CAELAN Tiongson has nothing but respect for Sidney Onwubere.
Despite the two getting a bit physical against each other during the Rain or Shine-Northport PBA Philippine Cup encounter Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the rookie Fil-Am forwad said he has no ax to grind against the veteran Fil-Nigerian.
“It’s just basketball. I have no grudge, no ill feelings,” said Tiongson at the end of the Elasto Painters’ 113-96 win over the Batang Pier.
“I didn’t think things got seriously heated at all. I don’t really take stuff like that too seriously. I like to have fun with it. Maybe some people take it seriously, but I don’t.”
READ: Sidney Onwubere plays down heated encounter with Caelan Tiongson
Both Tiongson and Onwubere engaged in several physical plays during the course of the match, all the way to the endgame where the Rain or Shine rookie threw down a slam dunk in front of the 31-year-old Northport player in the final four seconds.
As the final buzzer sounded, Tiongson was seen going after Onwubere, who was on his way out of the court to shake hands with him.
The product of Emilio Aguinaldo College ignored the handshake and proceeded to walk away from Tiongson.
“It looks like he has an issue with me. I don’t have an issue with him,” said the 32-year-old Rain or Shine forward. “I would love to shake hands with him. I was disappointed when he didn’t shake hands with me.”
Tiongson shared the trash talking went all the way to their achievements in the pros, as Onwubere told him he already has two PBA championships under his belt.
“He must be a really great player to tell me he has two championships with,” added Tiongson. “I don’t really know what team. He told me he has two championships so he must be really good.”
For the record, the 6-foot-4 Onwubere won titles with Barangay Ginebra during the 2021 Governors’ Cup and 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup.
But Tiongson admitted Onwubere for playing hard and having the huge desire to win.
“He played really hard. He played super, super hard. Kudos to him for playing so hard, and it looked like he really wanted to win,” added Rain or Shine’s first round pick in the last draft.
Tiongson finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists to help the Elasto Painters notch their first win in two outings.
Onwubere meanwhile, had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds in the loss that evened the Batang Pier’s record at 1-1.
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.
