ANTIPOLO – Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao no longer sees any relevance in discussing his spat with Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic during their PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup duel on Sunday night.
It’s water under the bridge now for the champion bench tactician as he chooses to move on from the incident that happened early in the fourth quarter of their eventual defeat to the Bolts, which spoiled their conference debut.
“Wala naman ‘yon. Ano lang ‘yon, sidelines lang. ‘Di naman siya nagma-matter doon sa laro,” he said moments after emerging from the dugout, on the heels of their 121-111 defeat at the Ynares Center here.
It happened at the 8:10-mark of the said period, shortly after Vucinic and Beau Belga were seen arguing during a dead ball situation brought about by a foul called against Andrei Caracut.
In a chat with reporters after the game, Belga said that Vucinic’s issue was his hack on Anjo Caram to halt the break with 9:39 to go in the same quarter.
That soon led to that discussion between Vucinic and Belga, but it won’t be until Guiao’s entry into the fray where things would get more heated that their respective coaching staffs needed to intervene to de-escalate the situation.
Eventually, all three got slapped with technical fouls by game officials, with Belga and Vucinic both T’d up for verbal altercation.
Guiao said that he only told Vucinic to not talk to his players and instead do so with his own men, but no longer commented about it any further.
“I don’t know what happened but he was picking up an argument with Beau, so pinapaano ko lang na ‘wag niyang kausapin ‘yung mga players ko, ‘yung players na lang niya ‘yung kausapin,” said the 65-year-old bench tactician.
“But I don’t think it’s anything na importante. I don’t think na relevant siya, na dapat pa siyang pagusapan ng matagal,” he added with a smile.
Vucinic had already left the venue as members of the press attempted to get his side regarding the matter.
Guiao did afford to flash as much despite the result as he appreciated the fight his team showed despite being beset by personnel problems.
“I think ‘yung game was closer than what the score says,” he opined. “Parang 10 points yata ‘yung lamang but I think it’s a lot closer than that.”
Rain or Shine had to play without an import as Deon Thompson has yet to complete his documents to be cleared to play after the relevant offices, Guiao said, added more requirements than the usual papers submitted.
But the game would be reduced to an all-local fixture as Meralco lost import Akil Mitchell due to a broken nose, which he sustained at the 11:48-mark of the opening period following an inadvertent hit by Keith Datu.
The Elasto Painters played without three players in total in their tournament opener. Gian Mamuyac is out indefinitely due to a right-hand fracture, while Anton Asistio sat out although the reason has yet to be disclosed.
One concern of Guiao, though, was the disparity in free throws. The Bolts had a total of 43 bonuses, which were 12 more than what RoS had.
“Sa akin ang naging malaking factor dito ‘yung 43 free throws na binigay sa Meralco,” he said as their foes shot 74.4-percent from the line.
“As close as the game was, and you are able to go to the free throw line 43 times, mahirap nang talunin talaga kung ganoon karami ‘yung free throws na binigay sa’yo … pero ganun talaga, wala tayong magagawa,” he added.
Guiao and Co. are just looking ahead for their next assignment, which will be against the 2-0 Eastern this Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
