UAAP basketball commissioner Rebo Saguisag will meet with players from La Salle and Ateneo to discuss sportsmanship before Game Two of the UAAP finals on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Saguisag said the meeting is not about sanctions even as clips of Game One, where Ricci Rivero and Abu Tratter appeared to hit Ateneo players on two separate plays, circulated on social media.
“It is not necessarily punitive or finding of guilt. I’d like to seek their cooperation. I want to see talent prevail on the floor,” Saguisag said on Wednesday.
Saguisag has asked to meet with Rivero and Tratter along with teammates Aljun Melecio, and Prince Rivero. Also invited were Ateneo’s Thirdy Ravena, Anton Asistio and Vince Tolentino from Ateneo.
Melecio, meanwhile, was slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul after he was caught by referees on the floor doing what looked like a pinch on Anton Asistio.
“Aljun was caught on the floor but I really rather not have a repeat,” said Saguisag.
Asistio also looked to have bumped Melecio in the second half of the game.
“Some of them were called for unsportsmanlike (fouls) like Anton. It seems like he and Aljun have been having a budding rivalry. I’d rather (it) be a rivalry of skills rather than extra-curricular stuff.”
“Vince, I’d like to call him as captain, and Thirdy for some extra-curricular activities I’ve been noticing,” said Saguisag.
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