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| Already irked by Makati's late timeout, Manila tried to head to the exits without shaking hands only to be pleaded by the referees to stay until the end. MPBL |
By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--Coach Tino Pinat admitted that he was upset about Coach Beaujing Acot's decision to call a late timeout when his Makati side was already way ahead of Manila in Game 2 of their MPBL Northern Division Semifinals at the San Andres Sports Complex on Wednesday night.
With the outcome already settled, Acot still sued for time with 46.5 seconds left. Oftentimes, teams would use the late timeout to test out a new play to be utilized in future games.
But John Rey Villanueva, who despite the Skyscrapers win struggled all game long, committed a turnover afterward.
After Jong Baloria grabbed the rebound off an Aris Dionisio miss from long range, Makati milked the clock and took the shotclock violation.
However, Manila was already irked by Makati's moves in the dying moments and decided to go straight to its dugout instead of shaking hands, although the referees asked the team to return to its bench until the end, prompting some members to do the sportsmanship gesture.
“Medyo nabastusan lang kami nang kaunti. E hindi naman na makakahabol e. Okay na sana yun. Pero call nila ‘yan e. Wala tayong magagawa,” Pinat said after the game.
However, Acot claimed that he did not mean to insult the Stars with his late gesture.
“I don’t know with them pero ako ang habol ko lang doon ay to make sure that we inbound the ball. I don’t care. I really don’t care,” he explained.
In the end, though, Pinat commended Acot and the rest of the Skyscrapers for snuffing the Stars almost all game long.
“They played physical defense and they played well. We can’t knock down our shots, ayun yung storya e. So siguro we have to shoot the ball better in Game 3 at saka defending them,” Pinat said.
Makati and Manila will clash one more time on Friday night at the San Andres Sports Complex for the right to face San Juan in the MPBL Northern Division Finals.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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