PBA fines Bulls P507,000 for walkou
The Philippine Basketball Association on Tuesday fined the Red Bull team a collective P507,000the second-highest penalty in league historysaying there was "no cogent, justifiable or valid reason" for the entire team to walk out in the first half of its recent Philippine Cup semifinal game against San Miguel Beer.
Photokina, the franchise that owns the Bulls, bore the brunt of the fineP400,000for what the PBA Commissioners Office said in a statement was "the unjustified and malevolent act of staging a walkout . . . inimical to the paramount interest of the league" in protest of the officiating in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series against the Beermen.
Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao was slapped the stiffest individual fine, P100,000, owing to three offenses: for admittedly instigating the walkout, for public statements deemed detrimental to the interests of the league, and for committing unsportsmanlike conduct during Game 4, according to the PBA statement.
Swingman Lordy Tugade was fined P6,000 for using an obscene gesture toward game officials during the match, and the Bulls team scorer Edgar Fernandez was levied P1,000 for "offensive language" also aimed at the referees.
Commissioner Noli Eala said in a statement that he arrived at the penalties after a thorough review of the incident in the second quarter of the match, taking into account tapes of the game and statements and testimonies of Guiao, Red Bulls team manager Tony Chua, team consultant Andy Jao and other witnesses.
Eala also cleared the referees of the "poor officiating" Guiao charged them with, saying he "found no credence to the basis of the walkout."
"A walkout or refusal to continue play is not an acceptable norm of redress of grievance in a professional league," the league statement said.
"While the PBA shares the common desire of all member teams to continually look for ways to improve the conduct of its games, especially officiating in the league, the PBA shall never condone, tolerate or admit as a reasonable and fair option the act of walking out of a game, whether consummated or aborted."
The hefty fine, next only to the P550,000 imposed on the Aejo Rum team for completely walking out of its 1990 Governors Cup finals match against Shell, changes the complexion of the Red Bull-San Miguel series, which the Beermen tied with a 106-82 win in Game 4 after the Bulls returned to the court and resumed the match.
"We think its too much, but we have no choice but to accept it," Guiao told Sports Times of the fine, even as he motivates the Bulls to regain the series advantage in Game 5 Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Meanwhile, Alaska gets the first crack at a finals berth when it tries to close out its own semifinal series with Purefoods Chunkee.
Leading 3-1, the Aces eye a return in the finals after four years with a win against the Giants in their 4:40 p.m. encounter.
In the main game, San Miguel Beer and Red Bull square off in crucial Game 5 at 7:35 p.m., with their series deadlocked at 2-all.
The Uytengsu franchise has not won a PBA title since the 2000 All-Filipino crown, when Alaska defeated Purefoods 4-1 in the best-of-seven finals, with Johnny Abarrientos, Jojo Lastimosa, Kenneth Duremdes, Poch Juinio and Rodney Santos leading the team.
some time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think, and cry, that's a heck of a day."
~Coach Jimmy V.