PBA cuts refs pool for finals

MANILA, Philippines — The PBA started this season with a pool of 21 referees and for the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup finals, director of basketball operations Eric Castro confirmed the other day that the league is rotating a corps of only 13 to assure a higher level of officiating.

The corps of 13 is broken down into three Class A, three Class B, three Class C and four Class D referees. Before a finals game, a draw is held to choose one referee from each class to comprise the four-strong unit to work the contest. The draw is supervised by Castro and employs a computer system where representatives of the two opposing teams press a key to determine the four picks.

From the initial cast of 21, five were relegated to the PBA D-League for more experience, one passed away (Emy Tangkion), one resigned to pursue a career as a policeman (Nick Ranido) and one was relieved. 

The three Class A referees are Nol Quilinguen, Jimmy Mariano and Peter Balao. For Game 1 of the finals between TNT and San Miguel Beer, the referees were Quilinguen, Sherwin Pineda, Jerry Narandan and Mao Orioste. For Game 2, they were Quilinguen, Pineda, Mardy Montoya and Albert Nubla. For Game 3, the arbiters were Mariano, Rommel Gruta, Mike Flordeliza and Jeff Tantay.

Castro said for the coming Governors Cup, the goal is to maintain a pool of 20 referees comprising the 13 in the ongoing finals, the five relegated to the PBA D-League and two fresh call-ups from the PBA D-League. The third conference is set to start on Sept. 20 after the FIBA World Cup which is on Aug. 31-Sept. 15. It will take a break during the SEA Games on Nov. 30-Dec. 11 but the annual draft will be held on Dec. 8. The Philippine team in the SEA Games may be composed of all PBA players likely coached by Yeng Guiao. The players in the Gilas 19-man pool for the FIBA World Cup not chosen for the final 12-man team in China will be front-runners to see action in the SEA Games. 

Castro said the best-of-5 semifinals of the Governors Cup will begin on Dec. 12 or 13 and the best-of-7 finals will start on Jan. 8 next year. The latest the third conference finals will end is on Jan. 22. Castro said with the MOA Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum booked for events during the holiday season, the PBA may play more games at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, Cuneta Astrodome and possibly, the PhilSports Arena.  

The Governors Cup will feature two games at the Coca-Cola Arena, City Walk, Dubai on Oct. 4-5 with San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra and NLEX. The Road Warriors take on San Miguel on Oct. 4 and Ginebra on Oct. 5. Two provincial contests are being planned in Cebu and Davao.

Aside from the FIBA World Cup and SEA Games, the PBA will also participate in other international competitions this year. It will be represented by San Miguel Beer, TNT and Blackwater in the Terrific 12 tournament in Macau on Sept. 17-22 and tentatively by Meralco in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup on Sept. 24-29. Aside from the three PBA teams, the other Terrific 12 entries are the Liaoning Flying Leopards, Shenzhen Aviators and Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of China, the Jeonju KCC Egis and Seoul SK Knights of Korea and the Chiba Jets, Ryukyu Golden Kings, Niigata Albirex and Utsunomiya Brex of Japan.