Marcio Lassiter did not hide his frustration regarding a call that the referees missed in the San Miguel Beermen’s 119-127 loss to the Alaska Aces, Saturday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
With less than six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and with the Beermen down by just two, 105-107, Lassiter decided to pull up from the left wing beyond the arc to try give his side the one-point advantage.
However, his shot was blocked by Alaska’s Chris Banchero. Lassiter contested that Banchero should have been whistled for a shooting foul, as a loud slap on his shooting hand was heard by people watching courtside.
No calls were made. Alaska took advantage of San Miguel’s lack of coverage on the other end, and it led to a Jeron Teng basket that widened the gap to four. The Aces would not be stopped since and would win their third straight.
“That foul kinda hurt,” said Lassiter, who only had seven points on 2-of-8 shooting.
“I don’t think I’ve ever airballed as a shooter. I don’t airball. I’m pretty sure at hitting something – backboard, rim. And the ball barely hit the key.”
“You guys know how good of a shooter I am so I’ll let you guys decide if it was a foul or not. I just know I usually hit the rim, especially from that area,” he added. “When I shoot, I’mma hit the rim or something. I’m not gonna miss that bad,” he added.
But as much as he’s disappointed, Lassiter doesn’t want to dwell on the incident, saying that one play or one call doesn’t change the game’s complexion.
“One play is not gonna change the game but it is what it is. It’s part of the game, you gotta play through it. Theres gonna be times where we don’t get a call, I gotta play through it. And I did not do a good job of not playing through it.
“The ref missed it. I can’t do nothing about it,” he said.
And for Lassiter, there’s more to think about than that missed call. What he and the Beermen should really think about, for him, is their defense, which was ineffective on Friday as they gave up 127 points and 33 assists.
“It was a key play in the pivotal point but it’s not the reason why we lost. I do feel like our defense has to really improve. A hundred and twenty points is way too much. We have enough offense but our defense [wasn’t good],” he said.
“I don’t think we’re gonna D’Antoni every team where the goal is to score more than your opponent but we gotta put a benchmark at a certain point like hey we gotta give up less than 25 in a quarter or something,” added Lassiter.
“We gotta figure it out on defense.”
