FOR Chot Reyes, ‘excellent officiating’ has never left the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
The outspoken TNT coach lamented the free throw discrepancy and some bum calls in the Tropang 5G’s overtime loss to Barangay Ginebra, 100-95, in Friday night’s Game 5 before a roaring crowd of 18,039 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
READ Super Brownlee's career-high 54 lift Ginebra to OT win over TNT
Reyes has been vocal about the officiating since the opener of the best-of-seven title series, and the Independence Day game for him was no exception.
“Excellent officiating. 29-17 in the free throws, you can’t beat a strong Ginebra team like that, with that discrepancies in free throws,” he said as soon as he emerged from the TNT dugout following the loss.
“Kung gumanda lang ng kaunti [ang tawagan], maybe a little more parity in free throws, maybe we could have a chance.”
The Kings went to the foul line 29 times and made 22 of them for a 79.6 percent clip.
The reigning champions on the other hand, went 11-of-17 for 64 percent.
Entering the fourth quarter where the Tropang 5G lead, 70-65, Ginebra was already 13-of-17 from the foul line (76 percent), while TNT was only 3-of-4 (75 percent).
But Reyes wasn’t about to deny Ginebra import Justin Brownlee his flowers.
“Give it to Ginebra. JB scored 54. Tough one,” said the TNT mentor.
The loss put TNT on a must-win situation in Sunday’s Game 6 as it trails the series, 3-2.
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