By REYNALD MAGALLON
Bay Area import Myles Powell and forward Hayden Blankley didn’t hide their displeasure over the officiating in the Dragons’ 89-82 loss at the hands of the Ginebra San Miguel Kings in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Finals series at the Mall of Asia Arena.
While head coach Brian Goorjian, obviously frustrated at the end of the hard-fought affair, decided to just bite his tongue and refused to comment on the game, both Blankley and Powell took to social media to air their disappointment and call for a fairer officiating in the Finals.
The Bay Area reinforcement pointed out the disparity in the fouls called and free throws between the two teams
“PBA, do better! Foul count was 28-12 and they shot (38) free throws. We shot 10,” wrote Powell in an Instagram story.
Powell also didn’t minced words and tweeted that it was the referees who are “making the difference between who wins or not” while also citing the foul and free throw situation in Game 2 which the Dragons won.
“Y’all saying we shot 21 free throws in Game Two and y’all only shot five proves exactly my point,” Powell tweeted. “Something ain’t right, clearly the refs making the difference between who wins or not when it should just be a fair called game.”
In a now deleted Instagram story, Powell’s teammate, Blankey echoed the same sentiments regarding the officiating and called for a fair game.
“Got nothing but love and respect for the Philippines and its people, but at this point it’s obvious, just let it be a fair game, please. As the locals would say — it’s cooked,” wrote Blankley who was at the bad end of the fouls called in the contest.
Blankley was fouled out of the game midway through the final frame and couldn’t help but only watch when the Kings battled back from 14-points down early on and unleashing a massive 13-0 run to take control of the game in the final five minutes.
He finished with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
The latest comments on officiating is expected to spice things up even more when the Finals series takes a crucial turn in Game 4 on Friday, still at the Mall of Asia Arena.
