Rematch looms for TNT, Ginebra

Hounded by a growing list of inconsistencies in officiating, Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Noli Eala last night looked all set to order a rematch between Ginebra and Talk N Text which figured in a thrilling double-overtime encounter last Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ginebra, the crowd favorite, won the grueling 58-minute contest, 122-117, but Talk N Text immediately placed the result under protest due to technicality.

The protest was based on the fact that Asi Taulava’s alley-oop shot with just a fraction of a second left in the first overtime should have been counted. Slo-mo replays of the play clearly showed that the ball had left the hands of the Talk N Text cager before time expired.

But referees Boy Cruz, Wilbert Culanag and Jose Calungcaguin, after a quick huddle and consultation with the official timekeeper, decided to nullify the basket, sending the game into a second overtime. Ginebra pounced on the opportunity to pull off the victory.

Eala heard the protest and is said to be in favor of a rematch although he was still locked up in a meeting with technical committee head Perry Martinez and executive assistant Ricky Santos as of presstime.

In fact, the commissioner had talked about the game being replayed. He even told scribes last Sunday that the rematch would have to be held before the end of the elimination round.

Observers, however, believe that it’s better to hold the rematch only if it would still have a bearing on the teams’ chances of reaching the quarterfinals. If both teams were already assured of slots to the next round by then, then there would be no need for a rematch.

The Phone Pals, however, have no reason to celebrate the commissioner’s impending decision since they had reportedly sought a reversal and not a mere replay of the game. Ordering the replay, observers say, is an admission by the PBA that the referees erred in nullifying Taulava’s basket and therefore denying Talk N Text a clear victory.

The incident might also raise the possibility of the PBA following the footsteps of the National Basketball Association (NBA) where controversial calls, particularly those involving last-second shots, could be overruled with the use of slo-mo replays.