By JONAS TERRADO
Senator Richard Gordon questioned the PBA’s decision to sanction Tab Baldwin for “detrimental comments” made in a podcast last week.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial suspended the TNT KaTropa assistant for three games and fined P75,000 after making statements regarding league policies on imports and officiating while also describing local coaches as “tactically immature.”
“The (PBA’s) recent decision to suspend Tab Baldwin and fine him for his comments about the league, its officiating and the country’s local coaches is uncalled for,” Gordon said in a series of tweets.
“The association should have looked at the message and not shot the messenger. You may not agree with him but you don’t penalize him. Coach Tab comes with good credentials, having coached two national teams in FIBA tournaments,” added Gordon.
Gordon, who regularly watches UAAP games of his alma mater Ateneo, cited the Blue Eagles’ current success since the American-Kiwi mentor took over in 2016.
Ateneo was reeling with the graduation of Kiefer Ravena and Von Pessumal and the departure of several blue-chip redshirts due to academic deficiencies to reach the finals in Baldwin’s first season.
The Blue Eagles have since won three straight titles under Baldwin.
“In college coaching, (he) took over an Ateneo team which just lost (seven) key players to academics and transformed this rag tag team into a second place team in his first year and a champion team in each of the next three years, the last one via an unprecedented sweep.
“His formula? Discipline, team offense, team defense, next man up. There are no individual stars on his team as witnessed by the lack of individual awards garnered by the members of his team.
“I think he is one of the finest coaches that ever came in to the Philippines. Our players are good but they need coaching and they need to be disciplined. Not listening to him is our loss,” added Gordon.
