Ryan Reyes: 'I'm not a dirty player'

MANILA, Philippines – “I’m not a dirty player.”

This was Ryan Reyes, the Talk n Text’s defensive ace, short answer to the accusations hurled against him by Ginebra coach Alfrancis Chua that he allegedly punched Vernon Macklin twice and tripped him in another sequence in Game Four.

Reyes, who was caught by surprise with the accusations, defended himself by explaining that he was just going through the motion.

“I’m just trying to box him out and that’s all,” said Reyes, who is a four-time All-Defensive team member.   

Chua singled out Reyes and Ranidel de Ocampo, who drew Macklin a Flagrant Foul Penalty 1 for shoving him to the floor in the second half, for playing dirty against their import during the post-game press conference.

“The referees should call some of the cheap shots. [Ryan] Reyes is punching him [Macklin] but he did not react. Pero yung huli lang, sorry for the language ha, but binayagan ni Ranidel [de Ocampo] tapos hinead-butt,” Chua said.

“We can play hard but we’re not gonna hurt you like that na pantanggal ng career,” Chua added. Di bale yung pisikalan lang, pero yung saktan mo? Wala namang suntukan, basketball lang.”

The pony-tailed Ginebra coach, who is eyeing for his first PBA title, went to appeal his case bringing along with him game clips of the said “cheap shots” to show it to league’s technical staff right after their team practice yesterday.

Macklin and De Ocampo, meanwhile, refused to be drawn into the issue and avoided the question. But the Ginebra import promised to try his best not to lose his cool in the all-important Game Five.

“I’ve been playing in this league for three months now so I’m used to a lot of physical plays going on but I’ve got to keep my head and my composure to be with my team on the floor,” said Macklin, who sat out for three minutes in a crucial stretch in the second half for pushing De Ocampo to the ground.   

“I’ll just go out there and forget about the dirty plays and just play hard.”    

Reyes, for his part, also vowed to give it his all. 

"It's going to be an all-out war. We cannot make mistakes. We'll just play all out."