Ranidel insists no malice

Expect an even more physical confrontation when San Miguel Beer battles Talk ‘N’ Text in Game 2 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at the Mall of Asia Arena this afternoon after a tumultuous opener the other day.

In Game 1, Ranidel de Ocampo, Danny Seigle and David Semerad were assessed a flagrant-1 foul apiece for rough play. Additionally, Seigle and Semerad were slapped a technical foul each for second motion late in the fourth quarter when the outcome was already a foregone conclusion.

De Ocampo, who hit 11 points in the first period as Talk ‘N’ Text surged to a seven-point lead, caused Arwind Santos to crash to the floor while the Spiderman descended from hanging on to the rim after a dunk. De Ocampo said he had no intention to submarine Santos. But the fact was Santos fell when his legs were clipped from under him. The video replay was inconclusive as to whether De Ocampo deliberately made dangerous contact or not. If there was obvious malice and Santos was severely prejudiced, De Ocampo would’ve been called for a flagrant-2 and ejected.

Santos took exception to De Ocampo’s contact. “It was deliberate,” he said in the dugout after the game. “That was a very dangerous foul because I was up in the air and coming down when he pushed me.” Santos said De Ocampo didn’t bother to say sorry or check how he was when he fell. De Ocampo just walked away as Santos quickly stood up as if to confront him. There, however, was no heated exchange of words.

De Ocampo said he wouldn’t cause harm to any player, much less Santos who’s a friend. “I walked towards the ball,” he said. “I didn’t think Arwind was on the way down because he was still hanging on the rim. If I wanted to make ‘sahod,’ I would’ve extended my arms and pushed out his legs. Arwind and I are okay. We didn’t talk anymore after the game. Usually, it’s after the series when we talk.” The video replay showed that De Ocampo appeared to lean away when Santos came down, an instinctive body movement when there is imminent physical contact. In such a case, you give the benefit of the doubt to De Ocampo. Personally, I don’t think there was malice. Besides, De Ocampo wouldn’t risk serious repercussions on his career if he low-bridged deliberately with TV cameras and all eyes on him at that moment.

* * *

In a viber chat, Purefoods’ Joe De Vance said the contact didn’t look intentional. “Arwind hangs on to the rim and does the Spiderman every dunk,” said De Vance. “I would too if I could dunk.” Rain Or Shine’s Gabe Norwood said, “I think Del was trying to get the ball for a quick inbound.” De Vance agreed with Norwood.   

PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial said yesterday he didn’t know if commissioner Chito Salud would summon De Ocampo to explain his action. “It’s hard to say if it was deliberate or not, if it was malicious or not,” he said. “I don’t think the video is conclusive. But I know Ranidel and Arwind. I don’t think Ranidel would do something like that with malicious intentions. If ever Ranidel is summoned, the commissioner will probably talk to him before Game 2.”

Another touchy incident involved Seigle and Semerad. They were wrapped in a tight embrace at the endline under the basket. Semerad tried to break away from Seigle’s clinch. Because they were locked in, a struggle ensued and Seigle took down Semerad. When Semerad fell, he kicked at Seigle who stood over him. The referees prevented an escalation of the fray.

The contest was a duel between the league’s No. 1 defensive team against the league’s No. 1 offensive team. San Miguel came in brandishing a 9-2 record with eight of the wins registered when opponents were held to 80 points or less. The Beermen were No. 1 in points allowed (77.8), three-point field goal percentage allowed (24.6) and field goal percentage allowed (38.1). Talk ‘N’ Text, on a six-game win streak, had a 10-3 mark and was No. 1 in offense (96.2), field goal percentage (43.6) and three-point field goal percentage (37.3).

In the first period, the Texters’ dictated tempo with their explosive firepower, scoring 27 points. But in the second quarter, San Miguel took control with its defense, holding the Tropa to nine points and 7 percent field goal shooting. The Beermen forced seven turnovers on the Texters and scored 12 from those errors and had the edge in points in the paint, 16-0, fastbreak points, 7-0 and second chance points, 4-0. San Miguel continued to hold sway in the third period with JuneMar Fajardo scoring 13 of his 23 points. The fourth period was academic. San Miguel’s biggest lead was at 33. In the end, San Miguel had the edge in turnover points, 19-5, rebounds, 56-39, and field goal percentage, 46-33. The final count was 109-86.

* * *

A comical moment was when Santos, at the top of the key, passed the ball to the left side straight into Austria’s hands at the sideline. Austria caught it and motioned to put up a shot before giving the ball to the referees. “Coach was in red and in the corner of my eye, I saw someone moving so I thought he was a teammate,” chuckled Santos in the dugout. “I thought Coach was going to shoot it.”

Santos said it was his idea to get his teammates to wear headbands as a sign of unity during the pre-game warm-ups. “It’s good to see everyone coming together,” he said. “But I told the guys to remove the headbands when the game starts if they’re not comfortable wearing them. We’ll support anyone who has an idea of getting us more united.” Fajardo said he’ll play without dyeing his hair. “It’s for my mother,” he said. “I think she doesn’t like me dyeing my hair so I’m doing it for her during the Christmas season so she’s happy.” Fajardo said his parents won’t be in Manila to celebrate the holidays with him as they’re in Cebu. Fajardo has one brother who’s 24 and only 5-7. His parents aren’t tall either. “I’m grateful to God for blessing me with my height,” he said.

Outside of the light moment involving Santos and Austria, it was all business on the court. The rival teams are the flagship franchises of the MVP and San Miguel groups – that’s why the competition is so fierce.

Talk ‘N’ Text coach Joseph Uichico said the Texters were tired and didn’t have the legs to keep pace. “We just came from playing a hard game against Ginebra three days ago while San Miguel had a 10-day rest,” said Uichico. “Our consolation is it’s just one loss and it’s a best-of-seven series. Whether you lose by one or 23 or 33, it’s still just one loss.” Consultant Tab Baldwin said both teams played poorly in the first period. “The difference was San Miguel broke out of playing bad and we didn’t,” he said.

Austria said it was critical to win the opener. In PBA history, 70 percent of teams that have won the opener in a best-of-seven affair went on to clinch. “But even if we won Game 1, that doesn’t mean anything because we need to win three more,” said Austria. “We know Talk ‘N’ Text is a tough team and they’ll come back strong in Game 2.”