Team’s form, not refs, decides UAAP contests

Instead of pointing accusing fingers at the referees, the coaches of the two teams slugging it out for this year’s UAAP men’s basketball crown should take a closer look at the statistics, and see for themselves where the other failed and the other succeeded.

Chot Reyes, president and founder of the Asian Basketball Academy, and this year’s tournament director, yesterday said that regardless of the officiating, the better team has emerged winner in the first two games of the best-of-three title series between fierce rivals Ateneo and La Salle.

"The team that played better won Game One, and the team that played better won Game Two. It’s as simple as that. And the statistics will show it… particularly in the shooting and rebounding department," Reyes told The STAR in a telephone interview.

The former Blue Eagle, who also calls the shot for Pop Cola in the PBA, was reacting to recent reports where Ateneo’s Joe Lipa and La Salle’s Franz Pumaren have criticized the brand of officiating in the first two games, both played before a mammoth crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

La Salle, eyeing a fourth straight crown, won the series opener last Sept. 28, 74-68, while Ateneo, seeking its first title since 1988, bounced back last Thursday, 76-72. The winner-take-all match will be played Oct. 16. It was supposed to be played this Thursday but the Eagles requested for a postponement, this week being their final exams week.

"There are other things that are more material than the officiating. Take the case of La Salle, which shot 50 percent from the three-point area in the first game but shot 25 percent in the second. And it was critical on their part. La Salle also had more rebounds in the first game (53-34) but had less in the second (26-42)," Reyes explained.

Therefore, putting the blame on the referees will not get the two coaches anywhere. Reyes also said that in the UAAP, there is a circular explicitly explaining that "issues like the officiating must be discussed within the family," and not the media.

"As a coach, we sometimes blow our top. And in that sense, I myself being a coach, I understand Joe Lipa and Franz Pumaren. But there are things that we must keep to ourselves, especially if it concerns the officiating," said Reyes, adding that he expects the issue to be tackled when the UAAP board meets Thursday.

"It’s the best two teams this year, starting from the elimination round, facing each other in the final. In itself, it’s already a tribute to the two teams," Reyes said.