PBA: 'The officiating has been fair and square' - Comm. Salud

In response to complaints from Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao about the officiating, PBA commissioner Chito Salud released a statement via the PBA's Twitter account @pbaconnect, calling the work the referees have been doing in the Philippine Cup Finals "fair and square."

Comm. Chito Salud: The officiating has been fair and square. And it will continue to be so. No team will receive (cont) tl.gd/kmvpr5

— pbaconnect (@pbaconnect) January 14, 2013
 

According to Salud, "The officiating has been fair and square. And it will continue to be so. No team will receive help from the referees. The players will decide the game."

[Related: 'We tried our best but the referees ruined our chances' - Guiao]

Guiao, whose team is down 0-3 to the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters, feels otherwise, saying Sunday night, after an 89-80 defeat, "We tried our best but the referees ruined our chances."

Coach Guiao pointed out three decisions by the referees that went against his team:

• A no-call on Texter Ranidel de Ocampo, after the forward allegedly hit JR Quinahan to get a rebound
• A no-call on Texter Jayson Castro for hitting Chris Tiu, which allowed him to come up with a steal
• A call on Paul Lee, despite the fact that he was standing straight. Guiao alleges that Texter Ryan Reyes jumped into him and got a whistle from the referees

The fiery mentor however did compliment the officiating in the first two games of the series, saying, "wala akong masabi [no negative comments]." However, he was adamant that his team lost game three due to bad calls, pointing out, "This is the Finals. The difference will be or two possessions so three bad calls can really turn the tide."

The Finals resume on Wednesday, at 6:45pm, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. While Guiao wouldn't make any guarantees about his team rallying back to take the win, he did note, "We'll do our best to delay their [Talk 'N Text's] celebration." - AMD, GMA News