CHICAGO - When he thought there was some uneven whistle blowing at one point in the third quarter of their Game Two quarterfinals showdown versus Ginebra last Friday, Meralco coach Luigi Trillo muttered something under his breath.
'5-0" Trillo said in reference to the fouls called against them.
Although the Bolts somehow survived that whistle crisis, 108-104, to forge a rubber match, the hope was that the officiating would be fair in the do-or-die Game Three at the Ynares Center.
READ Alfrancis Chua chides Trillo after Ginebra win over Meralco
Sadly, for Meralco, not all prayers are answered on Sunday.
Instead of getting out of the way, the refs were front and center of the nail-biter and turned a potentially a cliffhanger ending into an anti-climactic finale that ended with Ginebra barging into the Commissioner's Cup semifinals,
The atrocity occurred at the 5:41 mark of the fourth quarter where Meralco, down 77-72, was running a fastbreak. As Bong Quinto went for a lay-up, an offensive foul was called. So instead of shooting two free throws and possibly creep to within 77-75, it was a turnover.
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS.
The wrong call was eventually overturned but not after one of the referees ejected active consultant Nenad Vucinic for complaining, resulting in a technical foul free throw that RJ Abarrientos converted.
"That was a game-changing call because the lead went up to 6. I can't blame coach Nenad. He was fighting for us out there," Trillo told me via text message as he processed his grief the morning after.
"What I think was alarming to coach Nenad and our staff was leading up to that play, we felt the calls went against us. Four fouls in the span of two minutes," added Trillo who explained they cannot challenge every bad call because they only have two and may need it later.
In totality, the officiating appeared balanced. Meralco was called for 24 fouls while Ginebra had 23. The Gin Kings took only a modest edge in free throw attempts, 28-16.
In that fateful fourth quarter, however, with the outcome of Game Three in fate's hands, the refs unknowingly decided the outcome.
CLOUDS OF DOUBT.
Just to be clear, Ginebra won fair and square, but they got a lot of help, the likes of which fuels conspiracy theories about how difficult it is to beat the league's crowd darlings, the star franchise that lays the golden eggs.
The referee who ejected Vucinic abused his discretion. He should have exercised restraint, not a quick whistle.
If I had a dollar for every time I see coaches Chot Reyes, Tim Cone and Chito Victolero argue with the refs, give them dagger looks and storm on the court without getting a technical foul, I'd be a millionaire.
READ Nenad on ejection from Game Three: 'I'm sick of something'
Coach Nenad didn't curse at or belittle the referee. He was merely being very vocal about a point that was proven to be right after a video review. Nenad absolutely did not deserve that second technical foul.
Although the Bolts have come to terms with their defeat, coach Trillo has one wish.
"Our technical committee suspended refs from Game One of the Rain or Shine-Converge series. They should also launch an investigation into those refs in our game."
I don't know how that would help.
Removing and sanctioning a few bad apples won't matter if the entire basket is possibly rotten.
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