THE PBA didn’t spare Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic and coach Luigi Trillo for charging at the referees at the end of Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals against San Miguel.
In a post in the league’s official website, the Commissioner’s Office said it slapped the 58-year-old coach from Belgrade, Serbia a P20,000 fine after he confronted game officials just moments following the Bolts’ 95-94 loss.
A similar fine was handed out to Trillo for the same offense.
Vucinic was seen running after crew chief Nol Quilinguen, who tried to pacify the Meralco official after the buzzer. Players and coaches are mandated to go directly to their respective dugouts after each game.
Trillo, meanwhile, followed Mike Flordeliza all the way to the dugout tunnel of the Smart Araneta Coliseum and kept harping on the referee.
Tensions were obviously high after the game which saw San Miguel erased a four-deficit in the last 25 seconds as CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter buried clutch back-to-back baskets from deep to rescue the reigning champion from the jaws of defeat.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said the two were no longer summoned by his office and were automatically fined for the same violation.
COLUMN: Nenad has pushed all the right buttons so far in PBA Finals
The Bolts eventually, bounced back from that heartbreaker as they posted a grind out 93-89 win in Game 3 to take back the series lead at 2-1.
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