Johnson bump ‘probably a lack of breeding, respect’

Ivan Johnson of Talk N Text (light). FILE PHOTO by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines-Things were getting a little testy, there was a mad scramble on defense and neither the people in white nor the people in dark blue had a possession.

There was one thing that was sure, there was a foul.

When Ivan Johnson ran back to his team’s side of the court, he had Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood standing nonchalantly on his left, seemed to take a little break in the waning minutes of the third quarter inside the chilly Mall of Asia Arena, he had Yeng Guiao on his right.

Johnson is Talk N’ Text’s fiery and temperamental import.

Only a few feet separated Johnson from Guiao and he started to jog back to their own basket, then boom. He bumped Guiao sending the coach to somewhere new, a place that only sprung up in the 3:36 mark of the third quarter in Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.

Guiao’s assistants and players immediately came to his aid while Johnson was on the other bench, a blank expression on his face.

“He did it on purpose, the video showed that he can easily avoid me,” Guiao said after the game.

His Elasto Painters lost 99-92 to Johnson’s Tropang Texters.

“It was on my blind side.

“It’s up to the league to evaluate and asses what needs to be done with that.”

Guiao, nevertheless, was not surprised with Johnson’s action.

Johnson was part of the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA in 2013 then went to China then back to the United States in 2014 to play in the NBA D-League.

He then landed in the Philippines as Talk N’ Text’s fiery import.

Immediately he gained the reputation of being temperamental, albeit not too talkative, in a league where physical play is common.

“I’m not surprised because that’s been his reputation. Probably a lack of breeding, it’s a lack of respect,” Guiao said. “One reason he’s out of the NBA, one reason he’s playing overseas and not getting a good reputation is because of exactly what he does.”

Guiao may not be surprised with the bump, but he was sure surprised that Johnson got away with only a technical foul.

“I’m surprised that it was only a technical foul, he deserved more than that. He should be out of the game,” Guiao said.

Even an apology, which TNT assistant Tab Baldwin relayed, to Guiao would change the fact, as the Elasto Painters coach said, “that he did it on purpose.”

“I can spit in his face and apologize later on, but I still did it on purpose.”

What’s left for Guiao is to focus on Game 2, a game that can give them a tie in the seven-game series or put them in a 0-2 hole.

“We’ll just go back and practice and try to improve our free throws and find a solution to our turnovers.”