ANTIPOLO — Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao is demanding consistency from the referees after a wild, heated finish in Game 3 of their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup quarterfinal series against Magnolia on Sunday night.
The outspoken mentor didn’t like in particular how Chito Victolero got away from being reprimanded when the Hotshots’ chief bench tactician lost his cool while arguing that a goaltending should’ve been called against Jhonard Clarito.
“Ang hindi natupad na rules, ‘yung pwede ka pala magwala nang magwala, na hindi ka tine-technical,” Guiao offered during the postgame press conference of their 111-106 overtime victory at the Ynares Center here.
“Kitang-kita ng lahat-lahat nang nanonood ng basketball ‘yung ginagawa ni Coach Chito. Of course, kaibigan naman natin si Coach Chito at ganun din ako kung minsan. Pero kung ako ang gumawa nun, sigurado akong technical.”
Victolero entered the court and let the officials know his issue with 10.4 seconds left to play, after Jerrick Ahanmisi gave up a duty foul on Gian Mamuyac.
What he questioned was the non-call on Clarito when the Elasto Painters winger blocked Zavier Lucero’s lay-up with 15.3 seconds on the clock.
Replays showed that a goaltend was indeed committed and the refs went on to review the play, eventually leading to calling as much on Clarito.
Victolero wasn’t called for anything for his outburst and the call on Ahanmisi stood as well, sending Mamuyac to the line where he split his shots. And Guiao, in all fairness, appreciated how the referees followed the rules.
“Magulo talaga. Pero nasunod naman ‘yung rules dun eh,” Guiao said of hat wild sequence. “Kasi pagka nag-goaltend talaga at hindi natawagan ng referee, pwede i-review. Ni-review naman nila. At nakita nila na goaltend.
“Wala kaming reklamo na sinabi nilang counted. At, since meron nang naganap na action, may natawagan na silang foul, that foul should still be in effect. Kasi ‘yun ang rules eh. Ayun naman ang rules eh,” he added.
“‘Pag merong tawag na ni-review, kung ano yung nangyari after that, stays effective in the course of the game,” he continued.
Then again, Guiao was still left puzzled by the apparent non-call on Victolero, who in fact was still a good sport and willingly shook his hand postgame.
“Nagtataka ako bakit hindi matawag-tawagan ng technical kasi disadvantage sa amin yun na hindi mo tatawagan ng technical,” the 65-year-old said.
“Na dapat siyang tawagan ng technical. Tinatanong ko ‘yung referee kanina, bakit hindi tinatawagan, hindi ba pang-technical ‘yun? Wala siyang maisagot.”
But it wasn’t just that situation alone that irked Guiao. Although he didn’t go into detail, he felt that there were a lot of missed calls by the referees, thus his call for them to do better moving forward — especially in Game 4 on Tuesday.
“Actually, ang daming nami-miss na tawag ng referees eh. Eh sabi ko nga, pagka ganun, lahat ng involved sa laro must perform to their utmost best — players and referees included,” said the former PBL commissioner.
“Kasi baka ikaw ang makasira ng magandang laro eh, kung mali itatawag mo eh. So, we demand that from the referees, because that’s their duty. Trabaho nila ‘yun. Sana magawa nila ng maayos,” added Guiao.
Members of the press that covered live tried to get the side of Victolero on the matter, but he was no longer within the venue’s premises.
