Cliff Hodge is under scrutiny yet again for drawing an ire of a head coach.
Hodge and Ginebra head coach Tim Cone had a spat during the Meralco Bolts-Barangay Ginebra San Miguel clash, Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
That exchange happened in the third canto after Hodge told Cone to get off the court, as the multi-titled mentor was livid, contesting the block made by Bolts import Arinze Onuaku on Justin Brownlee by insisting that it was a goaltend.
Cone was slapped with a technical foul for entering the court.
“Well he got on the court and I just told him to get off the court. That’s pretty much it,” said Hodge after the match which he and the Orangemen won, 93-82. “I think he’s mad about one of the calls or something like that.
“And then I was like, ‘Hey! He’s not supposed to be on the court’ so I told him to get off the court.’ Then he got mad because I told him that. It’s part of the game. I know he’s kinda frustrated so I just tried to get under his skin also.”
Hodge may have explained his side well, but his head coach Norman Black isn’t a fan of what the forward had done.
The multi-titled mentor preached about respect, that the Filipino-American cager shouldn’t engage in altercations with coaches, and that Hodge should always have that respect for coaches to prevent any more unwanted incidents.
“I don’t want Cliff to be involved with that… Tim is one of the best coaches ever in the Philippines. All players should give that respect. Coaches are not talking to the player, then the player should not be talking to the coach.
“I’ve had my instances in the past. I couldn’t accept players talking to me. I’ll talk to Cliff to show respect to Tim and to his team as much as possible. I didn’t really like the fact that it happened,” added the decorated Black.
Hodge shared that Black had discussed the matter with him, and he gave an assurance that he will never go beyond verbal exchanges so as to not hurt his team, who are now 4-2 in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup standings.
“He just really told me that just make sure I’m under control. I can hurt the team and get a technical. But you know, I’m smart about it. I’m not going overboard,” said the six-year league veteran from Florida.
“It’s part of the game.”
