Yeng Guiao didn’t appreciate how rough the opposition got, especially during the second half of Rain or Shine’s eventual victory over TNT in Game 3 of their PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinal duel on Sunday night.
The outspoken mentor highlighted the flagrant fouls committed by Glenn Khobuntin and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser at a time when the Elasto Painters were already leading big before cruising to win no.1 of the series.
“Accidents will happen, we can accept that. But ‘yung mga flagrant, hindi naman kailangan eh,” he said after the 107-86 rout at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Khobuntin committed an F1 infraction with 3:55 left in the third canto and with RoS up 72-49 when he tried to stop a driving Gian Mamuyac in the lane.
Mamuyac was attempting to evade his defense through a Euro step, but still received contact. The wide-bodied bruiser would also hit the young winger in the head while going down from his leap, according to broadcast replays.
Ganuelas-Rosser got his at the 8:24-mark of the final frame following a hard push on Adrian Nocum, who was attacking the rim before getting hit mid-air.
Guiao lamented how such plays could affect a player’s well-being for the long term, thus his expression of displeasure with those tough fouls.
“I felt there’s room for physical, rugged play. But it’s really ‘yung mga pwede maka-injure or pwedeng maka-damage ng career ng player,” he said.
“Or kung hindi man, ang laking bagay na mawawala siya sa’yo ng dalawa o tatlong laro, baka tapos na ‘yung series.”
That’s why Guiao was visibly infuriated, especially after Khobuntin’s foul as Mamuyac fell on his back and took some time to get up.
“‘Yun nga, those things happen. But you really want to protect your players, especially kung nandito ka na; malaki ‘yung chance na maka-advance ka. It’s really about the preservation of your personnel eh,” the 66-year-old said.
Guiao didn’t — and doesn’t — hide that his own Rain or Shine plays rugged as well, although they draw the line between physical and dangerous.
“We play physical, nangyayari rin ‘yon, minsan meron din kaming ganon. But it’s not really with any malice,” he said.
“Walang malisya.”
#WATCH: Coach Yeng Guiao reflects on their heartbreaking Game 2 loss to TNT and shares how proud he is of the team’s focus in Game 3 🏀
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/Hp4bmxyzp3
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) June 29, 2025
