TERRENCE Romeo dismissed the incident he had with Rashawn McCarthy, saying it’s just a little ‘trash-talking’ between two players badly wanting to win.
Romeo and McCarthy had some words against each other down the stretch of TnT Katropa’s 118-114 overtime win over Columbian Dyip Sunday night in the PBA Governors Cup, one in which the high-scoring Katropa guard was seen headbutting the Fil-Am Dyip player with a minute left in the extra period of the highly-intense game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 26-year-old Romeo was called for a technical foul following the physical play, but McCarthy missed the bonus free throw as TnT stayed on top, 115-114.
“Siyempre close fight so hindi mo maiiwasan yun. Pero nothing personal, kung ano yung nangyari sa court, stays sa court,” said Romeo, who finished with 22 points (4-of-9 from three-point range) and six assists in his comeback game after riding the bench the last time owing to a flu.
“Siguro nadala lang ng intense, pareho kami e. Gusto niyang manalo, gusto ko rin manalo. E nagkakiskisan ng kaunti, siyempre parehong hindi nagustuhan. So part ng game, part ng basketball,” he added.
Shortly after McCarthy’s missed free throw, Romeo scored on a drive against the Columbian wingman, who he taunted after making the basket that stretched TnT’s lead to three.
After the game though, the two embraced after seeking each other out.
Romeo later said McCarthy is one of the nicest players around the league.
“Para magalit kami sa isa’t isa na personal walang ganun,” added the former Far Eastern University star. “Hindi naman dirty player si Shawn.
“Magkaibigan kami, nagbabatian kami although hindi kami nagsasama ng matagal.”
The hard-earned win snapped TnT’s three-game slide in the conference to improve at 2-4 as the team played its first game under acting mentor Eric Gonzales, who briefly took over the job as coach Nash Racela is currently ‘on leave.’
Romeo would rather not comment about the situation of his former college coach.
“No comment ako doon kay coach Nash,” said Romeo, who won his UAAP MVP during Racela’s first year as coach of the Tamaraws.
“Ngayon gusto ko lang mag-focus sa ginawa ng team namin,” he said. “Binigay namin yung effort namin as a team and nag-try kami na maging consistent yun hanggang matapos yung game.”
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