Yeng Guiao blamed the referees for costing Rain or Shine what could have been a crucial win in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
Never one to hold back, the straightforward coach enumerated what he felt were missed and inaccurate calls by the officials that ultimately led to the Elasto Painters’ defeat — and brought them down 3-1 in the series versus TNT.
“The referees messed it up for us,” he told reporters moments after their 93-85 loss at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night.
“And, it’s such a crucial game, kasi sa tingin ko, you win this, you change the whole momentum of the series — for us.”
Guiao believes that the refs cost Rain or Shine about 10 points because of their judgment during certain situations, including one that eventually led to a three-point play for the Tropang Giga with 2:56 remaining in the ball game.
Roger Pogoy, after missing a corner triple, stole the ball away from Gian Mamuyac to regain possession and took it to the hoop for a layup. But a whistle was blown against Deon Thompson for a foul against Kelly Williams.
The veteran slotman was then sent to the line for a bonus and made it, giving TNT an 84-76 cushion as they started to create separation toward the end.
“There was a situation na sa tingin ko could have changed the momentum of the game. The results could have been affected. Hinila ni Pogoy si Mamu,” the 65-year-old bench tactician opined. “Binigyan pa sila ng three points, eh.
“Hinila, tapos dapat ‘yon free throws namin, naging three points sa kabila. It’s a five-point swing at a crucial point of the game.”
Guiao also claimed a missed travelling infraction against Rey Nambatac, as well as a foul on Andrei Caracut that the referees, he said, didn’t act on.
“I think may travelling si Nambatac when he caught the ball and turned on the floor. That’s a travelling, they missed that. Converted din yun sa kabila,” he said. “Earlier, si Andrei, na-foul early in the game. Converted din pero hindi tinawag.”
The champion mentor did lament the poor shooting of his locals and their failure to provide ample support for Thompson and his 44-point effort but still believes that things may have gone differently had the calls been assessed better.
“So if you combine all those points that were bad calls and went against us, that’s almost 10 points lost, dun lang sa bad calls,” he said.
“Kahit na malamig ‘yung locals namin, kung nakuha lang namin ‘yung mga dapat na tawag para sa amin, we would probably still have a chance to win the game.”
No other player aside from Thompson scored in twin digits.
Guiao did say that the officials actually admitted their mistakes, but the damage had already been done. Rain or Shine has been dragged into a do-or-die on Friday — against one of the league’s traditional contenders.
“Kung kailan pa napaka-importante ng laro, ‘yung lahat ng tawag ng referees cost us almost 10 points which were admittedly mali. Maski sila naman, sinasabi nila mali ang tawag na yon,” he said.
“Ganon talaga, kaya lang mahirap ‘yung dehado ka na, malakas ‘yung kalaban mo tapos ‘yung mga calls, hindi mo pa makuha. So, we’ll see. Pero hindi pa naman tapos. May Friday pa … Hindi pa tapos ‘to.”
