Guiao rues sudden rule changes

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao says he has nothing against the new rules in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) this season but would’ve preferred adjusting to bite-size, instead of mouthful, applications.

Guiao refers to several new PBA rules that were ratified in the offseason.

His contention is it would’ve been less stressful to introduce the changes in "bite-size" measures from one conference to another rather than on a wholesale basis.

But he’s not complaining. The new rules apply to every team anyway so Guiao will just have to adjust like the others. It’s not like any team is prejudiced or favored by the rule changes. Perhaps, the PBA’s thinking is to take the big step once and avoid the confusion of changing rules in midseason.

Guiao expects a lot of adjusting in the new rules on arm-barring in defense, the banning of the use of stickum, the limiting of five non-players on the bench, and flagrant fouls. He says he was informed of some of the new rules by memo only a few days before the season opened yesterday. The late changes were made in consultation with visiting former National Basketball Association (NBA) supervisor of officials Darrell Garretson.

"Take the use of the arm-bar," explains Guiao. "It’s allowed to use the arm-bar to hold your position if the offensive player is backing in but when you’re face to face, the referees will not tolerate handchecking.

That will mean some adjustment in the defense. Another example is the banning of stickum. I know in the NBA, stickum is not allowed. But Filipinos don’t have hands as big as Americans. Our players have gotten used to stickum which gives them a better handle on the ball. Now, all of a sudden, you take it away from them."

Guiao says limiting non-players to five on the bench is another major adjustment. "Some of our team officials will have to move out," he notes.

"I think it’s also important for team officials to sit on the bench, not only coaches. If we limit non-players to five on the bench, will it make any difference to the league? Baka naman hindi."

Under the PBA’s new guidelines, a team is limited to listing only eight non-playing members. Last year, the limit was 11. Any person on the bench is subject to a technical foul. Two technicals on a coach or an assistant coach will mean ejection. A non-uniformed player or a person–aside from the coach, assistant coach or uniformed player–on the bench will be ejected on a single technical.

Another rule change involves flagrant fouls. Last year, unnecessary contact was classified as a deliberate foul with a penalty of a three-minute freeze for the guilty player, two free throws and possession.

A flagrant foul for unnecessary and excessive contact had a penalty of ejection and a free throw. This year, the deliberate foul has been reclassified as a flagrant foul No. 1 with a penalty of two free throws and possession. Unnecessary and excessive contact is reclassified as a flagrant foul No. 2 with a penalty of ejection, two free throws and possession.

A punching foul carries a penalty of ejection, a free throw, and possession whether or not contact is made.

Guiao says while the Thunder is virtually intact, he’s uncomfortable with the tag as the team to beat because the other clubs have gotten stronger.

In the draft, Guiao picked Rico Villanueva on the first round, Cyrus Baguio and Rysal Castro on the second, Dusty Coloso on the third, Clarence Cole on the fourth, and Ramil Ferma on the fifth.

Villanueva is the only rookie to make it to Red Bull’s 12-man active roster while Castro is in the injured list.

"Cyrus had a commitment to play for Dazz in the PBL (Philippine Basketball League) Finals so he reported to camp late," explains Guiao. "We gave him the option of going back to the PBL or being a practice player. He’ll be much more competitive if he plays in the PBL so he went back. We told him if any PBA team is interested in him, he could talk to us for his release.

Otherwise, we’ll invite him to our camp again next year."

As for Coloso, Guiao says he won’t be available until he finishes his studies at Kean University in New Jersey this May. "Our lineup is now complete," continues Guiao. "Unless Coloso is really good, I doubt if we can make room for him when he comes." Coloso’s father Tim used to play in the PBA. The 6-3, 195-pound guard was drafted by Red Bull on the basis of tapes showing him in action and hasn’t shown up for tryouts.

Guiao says veteran Nelson Asaytono was the surprise in training camp.

"After Vonn (Harp) and Mick (Pennisi), he’s the next big man in our rotation," he adds. "We signed Nelson to a six-month contract. He’s trying his best to prove he still belongs in the PBA." Asaytono, 36, is a 14-year pro who averaged 23.1 points for San Miguel Beer in 1997. Last season, the Bull hit at a 3.2 clip.

Guiao says he has no regular starting five but keeps a nucleus of eight players whom he rotates as starters, depending on the matchups. The nucleus consists of Harp, Pennisi, MVP Willie Miller, Lordy Tugade, Jimwell Torion, Junthy Valenzuela, Anton Viloria, and Edmund Reyes. But occasionally, Guiao also uses Asaytono, Homer Se and Vince Hizon as starters. Villanueva may also be tapped to start if Guiao sees a mismatch advantage.

Regarding Ginebra’s offseason build-up, Guiao says it’ll take some time before the Kings jell as a cohesive unit because they brought in several new players. Red Bull beat Ginebra, 92-90, in a practice game at the Green Meadows gym last Thursday. Although it was only an exhibition, fisticuffs erupted leading to the ejection of Torion and Ginebra’s Bal David. There appears to be a seething rivalry between the clubs.

"(Jun) Limpot scored 38 points in that game and (Romel) Adducul, eight," recalls Guiao. "Ginebra’s still adjusting. (Rob) Johnson and (Banjo) Calpito didn’t even play. I think coach Allan (Caidic) wanted to try out (Aris) Dimaunahan at the point. Eric (Menk) struggled with only two points. He played the four spot while Adducul played five and Limpot, three. Limpot was hot so they kept on getting him the ball. Ginebra’s trying something different this year. They’re not so much a one-on-one team anymore. That’s why Eric is struggling and (Mark) Caguioa will have to adjust. They’re playing with lot of motion so it will take time before they play to their potential."

Team owner George Chua took Red Bull to a four-day tour of Xiamen, China, as a reward for the Thunder’s triumph in the Commissioner’s Cup. It was Red Bull’s second title since entering the PBA in the year 2000.