San Miguel Beer was up in arms after a controversial offensive interference call on a Mo Tautuaa dunk late in Game 1 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals against TNT, but ultimately decided against lodging a protest.
Tautuaa’s slam that gave the Beermen a one-point lead with under a minute left in the series opener was nullified following a review that was done 50 seconds after he made the basket.
The grand slam-seeking TNT eventually escaped with a 99-96 victory to draw first blood in the best-of-seven championship series Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
San Miguel had until 12 noon on Monday to file the letter of protest signed by team governor Robert Non. However, the club decided not to pursue the protest since deputy commissioner Eric Castro and supervisor of officials Bong Pascual had already released a statement and justification for their decision to review the play and void Tautuaa’s basket in a post-game press briefing.
Non and team manager Gee Abanilla sought an audience with Castro, Pascual and the three referees who officiated the match for clarification.
According to Non, filing a protest, which will require a P100,000 filing fee, would only be an “exercise in futility” since Castro and Pascual already spoke in a press conference held after the game.
“Eric Castro and Bong Pascual decided the outcome of the game. They’re the ones who decided the game, not the players,” Non said in an uproar after Castro and Pascual faced the media.
Abanilla felt that the sudden press conference of the technical officials denied San Miguel the chance to take their case in a proper forum.
“I think it’s unfair because remember, we have 24 hours to file a protest. But they already had a press conference, which is very uncharacteristic. They didn’t inform us that they’ll be holding a press con. They were already justifying all the things they decided on,” he said in an interview.
The Beermen mounted a furious fourth quarter rally, erasing a 24-point deficit early in the third period with Tautuaa giving San Miguel a 98-97 lead with a slam dunk in the last 56.1 seconds of the match. Tautuaa’s dunk hit the back of the rim, bounced up high before going in.
However, it was waved off after a review with 6.2 seconds remaining, about three possessions following Tautuaa’s jam, during a deadball situation when San Miguel guard Chris Ross forced Jordan Heading to a jumpball.
The Beermen suddenly were behind by one with little time left and were forced to foul to stop the clock. Calvin Oftana iced the game with two foul shots, allowing the Tropang 5G to walk away with the win.
Castro cited a provision in the PBA rule, justifying the technical committee’s decision.
“Interference occurs during a shot when an offensive player causes the backboard to vibrate or grasp the basket in such a way that, in the judgement of the official, the ball has been caused to enter the basket,” Castro read.
“As you’ve seen in the replay, when Mo dunked in the last 56 seconds, he pulled the ring down. But the contention of the (San Miguel) coaching staff was that the ball (bounced) straight and entered the ring. But regardless, if it hits the ring, the fact that he pulled the ring down is a violation already. Considered an offensive interference,” Castro said.
The official justified that they couldn’t review the play earlier because the game continued and the dead ball only occurred late.
“It just so happened that the game continued, there was no dead ball. Then around five seconds remaining, there was a jumpball between Heading and Chris Ross We’ve been reviewing it even during the live ball, but that’s the only time we’re able to announce it to our barker, the correction,” Castro added.
Even if the game ended without a dead ball, the committee will still review the violation and make the necessary corrections.
“In the event that there was no dead ball and the game ended, under our rules, we can still correct it. So, the possibility of winning the game at the end, minus the correction, because there’s no dead ball, it could still happen,” he said.
Castro said that the three referees could be meted out with sanctions for missing the call.
Non, however, defended the referees. He was able to talk to the game officials, with one saying there’s no basket interference while two were unsure.
“Why blame the referees? It’s the technical committee’s fault. They altered the result of the game,” he said.
Game 2 of the finals is on Wednesday at the same Cubao venue.