UNHAPPY over the officiating in its semifinal loss to Tunisia, Strong Group Athletics-Philippines mulls not playing in the battle for third game against UAE's national team on Sunday at the Dubai International Basketball Championship.
SGA team manager Jacob Lao confirmed the development to SPIN.ph, saying they want to send the message across that inequality and unfair officiating have no place in basketball and sports in general.
“Well, it (decision to abandon battle for third) can still change but at the moment, masama loob ng management and the whole team sa naging tawagan against Tunisia,” said Lao, the architect of SGA's 2024 Jones Cup title run.
READ Strong Group exits Dubai tourney with shock semis loss to Tunisia
“Kitang-kita naman eh ang daming non-calls at maling pito, all of which could have changed the complexion of the game,” he added.
The title match will pit Beirut First Club and Tunisia's national team, which ousted the Philippines' last remaining representative in the tournament with a 68-63 victory in the early hours of Sunday.
Lao said they came to Dubai expecting a good competition, but they believe they were made to struggle in almost of their games due to some bad calls.
“Hindi naman sa pagiging sore losers pero ang sama talaga ng tawagan. Alam naman ng mga basketball fans worldwide lalo na tayong mga Pinoy ang good call at bad call,” he said.
“I don’t think this needs to happen. Sayang ang ganda ng liga tapos mauuwi sa ganito. Siguro naman you heard the fans at the venue and even sa comment section sa livestream complain about some calls and non-calls.
"We’d rather lose on a fair and neutral ground,” added the son of SGA owner Frank Lao.
The young Converge FiberXers team manager in the PBA singled out the non-call on obvious contact while Rhenz Abando was attempting a three-point shot with SGA trailing Tunisia, 66-63, with 3.2 seconds left.
“That’s just one pero if you will watch the game, ang dami pa. It could have turned the momentum around. I don’t know why this had to happen,” he said. “Nakakalungkot and it left the hundreds of Filipinos demoralized sa venue at sa social media.”
For now, Lao said if and when they decide not to show up in the battle for third game, SGA is ready to face the consequences.
“We’re still keeping our communication line open with the organizers. But we need to prove a point. This is not an actual sign of protest, this is a call for fairness and equality in the games — in the tournament,” added Lao, who was also on the bench of SGA when the team finished runner-up to Al-Riyadi in last year’s edition of the tournament.
Fans riled by calls
Meanwhile, some fans who stayed up late to watch the SGA-Tunisia game were also convinced that the Philippine team was at the wrong end of officiating.
“Sablay tlg officiating.. puro reklamo na rin players kya nawala na sa focus,” said Ghenn MB on Facebook.
“Every game ng SGA unfair lage ang call stin khit manalo unfair p din mga twagan s totoo lng,” commented Jiffy Jiffy Navarro.
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