Globalport team owner Mikee Romero criticized his Batang Pier following the squad’s setback to the Alaska Aces in Game 3 of their semifinal showdown in the ongoing Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup playoffs last Friday at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City.
Romero didn’t hold back by posting this message on his Facebook account: “To our Globalport Batang Pier fans: no excuses, the team is just choking period. Our team is playing like a bunch of girls in a men’s league.”
Romero added his post with a hash tag #nopridetofight as the Batang Pier were outplayed by the Aces in Game 2, 76-100, and were outsmarted in the fourth quarter in Game 3, 69-82 to trail, 1-2, in this Best-of-Seven series.
The post of Romero on FB was totally different from his previous ones where he encouraged the team to play hard and be a ‘David’ against a ‘Goliath’ team in Alaska in terms of its experience as compared to them being a first time semifinalist in the pro league.
It was 53-all entering the final frame, and Globalport was still ahead, 57-54, with 11 minutes to play.
Alaska, however, used a 19-3 run that gave them a 73-60 advantage with 5:24 remaining in the game behind veteran shooter Dondon Hontiveros, Vic Manuel and RJ Jazul.
During that blitzkrieg by the Aces, Batang Pier’s ace guard Terrence Romeo was ejected from the game when he was assessed with his second technical foul for his second motion on Jazul.
“Nadala lang siguro ako ng emotion,” said the 5-11 Romeo, who has averaged 18.5 points in the last two games after scoring a career-best 41 points in a 107-93 victory of Globalport in Game 1.
“Kailangan ko maging mas smart next time. Masama talaga pag nagpadala ka sa galit mo,” added Romeo.
Romeo’s shooting dropped from 12-of-21 (57.4%), to 8-of-19 (42.11%) and only 7-of-23 (30.43%) as Alaska’s defenders – Calvin Abueva, Jazul, Rome dela Rosa and Ping Exciminiano – took turns on limiting the third year shooting guard of Globalport.
“Sa sobrang gusto ko manalo tapos yung mga gusto ko, parang hindi nangyayari, parang hindi naaayon sa gusto namin, so medyo na-carried away na ako ng emosyon ko,” said Romeo, who was ejected for the first time in his PBA career.