MAGNOLIA team governor Jason Webb and Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo got into an argument during the second quarter of their PBA 50th Season Commissioner's Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
Webb and Trillo were seen exchanging words from their respective benches with 9:46 left in the second quarter. The argument apparently stemmed from Magnolia complaining that Meralco had too many coaches standing up at one time outside of active consultant Nenad Vucinic during the game.
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Magnolia coach LA Tenorio was also seen on TV shouting at the technical committee, and pointing out the number of Meralco coaches standing on the sidelines.
Webb and Trillo were actually teammates from their college days at La Salle in the UAAP during the 1990s. Webb's former wife is also Claudine Trillo, Luigi's cousin. They were later seen shaking hands and talking it out at the end of the game.
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Magnolia won the game, 95-89, and forced a rubber match for a semifinal berth on Saturday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.
When asked about the incident, Trillo admitted the protagonists simply got carried away.
“That's heated. Both are competitors. We get into that. But after the game, when it was all said and done, it's just part of the game. We have to move forward. I expect that to happen in a series, in a finals, things (being) said. High-tension thing.”
“At the end of the day, we spoke about it and we shook hands. I think that was the most important thing,” said Trillo.
Trillo confirmed Magnolia complained about several Meralco coaches standing up during the game. While he understood the Hotshots' side, Trillo rued that they were suddenly told by the referees at the half that they were strictly implementing the rule that only one coach should stand during the game.
“They were saying only one guy can stand up. The whole conference we've had coaches standing up. I understand that they have to do their thing. But the game before that, you see Talk ‘N Text and NLEX, two guys were standing up. The past eight conferences, nine conferences we've been here, we've got guys standing up,” said Trillo.
“At the half, we were being told that you can only have one. How can you change something halfway. We told them we are just going to stand and do our thing. You have to be consistent by calling it the same way. Like if it's like this the whole conference, you can't change it halfway, and say we go to the rulebook.
"But the past five years, we have two guys stand up if you look back every time. I understand where they (Magnolia) are coming from. But from the technical standpoint, you can't just tell us that one guy will stand up,” said Trillo.
Webb was no longer at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium when we attempted to get his side of the incident.
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