Brian Goorjian reiterates he's not complaining about officiating: 'I'm not a crybaby'

Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian clarified that he was only mad at how his team lost its lead late into Game 3 and he will never be a "crybaby" to rant about officiating. Dennis Acosta

By Ivan Saldajeno

PASAY—Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian once again insisted that he is not complaining about the officiating in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals two nights after he withheld himself from saying "something that you guys don't wanna hear."

Goorjian decided to keep mum on how the Dragons blew a late seven-point lead against Barangay Ginebra in Wednesday night's Game 3, but after getting back at them in Game 4 on Friday night, he reiterated that he will not complain about how the referees are handling matters and such habit is something crybabies do.

"I'm not a crybaby," Goorjian said in the post-game press conference for Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. "I have never once come up here and said a negative thing about the PBA or the officiating ever and I never will. That's a crybaby and I'm not that brought up differently."

He then said that he will continue to instill the spirit of sportsmanship even if there are breaks in the game that would not favor them in the end.

"I'll do anything as Coach [Tim] Cone will do to win. I will do anything and everything I possibly can to protect my team, and when the game's over, I look at the man I competed against and shake his hand. It has nothing to do with the referees and the fans," Goorjian further said.

He admitted, though, that he was mad after the Game 3 loss, but he clarified that it was the sole reason why he declined to talk to the reporters afterward.

"I was pissed after the last game that we let that slip and playing a great, well-coached team. I can't remember being angrier than I was after the last game, so I kept my mouth shut to the media and to my team, collected my thoughts, and went into the bunker knowing that we didn't have [Andrew] Nicholson tonight," Goorjian further said.

So Bay Area simply vented its frustrations in Game 4, and behind a second-half blast, the guest team got back at Ginebra, silencing much of the 17,236 fans at the MOA Arena.

"We had to bring it, we had to play with a defensive presence, and we had to move the ball, and I'm proud of my young team playing in a game like this, competing, and getting a win. I'm really proud right now," Goorjian further said.

He then stressed anew that he is fine with how the Filipino referees officiate the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals and that he sees no reason for the league to tap foreign referees the rest of the way.

"'I've been asked, 'Should we have different refs come in from different countries?' I said no. I support the referees here. I've been to this press conference 15 times. I've never said anything negative about the PBA and the referees after the game is over," Goorjian added. "It's lessons learned after 40 years of coaching."

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