Unwritten but not binding

“Kuwento mo sa pagong.”

“Sa presinto ka na magpaliwanag.”

“Huwag ako.”

“Kuwento mo sa lelong mo.”

“Don’t me.”

Those are the kind of expressions that come to my mind whenever someone invokes the so-called “unwritten rule” in basketball, particularly when a player scores in the dying seconds of a game that has practically been decided and generates controversy.

But before anyone gets the wrong impression, this is not about Ateneo de Manila University head coach Louie Alas, his reaction after their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) game against University of the Philippines last Saturday or his subsequent apology.

Louie is a good man and a dear friend. He even personally apologized to me despite my having nothing to do with the incident. And even if I happen to be an alumnus of both universities.

My issue is with the unwritten rule itself.

Having covered the UAAP as a sportswriter and once headed its statistics group later, alongside more than three decades in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the same fields, I believe I have seen enough basketball to appreciate both the competitive and cultural sides of the game.

And I, honestly, cannot recall this supposed rule being part of the traditional Filipino basketball culture.

When playing on the streets, in barangay courts, on hardwood, cement or even on bare soil, players will keep shooting as long as the game is still going, an official game or just papawis. Someone wants to add to his scoring total. Another wants to help a teammate who has yet to score. Sometimes, it’s simply about putting an exclamation point on a victory. These days, a player might also want a highlight for his social media account.

None of these automatically means disrespect.

I suspect this convention may have become more ingrained in organized basketball through exposure to American basketball culture, particularly the National Basketball Association (NBA), where teams often agree to wind down the clock once a result is beyond doubt. Coaches and players will deliberately allow the remaining seconds to run out, accepting a turnover that adds to a team’s negative statistics.

Current Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone is among the American coaches who have helped shape the local game. Whether this particular practice was introduced or popularized here through American coaching influence is difficult to establish. But it is worth considering.

There is also a major difference between the NBA and leagues like the PBA and UAAP. The latter have used quotient or point-differential criteria in certain elimination-round tiebreaking situations. Running down the clock when there is still an opportunity to improve one’s winning margin may not be the smartest competitive decision.

In the Ateneo-UP game, the Blue Eagles were even still applying full-court pressure, so the Fighting Maroons were understandably still entitled to attack. And considering the history and emotion surrounding the “Battle of Katipunan,” Jacob Bayla’s last-second dunk could have been an emphatic celebration of a victory over a traditional rival.

Only Bayla knows his precise intention, but a highlight reel dunk on social media would definitely be one good reason, if I were him.

Let’s make one thing clear: taunting and deliberately humiliating an opponent are poor sportsmanship. But putting the ball in the basket while the clock is running is not a violation of basketball rules.

The objective of the game has always been to score. That doesn’t change just because the outcome is practically settled.

If both teams choose to stop playing, that’s their call. But it should never be imposed as an obligation on those who still want to compete.

After all, the final buzzer — not an unwritten rule — always determines when a basketball game is over.