THE PBA insisted it wasn’t a lapse of the officials’ judgment that led to San Miguel Beer having one more player than TNT KaTropa at one point in Game Two of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal series last Wednesday.
The Beermen had six players on the court at the same time late in the second quarter, causing Texters coach Nash Racela and the rest of his staff to complain, before the referees called a technical foul on SMB.
Racela wondered if it was miscommunication on the part of the Beermen that led to the unique situation, but he was also “surprised the refs didn’t notice until our staff called their attention. Lack of focus on officials.”
Reacting to Racela’s comments, league technical director Eric Castro reviewed the play and admitted that referees could’ve handled the situation better, but pointed out that Cabagnot went back to the court after already being replaced by Matt Ganuelas-Rosser.
“Cabagnot entered the court again that resulted into SMB having six players inside the court,” Castro said on Saturday. “By the time it was discovered by the officials there was a simultaneous timeout called by Romeo after crossing the halfcourt line.”
As Ganuelas-Rosser walked inside the court, Cabagnot, before retreating to the bench, had a short conversation with SMB coach Leo Austria, then surprisingly, illegally returning to the court, leading to the 6-on-5 situation.
“Siguro nakalimutan lang (na sinub na siya),” Castro thought.
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