Hargrove, hanging on the rim after a slam dunk, figured in a goaltending non-call late in the game
(Warning, this is not the usual detailed post-game analysis I blog about for the UP Fighting Maroons on a per-game basis, but rather one where I just had to rant about a controversial goaltending non-call by the referees that cost us the game. And yes, I think that goaltending call trended in Twitter for some time yesterday)
UP MBT Game #5- versus FEU (August 5, 2012 @ the MOA Arena)
I'm feeling a lot of mixed emotions right now.
Maybe that's the reason why it took me so long to post my usual UP post-game analysis. I was so frustrated that I did not even watch a single minute of the Adamson-NU game that came after our match versus FEU. I wanted to write my account of the game today but I was just too mad to do so.
I also made sure that the Internet (particularly social media) gave a complete take of what cost UP their first win of the season - that mother-effin goaltending non-call on Diony Hipolito's shot by Anthony Hargrove.
I was such in high spirits on the way to the Mall of Asia Arena on a very rainy Sunday afternoon. I even brought my youngest sister Nikki along as a lucky charm and thought that maybe after their good performance against Ateneo last Thursday, UP might pull off win number one today.
We met my friend Carlos Pascual at the venue and saw some familiar faces, all UP faithful. And we were all eager to witness that breakthrough win today.
UP lived up to it's monicker of fighting until the very end after FEU posted big leads ranging from nine to 15 at different points in the game. UP had an answer to all FEU scoring blitzes led by Terrence Romeo and Mike Tolomia, working hard on both ends of the floor and slowly but surely trimming that Tamarraw lead down even until the end of the game.
Notable performances came from the likes of Mark Lopez, Alvin Padilla and Chris Ball who were carrying the load for State U in the last four games on both ends of the floor. But what was surprising were the good games played by big man transferee Raul Soyud and team captain Mike Silungan. Both players played their heart out on the court and gave their best in trying to get that elusive first win.
There was even a skirmish in the playing court at the third quarter after Arvie Bringas of FEU literally dropped himself in a jumpball situation in between Raul Soyud and Hargrove. This was just among the many interesting things that happened in today's game.
However, there was no other play that made more noise than that controversial goaltending non-call that happened in front of where I was seated. I was among those who made sure that the referees were made aware of their mistakes. I was calling out and literally cursing the officials for not blowing their whistles and making the right call.
Missing the call at such a crucial stage in the game was just fine. The officials can now actually review plays to make the correct call. Besides, these refs are human right?
WRONG! THEY ARE NOT HUMANS (OK that's a bit too harsh, maybe I'll just call them blind or worse, nabayaran?).
What angered me (and the UP community watching) more was that the instant replays clearly showed that Hargrove blocked Hipolito's shot after it had hit the cylinder and was on its way down the basket. Coach Ricky Dandan was actually pleading his case as he obviously was very frustrated with the non-call.
If that was a valid goaltending non-call shouldn't they have just issued technical fouls for the whole UP bench after excessive complaining to that particular call? That would've made sense right? But they didn't, hence, they did make a mistake. A very big mistake.
I really felt bad not just for the UP Fighting Maroons Men's basketball team but for the whole UP community watching this game as well.
This was supposed to be our first win. I felt it and everyone else was feeling it. FEU actually wasn't able to make a field goal in the last eight minutes of the game. Even they too were feeling it, the pressure. And this hardworking, underrated team was well on it's way to upset them today.
Prior to this game, three out of four losses of the Maroons were close ones. They lost their opener to DLSU by five (led by one point in the final minute), to Adamson by two (came back from 20 points down) and Ateneo by six (had a 10 point lead in the third quarter). Their only blowout loss was a 17-point beatdown by NU. Those three close games were actually winnable games and you can include this one as well.
It's painful to see your team go down, whether after having led most of the game then crumbling in the end or slowly trimming down a big lead yet succumbing at the last second.
However, it's a lot more painful if you knew that it wasn't just the opposing team that beat you, it was someone else (in this case, the referees) that helped beat you in the end.
I just hope that the UAAP board takes a look at this instance (with or without a formal protest filed) in order to make sure that these incidents won't happen again and affect future game results.
Before I end my very long rant I would like to share a page that collated most UAAP players' take on the controversial goaltending non-call:
http://storify.com/urzafailure/was-up-robbed-twitter-thinks-so
See? Even Jeric Fortuna and Jeric Teng of UST as well as Ateneans Justin Chua and Bacon Austria agree that the right call wasn't made.
To UAAP Commisioner Ado Badolato, I have no idea how this post will reach you, but please open your eyes to this issue and make sure you do everything in your power to bring justice to what transpired in this game. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment