PBA technical chief sheds light on free-throw fiasco; SMB's Ross cries foul

MANILA, Philippines – There was something amiss in the conduct of the game at endgame of the Barangay Ginebra-San Miguel Beer duel on Sunday, and PBA commissioner Willie Marcial immediately tasked his technical chief to explain things to the media and the fans.

It’s one of the innovations the new commissioner brings in his assumption of the league rein.

“I want transparency,” said Marcial, biting the bullet on the confusion that marred the closing seconds of Ginebra’s come-from-behind 100-96 win.

PBA technical chief Eric Castro admitted the referees may have committed a mistake, but they had to slap Chris Ross a technical foul for taking a free throw that was not his.

The Kings sealed their win as LA Tenorio made the technical foul shot with 4.5 ticks to go in the bizarre ending of the match.

Castro read the league’s specific rule which says: “A player who deliberately takes a place of the designated free throw shooter shall be given a delay of game warning if the free throw has not been attempted, and any succeeding similar offense shall result in a non-sportsmanlike technical foul. If the free throw has been attempted by the role shooter the player shall be assessed with an unsportsmanlike technical foul.”

Ross vehemently questioned the rule, saying he didn’t deliberately take the shot. “They walked up to me and gave me the ball, so I shot the free throw,” he said.

The SMB playmaker, however, admitted that he knew Chico Lanete was the recipient of the free throws.

“But what am I supposed to do? Give the ball to Chico? It was bizarre, to say the least,” said Ross.

As of posting time, the Commissioner’s Office had yet to announce any sanction on the referees or the particular referee that handed the ball to Ross.