MANILA, Philippines - Patas naman ang officiating sa kasalukuyang 2012-13 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, ayon kay PBA Commissioner Chito Salud.
Ito ang kanyang reak-syon sa mga akusasyon ni Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao na nadehado sa tawagan ang Elasto Painters sa Game 3 ng kanilang best-of-7 finals laban sa Talk ‘N Text kung kaya’t natalo sila, 89-80 nitong Linggo at nabaon ng 0-3 sa serye.
“The officiating has been fair and square. And it will continue to be so,†pahayag ni Salud sa pamamagitan ng isang text message mula sa PBA Media Bureau.
Sa kanyang post-Game 3 interview sa Smart Araneta Coliseum noong Linggo, sinabi ni Guiao na may mga mali at hindi itinawag ng mga referees na hindi naging pabor sa Rain or Shine kung kaya’t hindi nila naipanalo ang laro bagama’t lumamang ng umabot ng siyam na puntos sa fourth quarter.
“In the (fourth) quarter, we led by as much as nine pero the refs just spoiled our chances. There were several calls which I thought we should’ve gotten. Ranidel (de Ocampo) hit Gabe (Norwood) on a rebound, they got the ball back. He had four fouls, they were in penalty, hindi binigay ang tawag sa amin. ‘Yung huling steal ni Jayson (Castro) kay Chris Tiu di rin binigay sa’min. Turnover, score sila. ‘Yung drive ni Ryan Reyes kay Paul Lee -- he was in a good defensive position, binangga siya, siya pa ‘yung foul. Hinagis lang ‘yung bola ni Ryan. So in that situation alone, ‘yung tatlong tawag na ‘yon malalaking bagay sa amin ‘yun. They didn’t give it to us especially in the crucial moments of the game. I just felt that we tried our best but the refs ruined the nice game, or ruined our chances at least,†paliwanag ni Guiao, sabay wika na dapat tingnan mabuti ang mga insidenteng iyon ng liga.
“I’m challenging the league to take a look at those calls (and) those incidents because this is the Finals. Games are going to be won very closely. The difference probably is one or two possessions and those possessions I think were important to us but we didn’t get them. Finals na to napakalaking bagay ‘yung mga ganung mga tawag na dapat naman ibigay sa team… nangako si Commissioner ng fair officiating kaya dapat panindigan niya ang pangako niya,†ani Guiao.
Pero nanindigan si Salud na naging fair ang mga referees.
“No team will receive help from the referees. The players will decide the game,†wika nito.