MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beer needs Terrence Romeo to explode on points, not erupt in anger.
Thus veterans led by Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo urged the first-time finalist to stay cool during heated moments in the wake of his ejection from Game 2 due to a pair of technical fouls.
“My request for Terrence is to learn to control his emotions in those situations. We were actually leading at that point and winning so what’s the point? And somehow an ejection brings some negative vibes to the team,” said Santos, referring to Romeo’s outburst at the 6:23 mark of the fourth and SMB leading, 96-80.
Romeo showed his anger over what he felt were bad calls against him by giving the referee a hard chest pass, resulting in a technical foul. Still fuming, the hot-shooting guard continued to give the said referee a mouthful, an action that was meted with a second T.
San Miguel governor Robert Non and other SMB players had to steer the former Far Eastern U star away from the referee.
Romeo is expected to be penalized by the PBA, most likely with a fine, for his behavior.
“We were telling him to just let it go but perhaps he was carried away by his emotions,” said Fajardo, who’s known for keeping his cool even in the middle of an ugly brawl. “It’s all part of the game and it happens. But I think it won’t happen to him again.”
At the end of the day, Romeo charged it to experience.
“I’m moving on to the next game,” he said.