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| In a rare instance, coach Tim Cone told reporters that he was not satisfied with the officiating in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals. Peter Baltazar |
QUEZON CITY—While there were instances before in which coach Tim Cone would express his frustrations regarding the officiating in a PBA playoff—much more in a finals game—through actions, it is not usual that he would talk about his concerns about the referees with reporters.
Until Friday night came.
Cone said after Ginebra's Commissioner's Cup Finals Game 2 loss against TNT that the referees were terrible during the said match.
"We tried to make a run back, but we couldn't get a break from the referees. I thought it was a terrible crew tonight," the PBA's winningest head coach championship-wise said.
Cone then cited the case of Justin Brownlee, who only had four free throw attempts in all of the 37-minute playing time he had in Game 2.
"Justin only took three three-point shots, and he only got four free throws. He was going to the rim and getting around the basket, but he wasn't getting the call all night," Cone further said.
Overall, the Gin Kings committed 24 fouls compared to just 16 from the Tropang 5G, and the former only had 10 free throws, making nine of them, compared to the 25 the latter took that led to 22 conversions.
Despite the foul discrepancy, Ginebra showed heart, fought back from 22 points down, and came to within four with a little under a minute to play.
In the end, though, TNT survived, and Cone hopes the officiating would become better when both teams look to break a 1-1 series tie in Game 3 on Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
"I just felt the crew was not a good crew tonight, and they gotta have a better crew the next time out," he further said.
Peter Balao, Michael Flordeliza, Kenny Hallig, and Jerome Gay were assigned to officiate Game 2.
