DASMARINAS – Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao cried foul over Terrence Romeo’s three-pointer late in Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-7 semifinal series versus San Miguel Beer on Wednesday night.
The outspoken mentor was heated after the Beermen guard fired the said shot and made it with the match already decided in the reigning champs’ favor, that he no longer shook hands with some of the opposing players and coaches.
“Basic respect,” Guiao called for when he spoke to reporters moments after their 107-117 defeat at the Dasmarinas City Arena here in Cavite.
“Alam mo naman na San Miguel is a class organization. Alam mo naman na kaibigan natin coaching staff nila, ‘yung mga boss doon. That’s just a minimum requirement for respect. Wala naman tayong quotient sa semis eh,” he added.
SMB was already cruising to the win when it held a 114-107 lead with under 20 seconds left to play, a gap that the Elasto Painters could no longer overcome.
But Romeo, approaching the final six seconds of the game, pulled up from the left wing and sank it, extending the margin to a decade.
Soon, he would find himself on the receiving end of a Guiao tongue-lashing, marring what was actually a good bout between two squads.
The champion bench tactician was left wondering why Romeo, apparently, had forgotten about the “basic respect” he was hoping to see.
“Hindi naman bagong player si Terrence. I’m sure alam niya ‘yun,” he said. “Nagulat din ako na gano’n nangyari. Medyo bastusan ang labas.
“The mere fact na they are seeded no. 1, they’re the best team, they [have] the best record, they have the best talent, should make them a class organization, and part of being in a class organization is giving due respect doon sa mas mababa sa’yo.”
Guiao himself didn’t want the situation to get to a point where it got, but he just could not back down from the disrespect he and the team felt.
“Nagalit din ako, I lost my temper, pero deserving sila. Bastusan naman ang labanan. Ayaw mo naman mambastos, pero ‘pag binabastos ka, magpapa-bully ka? It’s just an expression of disappointment,” he said.
All that he was expecting, Guiao said, was for a pleasant ending to a match regardless of the result, this was his utter disappointment with what happened.
“Expect mo roon sa gano’ng situation, matatapos kayo nang may respeto pa rin kayo sa isa’t-isa. Maganda naman ‘yung laro e, wala namang nangyaring untoward; wala namang situation na pwedeng sabihing nagju-justify sa gano’n,” he said.
”Yun lang. Meron talagang gano’n, may tao talagang bastos. May taong mayabang, may taong bastos.”
Members of the press tried to get the side of Romeo but he was no longer in the venue.
