Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao rued the officiating following the Elasto Painters’ loss to the San Miguel Beermen in Game 4 of the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series on Monday night.
Guiao felt the Elasto Painters were on the bad end of the calls particularly the last two fouls called on Paul Lee that led to the disqualification of his starting guard, who fouled out with 2.7 seconds left in the third quarter with the Beermen up by 21 points.
“We also didn’t get the breaks from the refs. Paul fouled out in this game, but there are at least two fouls that weren’t supposed to be fouls. It’s the block on Espinas and the other one was on Ross so it’s just so disappointing,” Guiao told reporters with a hoarse voice following his team’s 105-92 loss.
Lee was called for his fifth foul despite going straight up in contesting a drive by Chris Ross, who should’ve been called for an offensive foul for warding off with his left arm at the 2:08 mark of third quarter. He also appeared to be in good position to draw the charge on Beermen forward Gabby Espinas but instead was slapped with a blocking foul.
“Hindi ko na alam yung foul at hindi foul pero natawag na, yun ang nangyari adjust na lang ako next game (I don’t really know what’s a foul and not a foul but I was called for a foul and it happened so I just need to adjust for next game),” said the 26-year-old Lee, who picked up three fouls inside the last 2:37 of the third quarter.
The firebrand coach also felt the calls don’t go both ways with his team not allowed to play its usual rugged game while the referees are allowing the Beermen to be physical which makes the defending champion “unbeatable” given that they already have the most dominant player in the league today.
“We cannot play physical, but they can play physical on us. I don’t understand it. They already have the size advantage and they also have the advantage with those calls that I said,” Guiao said. “So we really didn’t have a chance in this ball game. We don’t really have any hope [of winning] especially with the way the game was called and it’s getting worse.”
“I recommend consistency with the calls. We know we can beat them, but if you don’t get the breaks from officiating, there’s no way any team can beat them.”