ANTIPOLO City - A little misunderstanding between coaches Aris Dimaunahan and Caloy Garcia at endgame marred Blackwater's 98-92 win over Rain or Shine in the PBA Commissioner's Cup on Sunday.
Obviously elated by the Elite's fourth win in five outings, Dimaunahan inadvertently failed to approach Garcia shortly after the game at the Ynares Sports Center for the customary handshake.
Instead, Dimaunahan went straight and congratulated his players and coaching staff, a move that didn't sit well with Garcia.
It was too late when an apologetic Dimaunahan realized his mistake and tried to reach out to Garcia as the Rain or Shine coach was on his way to the dugout.
"Kaunting respect. Respect," Garcia told Dimaunahan as the Blackwater coach was trying to appease him.
Dimaunahan later formally apologized to Garcia during the postgame interview.
"I want to apologize to coach Caloy for not shaking his hands right away," said Dimaunahan, explaining that it has become a habit of his to shake the hands of his players first before going to the opposing coach's shortly after a win.
"Coach Caloy if I offended you I'm so sorry. Wala akong gusto kung hindi ang i-congratulate muna yung mga players ko. If I offended you, I'm sorry."
As a rookie coach, Dimaunahan said he has a very high respect for Garcia.
"Ang laki ng respeto ko sa iyo at hindi kita kayang talikuran at bastusin. Sorry and hopefully, hindi ka magalit sa akin.
"I had no bad intention for not doing that kaya hinabol ko pa siya sa dugout."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
