Talk, Text then Forfeit
Posted in basketball, PBA, san miguel beer, tubid
Okay so I was working when I got distracted by the PBA. It was Game 4 of the quarterfinals between Barangay Ginebra Kings and Talk 'n Text Tropang Texters. By now the entire Philippine digital sports world must be abuzz with recollections of how TNT walked out on BGK.
Yep, another walkout in the PBA occurred today.
It happened at the final 1 minute mark of the first quarter. Ronald Tubid was driving down the baseline when Ranidel de Ocampo went up to block the shot. Officials called a flagrant foul penalty 2 on de Ocampo, which for TNT coach Chot Reyes, was the final straw. He looked over at some TNT officials who were watching in the crowd and seemingly got a thumbs up to call it quits. Next thing you know the entire TNT team, coaching staff, everybody, was heading towards the locker room in an act of protest to the officiating.
First of all, I must warn you. If you are a BGK fan, particularly a Ronald Tubid fan, get the hell out of here. I hate Ronald Tubid. I hate his guts. I hate his stupid kiss mark tattoo. I mean, what is this guy trying to prove? He's a better bully than a basketball player. Is it not enough to be a good player nowadays, that one has to resort to indecent and arguably disgusting tactics in order to gain marketability? I guess in Mr. Tubid's case, it is clearly not. Sure he can play. I mean, the man's got talent I'll give him that. But he ain't no star. Whatever talent he has gets lost in all his antics. If you were in his shoes, would you want to go down in history as the most hated player of all time?
I'm not even a TNT fan. I know basketball is a contact sport. Hey, I'm not asking them to wear tutu's or hug every time down the court, no. That's for women's basketball. All I'm asking is for Mr. Tubid to tone down his physicality.
Who am I kidding? Mr. Tubid, please turn in your resignation. Better yet, get yourself injured.
Looking at the replays, de Ocampo did hit Tubid above the shoulders, which is grounds for a flagrant foul penalty 2. It was also seen in the replays that de Ocampo was going for the ball, and would have gotten to it had Tubid not moved the ball away and placed his head in striking distance of de Ocampo's arm. The resulting action saw Tubid acting out his next Oscar award. What a chump.
While I do not agree with Chot Reyes' decision to walk out of a PBA game, which is unfair to the league and to the paying public, I share his sentiment. All throughout the series the calls have been making no sense. During the post-game interview Reyes cited statistics showing that BGK have been getting on the free-throw line more often than TNT, despite the fact that BGK have been taking their shots mostly from the outside. How do you get fouled if you keep taking outside jumpers? TNT on the other hand, have had more attempts close to the basket, but have gotten a considerably low number of free-throw attempts. I'm sorry, but the naive, die-hard San Miguel Beer fan in me is starting to think there's substance to the urban myth that even the PBA games can get fixed. What is this world coming to?
Anyway, updates regarding this incident will surely fill the news stands tomorrow, especially after PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios meets with the TNT management tomorrow at 2PM. This is truly a dark moment in PBA history.
Photo taken from PBA Online
