CHICAGO - Veins throbbing with anger, his eyes darting dagger stares, Ateneo coach Louie Alas went berserk last Saturday.
He was mad that Jacob Bayla dunked a basket in the dying seconds of the UP Maroons' 82-74 win over the Blue Eagles.
Bayla did what he was supposed to do and played hard until the final buzzer squealed.
Take note that moments before Bayla’s prison break toward the basket, Ateneo employed a nasty full-court press, which meant the fight was not over.
Alas apologized and explained.
MEA CULPA.
"I just wanted them to know na huwag mo ng gawin 'yan panalo ka na eh. Kung kami, hindi namin gagawin "yan."
The excuse falls short of justifying the act of hurling expletives and aggressively confronting UP’s coaching staff.
In an 87-76 win over NU last October 3, Ateneo's Kieffer Alas, Louie's son, drilled a 3 in the final 15.3 seconds of play with the Blue Eagles already up by 10.
"Insult to injury," muttered the broadcaster who called that game.
So Alas conveniently forgot his team's apparent violation of basketball's accepted social norms just weeks before.
Is that hypocrisy or just short-term amnesia?
SUSPENSION INEVITABLE
Whatever that was, coach Louie paid a steep price.
A UAAP source told me on Monday morning that “the commissioner’s office will handle it at this point” and determine if coach Alas has “an accumulation” of technical fouls.
“If memory serves na suspend na siya and was warned thst a repetition might be dealt with more severely,” the source added.
The league’s message is clear: There will be some tolerance for temper tantrums but the line is drawn when the outburst escalates to a level of inappropriate abundance.
Later in the day, the league announced a two-game suspension for the Ateneo coach.
Louie Alas is a good coach nipping on the heels of greatness.
His job is to take Ateneo to the Final Four and beyond.
Coach Alas needs to stop wasting energy on policing unwritten rules that are honored more in the breach than in the practice.
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