INQUIRER Sports

TIANJIN, China ? Nothing personal.

That?s what Powerade-Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao is all about when it comes to his coaching ? when he shouts at the team or to one particular player even when in full view of the audience.

?They know that I coach that way,? Guiao told the Philippine Daily Inquirer a couple of nights ago, when asked if any of his players in the national squad here or in his PBA team back home, has resented all the shouting.

?They wouldn?t do that, because they know right from the start, when I talked to them for inclusion in this team, that that?s the way I am,? he added. ?In a way, some of them [players] really need that here, and it has showed.

?After all of this is over [Fiba Asia tournament], we will go back to being friends again and competitors in the PBA,? he added. ?There?s nothing personal if I shout at them or bench them. I do that for the good of the team.?

Guiao has also not held back in denying some of his big-name players huge minutes on the floor.

?All of them are getting the chance they need. The problem with some of them is that they have blown the chances that they?ve gotten,? he said. ?Superstar or not, if the player doesn?t contribute, he will see the bench more often than not.?

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The Philippines could still be represented in the 2010 World Basketball Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, after all.

Federico ?Bong? Pascual, a Class C PBA referee, earned a renewal of his Fiba license earlier in the week after passing the refresher course and could wind up officiating crucial games in Turkey the way he has done here.

The 39-year-old father of three, who has been with the PBA since 2006 and has been an IR since 2002, has been the favorite of officials here, having been assigned to referee two crucial Chinese matches.

And unlike the national basketball team which fell short in its target of making it to Istanbul, the prospects of Pascual going there seems bright with the way he has performed here.