Raymar Jose said that he could only laugh about being thrown out of his Blackwater Elite’s match with the TNT KaTropa, Saturday evening at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The 6-foot-4 forward got ejected with 8:45 remaining in the fourth quarter when he tossed the ball to TNT guard Roger Pogoy, who failed to catch the ball. Instead, it smacked him on the jaw.
The PBA’s ruling is that a player will automatically be sent out once he tosses the ball towards an opposing player – whether intentional or not – as it might spark any untoward incident.
“Natatawa na lang ako kasi siyempre, nagkukulitan kami. Magkaibigan kami since college pa. Lagi kami nag-uusap niyan,” said Jose, who played with Pogoy in the FEU Tamaraws for four years.
“Kaya nagulat na lang ako sa dinisisyon ng referee na out of the game ako.”
Jose admitted that he had really wanted to give the ball to Pogoy – Pogoy had capped off a personal 10-0 run before that incident – but he did not expect that it would hit Pogoy in the face.
“Hindi, kasi dapat sa tiyan ko lang bibigay kasi nag-time out… Pagbigay ko sa kanya ng bola sa likod, umangat siguro, nakita ng referee. Kaya nagulat ako,” recalled Jose.
“‘Di ko nasalo yung bola, dumirecho sa mukha ko,” quipped Pogoy, meanwhile.
After the match, which went in favor of TNT, 127-89, Pogoy and Jose simply laughed it off before heading out of the venue, with Jose jokingly insisting that Pogoy should pay his fine.
“Sisingilin ko na lang siya ng pambayad sa fine,” Jose said with a chuckle.
In which Pogoy responded: “Mas maraming pera yun, kaya na niya yun.”
