No more ticky-tack fouls, vows Salud

MANILA, Philippines - Newly appointed PBA commissioner Chito Salud expressed optimism that with the introduction of a new officiating philosophy where referees play an unobtrusive role on the court, fans will enjoy a more free-flowing game in the pro league’s 36th season opening at the Araneta Coliseum with a bang today.

 “We want to put our referees in the background and let the players play,” said Salud. “We’re not reinventing the wheel. Our philosophy is to preserve the beauty of the game we all love with a passion. The referees will only call clear and hard contact. No more touch fouls. Marginal contact with no effect on a play will be ignored. On defense, we want the players to play the ball, to play honest. We will be consistent in making calls.”

 With the referees curtailed from blowing whistles at the slightest inconsequential contact, players will now be able to showcase their individual skills unhampered by interruptions.

 “The philosophy will encourage players to go hard offensively and defensively,” said Salud. “This is how the pros should play. The PBA is where the game is played at the highest level. The team with the players who are most fit, the most fundamentally sound and able to execute the plays will prevail.”

 Salud said even as he expects the game to be more physical, referees will not tolerate rough stuff.

 “There is no place for hooliganism in the league,” he said. “Any action to deliberately hurt a player will be dealt with severely. Referees know the difference between playing physical and playing dirty.”

 Salud said during the offseason, he sat down with league officials to tweak the rules in an effort to lessen the subjectivity of officiating. “We want to make it easy for the referees, coaches and players to understand the rules,” explained Salud. “For instance, we did away with the flopping violation which led to a lot of highly subjective calls last season. We’ve told the referees when in doubt, let the play go. The referees now find it easy to decide whether or not to blow their whistles.”

 Another example of simplifying the rules for referees is the elimination of the distinction of a primary or secondary defender in making a call on a contact situation in the no-charge zone.

 PBA operations and technical director Rickie Santos said unless the offensive player kicks or wards off, there won’t be a charge call on a contact situation in the no-charge zone regardless of whether the defender is primary or secondary. “It’s unlike before where the referee had to determine whether the guy in the half circle (or no-charge zone) is the primary or secondary defender before making a call,” said Santos. “The change makes it easier for everyone, even the fans, to understand.”

 Another rule that went out the window was the “leaving the playing court to gain advantage” violation.

 Other rule changes to be applied this season are the verification of a three-point shot or last touch in the last two minutes of regulation and overtime, no reset of the shot clock after a jumpball if the tap goes to the offensive team, no return to the game by a player unable to shoot free throws because of injury, no need to cross the midcourt line to call a 30-second timeout, inbounding from the extended free throw line off any kind of timeout in the last two minutes of regulation and overtime, no carryover of team fouls from the fourth period into overtime and a team is allowed to play a 14-man lineup in a game.

 Salud recently met with team managers and coaches to lay down the ground rules of officiating and the reaction was positive. He also advised referees to “mouth” or communicate with players and coaches, warning them, when necessary, of being called for a violation to avoid surprises or interruptions – in keeping with the philosophy of a free-flowing game.

 Salud also said he will discourage the deliberate lowering of the sound of music in the public address system during a timeout if there are fans dancing wildly in the stands.

 “I didn’t even know they did that,” said Salud, referring to the lowering of the volume. “We want good, clean fun. We want the fans to enjoy, cheer for their teams and dance if they feel like it. It adds to the excitement of a game. But of course, if there are fans who do lascivious actions, we won’t tolerate it. Anything that is not harmful, morally, we will allow.”

 Salud said his ultimate objective is to achieve parity in the league, a competitive balance that will ensure every outcome of a game to be unpredictable.

 This season, the PBA will employ 18 referees, including 29-year-old rookie Dexter See who worked five years in the PBL and is a physical education graduate of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. The roster is headed by Class A-1 referee Luisito (Boy) Cruz, 49, and the PBA Press Corps’ Referee of the Year awardee Manolito Quilinguen, 44.

 Other referees in the lineup are Class B-1 Art Herrera, Class C-1 Peter Balao, Class C-2 Sherwin Pineda, Ferdinand Pascual, Joel Ngo and Reymond Murillo, New Referee A Armando Guevarra, Jimmy Mariano, Nestor Sambrano, Romeo Mangibin, Ronaldo Ibay and New Referee B Edward Aquino, Dennis Barbacena, Rodito Marabe and Ronald Mauricio.

 PBA media bureau chief and assistant to the commissioner Willie Marcial said the referees are evaluated on a game-to-game basis and their classification may change in the course of the season to reflect performance.