MANILA, 22 August 2003 — Circus act is not allowed in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Any act that makes a mockery of the PBA — one of the most successful professional basketball leagues in Asia — and its fans will be dealt with severely.
League commissioner Noli Eala slapped heavy penalties on the players, coaches and the Talk ‘N’ Text team that turned a match against Red Bull in the PBA Invitationals recently into a farce.
The Phone Pals came out with an apology addressed to Eala over their act, and the league boss accepted their apology for its “circus act” win against Batang Red Bull.
All is forgiven, according to Eala, but the ballclub must pay harsh penalties for what he described as an “unsportsmanlike act.”
“Let this serve as a stern and strong reminder to all teams, coaches, players and officials of their responsibilities,” said Eala, who, in his seven-month tenure, has had to deal with issues on illegal drugs and bogus Fil-foreign players.
The whole Talk ‘N’ Text team was fined 250,000 pesos. Acting head coach Ariel Vanguardia was slapped a 50,000 pesos fine aside from a five-game suspension which he will serve out in the third conference.
Eala said the penalties could have been heftier if not for mitigating circumstances that followed the game. First was a letter Talk ‘N’ Text board representative Ricky Vargas wrote to Eala; another was Vanguardia owing up to the blame and the players collectively admitting their fault.
“The management of Talk ‘N’ Text expresses regret to the PBA and most specially to the PBA fans, over the manner in which the final minutes of yesterday’s game against Red Bull Barako was played out,” Vargas said.
“We wish to emphasize that under no circumstances was the conduct of our team condoned, much less sanctioned, by management. Talk ‘N’ Text is committed to the highest standards of sportsmanship and fair play and will not tolerate such behavior on court. In that light, we are prepared to accept responsibility for what transpired,” Vargas added.
In a bid to send the game they were leading to overtime so they could have a chance to win by eight points, the Phone Pals — the reigning PBA All-Filipino Cup champions — tried unheard of tactics like shooting baskets at the Thunder basket and calling a time-out they didn’t have.
The Phone Pals tried to send the game into overtime by letting Jojo Manalo and veteran Bong Ravena shoot on Red Bull’s goal.
Eala said that even if the Phone Pals failed to meet their objective in the game, they should have given their best “in the interest of the paying public.”
Red Bull was just protecting a solitary-point advantage at that moment. But the referees, a few seconds after getting stunned by the first shot, quickly whistled a technical after a check with technical officials, the referees corrected themselves and ruled out free throws, declaring the stunt as a turnover. Then the Phone Pals pulled off another stunt in a bid to extend the match into overtime by deliberately calling for a timeout, which they did not have at that time, resulting in another technical and a charity for Red Bull.
Homer Se went to the foul line and deliberately missed the rim by three feet or so.
The Phone Pals eventually won 88-87 but lost the fight for a semis slot with the Thunder due to the quotient system.
As a result, Eala immediately summoned the Phone Pals’ five players on the court when the incidents happened — Felix Belano, Asi Taulava, Vic Pablo, Manalo and Ravena — as well as Vanguardia and assistant coach Virgil Villavicencio to his office.
The players received a mere reprimand from Eala while Villavicencio escaped a penalty since it was deemed his “authority and responsibilities” in the team are “limited.”
Vanguardia was fined because of what Eala termed as “command responsibility.”
Vanguardia is calling the shots for the team in place of regular coach Joel Banal who is currently focused on Ateneo in the UAAP cage wars.
“While we recognize that coaches and players play their games to achieve individual and team interest, such interest must never subjugate the interest of the public, which the league has sworn to hold as paramount above all else,” said Eala.
The fine was among the heaviest slapped in recent years, including the 100,000 pesos meted to Swift in the 1992 Third Conference and the same amount to Sta. Lucia in 1993. In both cases, the teams played “sub-par.”
Eala said he had already talked to Vargas and the latter said the franchise is accepting the penalty and would not appeal.
