PBA: ‘Delay’ calls slow down, not speed up the game -  Guiao

Delay of game calls have been whistled strictly throughout the entire 2012-13 PBA Philippine Cup. A player who touches the ball after his team scores a basket will be given a warning after the first instance. A technical foul call will then be assessed starting from the second infraction. During the press conference for the upcoming Philippine Cup Finals, Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao went on record to ask for consistency in the league’s hopes of speeding up the game. According to Guiao, being too strict on “delay” calls actually defeats the purpose of speeding up the game. “Why will you penalize a player who just touched the ball a bit for delaying the game?," Guiao asked. "We’re defeating the purpose of making the game fast.” The purpose of the regularity of the delay of the game calls stem from league wanting the games to be faster. A fast, free-flowing game is more pleasant to watch for the fans. However, the calls actually delay the game further as the referee will have to signal the delay of the game violation, then ask the team to re-do the inbounds play. Guiao also cited other instances where the PBA officials can speed up the game, arguing, “Yung referees, they are calling too many flagrant fouls which are not flagrant fouls.” Another pet peeve of the Pampanga Vice Governor is the referees' supposed over-reliance on replays during out of bounds situations in the game’s final two minutes. “If the referees are sure that it’s your possession, there there should be no replays,” he said. “Against San Mig [Coffee Mixers], pinapagod namin yung kalaban, pero pag may out of bounds call, nakakapag-pahinga sila,” added the multi-titled coach who led the Elasto Painters to a 4-2 series victory over the Mixers. However, Guiao still commended the officials and the Commissioner’s Office for being willing to right the wrongs. “Galit ako sa mga iyan madalas but in fairness to the referees, nararamdaman ko na meron silang sincerity to improve,” he said. “Marami pa ring mali pero ang importante willing silang itama yung mga maling tawagan.” - AMD, GMA News