PBA raises officiating bar

MANILA, Philippines - PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios said yesterday he won’t hold back in cracking the whip on referees whose performance isn’t up to par and vowed to continue the campaign to upgrade officiating standards.

The PBA opened this season with 20 referees, including four rookies – two from the PBL and two from a group of 10 aspirants. The roster is down to 19, broken down into five Class A (Throngy Aldaba, Luisito Cruz, Jose Calungcaguin, Mario Montiel, Arturo Herrera), seven Class B and seven Class C referees.

“We’re not sitting on our hands,” said Barrios. “We won’t hesitate to suspend without pay or not renew contracts if there’s justification. We believe that over 90 percent of why there are missed or wrong calls is because of poor positioning. We’re addressing that problem through several measures, some of which are being introduced for the first time ever.”

The crackdown is in line with the league’s commitment to the Board of Governors and the fans to raise the officiating bar. Last week, sources said a referee was dropped from the roster after flunking a series of evaluations.

Assisting Barrios in working the referees into shape are supervisor of officials Ramil Cruz and consultant Romy Guevara. During games, Barrios and Guevara are perched on an elevated vantage point for a panoramic view of the floor while Cruz sits at courtside across the table officials with operations manager Rickie Santos.

“We’re grateful to the Board for supporting our program,” said Barrios. “Officiating is a thankless job. You’ll never be able to please everyone. But we share a passion for the game and we are determined to raise the quality of our officiating.”

Barrios said coordination with the TV coveror is crucial in educating the fans on why calls are made. He cited, as an example, an offensive foul called on James Yap during the Rain Or Shine-Purefoods playoff game at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.

“James was whistled for warding or pushing off before going up for a shot but the call was late and the referee missed making the warding motion before the signal for an offensive foul,” said Barrios. “The TV replay didn’t show the warding but only James’ takeoff where he went up against two defenders and there appeared to be defensive contact. So if you watch the tape, you’ll wonder why the call was an offensive foul when it looked like James was fouled in his attempt to score a layup. What the replay missed was the warding that preceded the takeoff – that was the basis for the offensive foul.”

Guevara said steps are being undertaken to make sure the referees perform to the best of their ability. “But you can’t teach guts and common sense,” he added.

Among the steps are a video review of performance after each game, a game-by-game evaluation report where a referee’s calls and missed calls are listed each quarter with a weekly summary for further study, eye callisthenics, communication skills sessions, on-court drills, fellowship with coaches and team-building exercises.

Barrios said each referee’s vision is tested periodically and eye work-ups are mandatory before a game.

On the matter of communicating skills, Barrios pointed out that referees shouldn’t be afraid to approach coaches and tell the truth.

“It’s important that our referees improve their communication skills which also means polishing their English to be able to speak with coaches and players who don’t speak Tagalog,” continued Barrios. “We’ve got the benefit of the video replay so when there’s a dead ball, we can check on a call. If there’s a wrong or missed call, a referee shouldn’t hesitate to approach a coach and admit the mistake. The idea is to have mutual respect.”

Barrios said he encourages referees not to shy away from communicating with coaches who may be intimidating. “If a coach is heated up, a referee walking away or avoiding eye contact won’t stop the ranting,” he noted. But if the coach shows disrespect and unsportsmanlike conduct, there’s always the technical foul to call.

Barrios said with the semifinals and finals just around the corner, he will keep a closer watch on how the referees are performing.

“If I’m not happy with the referees in the pool for the lottery to work a game, I’ll use my personal discretion to make changes,” he said.

Barrios obviously means business and he’s not backing down from the challenge of taking charge to reaffirm the credibility of PBA referees.