RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said the balllcub will launch on appeal on Monday for what he termed as a 'totally unfair' decision of the PBA to suspend import Jaylen Johnson in the aftermath of a fight with TNT's Glenn Khobuntin.
"I question the fairness and the wisdom of the commissioner with this decision," said Guiao a day after Willie Marcial announced sanctions on the two players in the aftermath of the fistfight that marred ROS' 112-109 win over TNT on Friday.
READ Khobuntin gets two-game ban, Johnson suspended one game for fight
Khobuntin, who instigated the fracas at the final six-minute mark of the game, received a two-game suspension and a P70,000 fine while Johnson was suspended for one game on top of a P50,000 fine after appearing before Marcial.
Guiao said he expected Johnson to be meted a fine for throwing punches in retaliation but said a suspension was uncalled for, pointing out that the import only reacted only in self-defense in the face of an attack.
Jaylen was punched first and he reacted in self defense, which is a totally rational human reaction," Guiao said. "It was the officials' incompetence and khobuntin's lost of temper that precipitated the incident.
"Jaylen was just reacting as a normal human being would, protect himself."
Guiao said the ban on Johnson has put Rain or Shine at an 'unjust disadvantage' since it would have to play with an all-Filipino lineup against NLEX. It could've been worse had ROS not beaten TNT with its import sitting out the final six minutes.
"It is totally unfair to us because we were unjustly disadvantaged by the commissioner's decision," said Guiao. "His ejection during the game already put our team at a great disadvantage, we were just lucky we won despite the loss of our import with six minutes left in the game. To suspend him another game would again put us in an even more disadvantageous position, which again was not of our own doing."
Suspending an import in such cases sets a bad precedent, Guiao added.
"In a conference of unlimited height, suspending an import is practically gifting the other team a victory. This means we could've lost two games just by an inconsequential player throwing a punch on our import. This is a precedent we should avoid as a league.
"If we were not lucky to win the TNT game, two losses would mean the difference between us making the playoffs or not," he added. "The commissioner can suspend Khobuntin for two games or two years and it would not make a lot of difference for TNT."
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