THE opener of the PBA Philippine Cup finals was shaping up to be a classic. Until it wasn't.
The grand slam-seeking TNT came out of the gates like a runaway train, flattening everything in its path. Behind the returning RR Pogoy and the newly-acquired Jordan Heading, the Tropang 5G opened up a 24-point spread.
But that soon was wiped out as San Miguel stormed back and wrested the lead with 56 seconds remaining, as Mo Tautuaa eluded his guard and soared for a dunk. It was in before a PBA technical committee declared, after a review, that it was not.
Pandemonium followed. Then confusion, afterwards controversy.
READ: TNT escapes in Game One as controversial call dampens SMB rally
While not entirely jampacked, the Smart-Araneta Coliseum had a decent-sized crowd and it was rocking all night, thanks to the San Miguel and TNT fans who gave the match the championship atmosphere that it deserves.
When the game resumed, after a deadball since the 1:03 mark of the fourth, TNT was back on top with six seconds remaining in the game, a lead it protected to take the 99-96 win, and move three wins away from the title, and a completion of a rare grand slam.
Had the technical committee not intervened, the game could have ended in various configurations and made it one of the most memorable in PBA championship history.
It could be from a possible RR Pogoy game winner, to maybe another defensive gem by Chris Ross. But it ended in the most anticlimactic fashion with TNT's Calvin Oftana making free throws, and SMB's CJ Perez missing a heave in a desperate attempt to send the game into OT.
In a game where initially you’d hate to see one team lose because of how well they’ve both played – this was a rare case where no one actually won.
Surprisingly, San Miguel coach Leo Austria was a picture of cool after the incident. He did not fulminate, he did not rake the officials, which one would have expected had it happened to the teams of Yeng Guiao of Rain or Shine or Tim Cone of Ginebra who never fail to raise hell if they feel they got a raw deal from refs' calls.
Instead, Austria lamented the wasted chance that would have made the game one for the ages.
READ: SMB decides against filing protest, rues it'll be 'exercise in futility'
“The beauty ng game ay nawala,” Austria said, as he walked out of the dugout.
It was the perfect line to describe what happened on that Sunday night in
Cubao.
TNT coach Chot Reyes, meanwhile, calmly took the win as it is – calling it the breaks of the game that went their way.
“That’s part of our game. I’ve been on the opposite side of those breaks in the past so it’s just something that we're very fortunate and we’re able to take advantage of,“ he told reporters in the post-game press conference.
But the fact remains that on the other end of the hall, half of the media that would’ve been on Reyes’ availability were gathered outside the SMB dugout, waiting for the SMB bosses to appear and to hear what they have to say on this bizarre night that had the country's basketball-crazy citizens sharply divided on the PBA technical committee's decision to reverse the referees' non-call.
Rules are rules, or is it?
Fans of San Miguel were understandably furious. The TNT faithful, as expected, were united in defending their team.
According to the PBA rules, which Castro also explained to the press after:
“Interference occurs during a shot when an offensive player causes the backboard to vibrate or grasp the basket in such a way that, in the judgement of the official, the ball has been caused to enter the basket.”
READ: PBA defends offensive interference call on Tautuaa dunk
Was the rim and the backboard vibrating? A better TV angle with the benefit of slow motion, shows the rim clearly vibrating after Tautuaa’s dunk fell short – the ball bouncing vertically, and Tautuaa’s hand subsequently touching the rim after.
In that case – if the PBA’s going to be firm with the ruling, then technically they’re correct.
“Regardless kung may tamaan siya ng ring, the fact na nahila niya ‘yung ring pababa is a violation already. Considered an offensive interference,” Castro later explained.
But the words “...in such a way that, in the judgement of the official, the ball has been caused to enter the basket,” gives that rule some wiggle room for gray areas which makes the PBA’s decision look a little too rigid.
While the rim was vibrating, the ball’s clean vertical trajectory as it went up and down into San Miguel’s rim gives the Beermen’s argument some weight.
At best, it was inconclusive, and the game could’ve continued with TNT having six seconds to steal the win, or San Miguel’s defense holding on for one last possession to complete the comeback in a game that everyone will remember as a classic.
It’s a game that will be remembered for sure, but just not as the classic as it was turning out to be for the first 47 minutes and 54 seconds of it.
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