After Ateneo de Manila University secured an 80-74 victory over University of the East – plus at least a playoff for the last Final Four spot in UAAP Men’s Basketball – head coach Tab Baldwin shared his thoughts on the league’s officiating.
And it wasn’t against the referees.
“I think there was a lot of nonsense in the media and being spoken by other people in the UAAP coming into this game, and I think it certainly affected and distracted the referees,” said Baldwin on Wednesday after the game at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“I really felt for the refs today. I think they were under an inordinate amount of pressure, and I believe they did a really good job under that pressure,” the well-travelled head coach added.
“Nonetheless, that’s not why we have referees in the game of basketball; it’s not to put them under that kind of pressure that they were put under today.”
Just last Sunday, the Blue Eagles narrowly escaped Adamson University with a 62-58 win, prompting post-game comments from Falcons coach Nash Racela regarding the officiating.
Racela pointed out Ateneo’s 15 free throws in the fourth quarter compared to his team’s zero. He also cited a non-call on Ced Manzano’s shot inside the final 24 seconds of the game with the Blue Eagles ahead by just one, 59-58.
The wins against Adamson (5-7) and UE (4-9) put Ateneo at 7-6 in solo fourth. A loss by the Falcons later in the day against National University would give the Blue Eagles the final ticket.
Otherwise, it would be decided on the final weekend of the eliminations.
Ateneo will face arch-rival De La Salle University (9-3) on Saturday at 6:00 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“I know the UAAP doesn’t need me to speak for it, but I’m going to anyway. On behalf of the UAAP, I’m embarrassed for some of the people in our family of this UAAP exerting the kind of pressure that they did on the referees and the Commissioner’s Office,” continued Baldwin.
“I think it’s shameful, I think you all know exactly what I mean, and I think we need to put it behind us and move forward as quickly as possible and get back to doing what is right for the game of basketball,” he added.
“And when anybody, anybody does anything to the detriment of this sport, they are immediately my number one enemy. This game has given every single one of us in the sport way, way more than we have given back to it. And I think it is shameful when people bring the game into disrepute. And I’ll leave it at that.”
