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Marc Pingris, Star’s hustling superstar, couldn’t help but vent his frustrations at the referees after the Hotshots’ heartbreaking loss to the Barangay Ginebra Kings Friday night that sent them home on Christmas night.
“I wish the referees would look at the real fouls. I am not talking about the game, our main concern is we don’t know how to play basketball anymore with all these calls,” Pingris said in Filipino. “I’m not saying this because we lost, but it was so obvious.”
Pingris fouled out with almost five minutes left in regulation as he was rendered helpless in the crucial stages with Star and Ginebra going into overtime.
“It’s just frustrating the referees would change the rules during the game,” Pingris said after one of his worst games this conference with two points, three rebounds and four turnovers in 23 minutes of action. “What was talked about that’s it. They are changing the rules during the game, they should’ve told us during the offseason.”
The national team mainstay is best known for his intensity and hustle on the court, but he said the players couldn’t be as active as they wanted to be with the way the referees called the game.
“We can’t understand the game anymore, the hustle we do on defense, we can’t do it anymore.”