I wanted to be out there to do whatever I can to help my team win, but I had to go through it,” lamented Akhuetie.
As it stands, UP end the first round with a win-loss record of 5-2. It has been a roller coaster ride so far for the Fighting Maroons, what with their escapes against the NU Bulldogs and DLSU Green Archers. The 6-foot-8 now hopes his team can learn from their experiences in the past seven fixtures. Still, his strong emotions towards the referees just couldn’t subside.
“We’ll still go out there, play our basketball game, and hope that they won’t bring out s***** a*s referees like that who are going to mess the game up, because it was s****y out there no doubt,” he said.
“I just hope that they’ll bring out good referees who will officiate the game well, and let’s see what’s up at the end of the day. But I’m sure we’re going to make the adjustment because it’s a process, right? So we’re going to go back and see the films, learn from what we did today, and come back better next round.”
