IT’S been a love-hate relationship between Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin and UAAP referees over the years.
From his controversial ‘eye surgery’ remark in 2022 to defending referees from criticism in 2023, Baldwin’s had quite the ride with league officials.
READ: Streaking UP puts first blemish on Ateneo's perfect start
Among the UAAP’s current cast of basketball coaches, the 71-year-old shot-caller tends to be quite animated from the sidelines as far as contentious calls are concerned.
It was the same case for Baldwin in their 69-83 loss to University of the Philippines on Thursday, even as Ateneo drew four fouls more (26 to 22) and gave up four less (22 to 26) than their maroon counterparts.
Unlike the past couple of years, Baldwin refused to throw shade at UAAP officiating.
“You guys want to bait me into talking about the refs, and I just can’t,” Baldwin said.
'Just look at the reactions'
This time, he pled for everyone else to just take a close look at how he and his fellow head coaches act and behave on the sidelines.
If one was to evoke any reaction from him, he’ll simply let his reactions do the talking and let the rest draw their own conclusions from there.
“Why don't you guys start to take the initiative and just look at the reactions of coaches on the sidelines and start drawing your own conclusions,” the Ateneo mentor asked.
“I don't think you're going to see much difference between me and Jeff [Napa] and Nash [Racela] and Goldwin [Monteverde] and Chris [Gavina] and so on.
“Draw your own conclusions because we're basically, you know, not supposed to for the welfare of the game to protect the referees and so you know i'm sticking to it.”
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