Game Tomorrow (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
8 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Petron
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao has been suspended for one game and meted a R100,000 fine by the PBA Commissioner’s Office for unsportsmanlike conduct during Game 4 of their semifinal series with Petron Blaze in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Guiao will not be around when the Elasto Painters try to secure the first finals berth tomorrow when they clash with the Boosters in Game 5 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It marked the fourth time Guiao was suspended for one game. The P100,000 fine has brought to nearly P900,000 the amount the fiery PBA coach paid since the first time he was fined in 1993.
Guiao, a member of the House of Representatives, was punished for using a dirty finger pointed toward the commissioner’s and technical committee table on his way out of the playing court in the third quarter of Game 4 last Monday.
Salud met with Guiao yesterday morning at the league’s Commissioner’s Office to inform him of his decision.
In a statement issued by the PBA, the basis of the suspension according to Salud is Guiao’s “persistent conduct unbecoming of a coach exhibited in a manner positively indicating disrespect, if not disdain or scorn, for the league as an institution and its fans.”
“I would like to state unequivocally that this disciplinary sanction cannot fully convey the sense of regret of this Office for the insulting and unsavoury antics Coach Guiao continues to display and foist on the players, the referees, his peers and the entire viewing public of the PBA, especially the youth, despite repeated well-meaning advice and counsel from this Office in the past,” said Salud.
The league commissioner added: “I invite him to reflect upon his responsibility to the public, the league and the Rain or Shine organization which he represents, even as I reiterate that the PBA will fulfill its own responsibility to tirelessly uphold the principles of decency and sportsmanship.”
The ejection of Guiao in Game 4 was actually his second straight in the semifinal series after he was thrown out in Game 3 also in the third period after he was given two technical fouls – first for contesting a call and second was when he also gave Petron’s Arwind Santos a dirty finger.
Rain or Shine lost Game 3, 106-73, but took Game 4 – despite losing Guiao and playmaker Paul Lee to a right ankle sprain – with a stunning 88-83 victory for a 3-1 advantage in the series.
In an interview yesterday, Guiao said the penalty is too harsh.
“It is not commensurate to the infraction, if that is what they are trying to point (dirty finger),” said Guiao, after conducting Rain or Shine’s practice session at the North East Greenhills Gym in San Juan.
“I really don’t understand the basis. The main issue here is the bad officiating. Actually they have been very lenient in suspending players or coaches particularly when it’s in the critical moment or in the playoffs. But in my case, it appears that they can decide on it easily.”
“That makes the suspension even more puzzling to me… in a Game 5 of the semifinals when we have a chance to close out the series versus Petron,” added Guiao, who rested Paul Lee and Jervy Cruz during practice due to injuries. (Waylon Galvez)