Raymond Almazan and the Meralco Bolts were in the midst of a furious rally from 20 down versus the NLEX Road Warriors in 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup action on Friday evening, until one call turned things around for the worse.
Almazan was in the right place at the right time when he secured Kiefer Ravena’s lay-up, which rattled out of the rim with about 37 seconds left to play. However, referees suddenly whistled Almazan for goaltending following replays.
The ball appeared very near the rim at the moment the 6-foot-8 center grabbed it, so the refs deemed it a goaltend.
The gap was just six points, 102-96, at that time, in favor of the Road Warriors. The lead could have been cut down had Almazan been not called for the violation. But things went otherwise, and the margin widened to eight.
The call proved costly in the end, as Meralco eventually bowed, 99-105, dropping to 1-1 in the conference.
Asked about that infraction, Almazan said that it was never a goaltend. He asserted that his actions were all legal, even citing the FIBA World Cup as an example since both the FIBA and the PBA have the same rules on goaltending.
In FIBA rules, a player can tap the ball out of the rim the moment it touches the cyliner. It is only considered a goaltending violation if the ball is swatted away while it is in a downward flight towards the rim.
“Para sa’kin legal yun,” the 30-year-old said. “Kasi ang daming beses ko na nakita sa World Cup na ginagawa ng players yun. ‘Di ko naman nahawakan yung ring eh. At tsaka nakita kong nag-bounce siya, tapos tinapik ko na agad.
“Akala ko nga tinawagan ng foul si Ighalo eh, tapos magfi-free throw ako. Nagulat na lang ako na goaltending.”
Still, Almazan isn’t crying over spilled milk. He liked the way the Orangemen fought back from the huge deficit but quickly added it should not always be that way in their upcoming games in this season-ending meet.
“Good effort pa rin for the whole team,” the six-year pro said. “Kaso hindi pwedeng every game ganun eh.
“‘Di pwedeng every game maghahabol ka ng ganun. Kasi katulad ng next game namin, sabi nga ni coach tougher teams like Ginebra, TNT, na kapag nilamangan ka ng bente, diyan ka na sa bente eh. Kailangan makadikit ang game kasi mas gusto ko yung ganing laro na dikit, na kahit endgame okay lang sa’min. Pero yung eighteen-plus tapos nag-twenty pa ata, kahit sino mahihirapan doon.”
