Tigers cry: Officiating most foul

MANILA, Philippines - Already faced with a difficult task of taking on the taller, heftier frontliners of La Salle, University of Santo Tomas’ big men found themselves at an even bigger disadvantage with foul woes virtually rendering them ineffective on defense in their 70-77 Game Two setback in the UAAP Finals last Saturday. 

Karim Abdul, as well as his chief backup Paulo Pe, got slapped with two fouls each in the first quarter alone, where the Tigers were assessed seven team fouls against none for the Archers. The Archers, though, were called for 10 fouls in the second period against five for the Tigers.

So frustrated was the Cameroonian slotman that he slammed officiating after the loss that sent the title UAAP season 76 men’s basketball title series to a winner-take-all this Saturday.

“I believe the referees played a role in the game,” said Abdul, who nursed three fouls from the late stage of the second quarter on. “I’ve never said this before, but today, the referees, they really played.”

With Abdul, Pe and later Aljon Mariano hobbled by foul trouble, the Archers banged in a whopping 42 points in the paint. The Lasallians dominated the boards easily, 57-39, grabbing 27 off the offensive glass that translated to 18 second-chance points.

“Hindi namin ma-stop yung bigs nila inside (We couldn’t stop their big men),” said UST coach Pido Jarencio, while also conceding that the Tigers were somehow “out of focus” against a DLSU side that played better.

“Masyadong maaga na-foul trouble yung bigs namin. Si Karim, dalawa agad eh, tapos si Paulo Pe. And then wala na, nagkawindang-windang na kami (We can’t stop their bigs, primarily and we lost traction when Karim and Pe got into early foul trouble),” Jarencio added.

Although admitting he was somehow playing “distracted” in the first two quarters, Abdul claimed they were neutralized by fouls called against them throughout. 

He said he was warned by officials against doing things on defense. “Like ‘Don’t put your hand there or I’m gonna call a foul’ and ‘Don’t put your hands like this because I’m gonna call a foul’. The referees will say, ‘If you put this hand this way, I’m gonna call a foul,’ so I couldn’t defend properly.”

What frustrated the Mythical 5 member was that according to him, Van Opstal was “getting away with the same” on the other side.

“He’s covering my arm when I’m trying to reach for the ball, he’s blocking my arm with his arm. And then the referees told me not to put my arm, come on. I mean, he can back down with his shoulder, but he’s really, obviously putting his arm on me and blocking my hand. And the referees are not calling it, seriously,” he said.

Foul woes had somehow hurt the Archers, too. In Game One that UST won, 73-72, DLSU coach Juno Sauler lamented how early fouls on Van Opstal and Perkins – aside from Kevin Ferrer’s hot shooting – stalled the Archers and put them in a  4-21 hole in the first quarter.

“We couldn’t get ourselves going also because Arnold was called for two early fouls, Jason two early fouls, and we got to go to the bench. And then Ferrer his three three-pointers in the first quarter,” said Sauler after Game One.

La Salle and UST will be going for the marbles on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.