PBA: When Bullies are afraid to be Bullied

The current PBA Commissioners Cup has been so intense that it has gone as far as seeing the bench-clearing incident after Talk ‘n Text rookie Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Jireh Ibanez got entangled resulting in the former losing his playing jersey.

Yeng Guiao (Wikipedia)
Yeng Guiao (Wikipedia)
But the bench-clearing melee was not because of the fracas between Ganuelas-Rosser and Ibanes but the surprising ball-throw made by JR Quinahan on the TnT rookie.

What’s funny is that while Quinahan had the guts to throw the ball at an unsuspecting Ganuelas-Rosser is that big as he may seem, he backpedalled toward the bench when controversial import Ivan Johnson entered the fray. If not for the replay, it seemed that many felt Johnson was going after Quinahan, who cowardly backpedalled to his team’s bench and then moved on the offensive when he had backup.

Replays did not see Johnson taking a fighting stance. No fist, but simply to intrude and probably help keep everything in check. But knowing his history with the RoS bench, it wasn’t surprising to see the bench-clearing incident.

Johnson has been in the hot seat ever since that uncalled for bumping incident he made against coach Yeng Guiao where he was meted a fine. He also had an altercation with Ryan Arana in game three. Prior to these events in the finals, Johnson has had confrontations with Alaska head coach Alex Compton and Purefoods Star Hotshot Marc Pingris. In all, Johnson is seen as someone as a bad egg.

Maybe so. But if you look at the incident that transpired, there was no indication that Johnson was looking for a fight.

Guiao, incidentally a governor of Pampanga as well has hit the PBA for being too relaxed on Johnson. It makes you wonder what does he want the league to do? Ban Johnson for his antics or temper?

What if Johnson were playing for Guiao? Would he be singing the same tune?

From the looks of it, Guiao makes it look like only his boys can play rough and dirty.

Beau Belga (who has magnificently kept himself out of the skirmishes yet has played marvelously), Ryan Arana (notorious since his DLSU days for trouble), and Raymond Almazan (a player who makes it a point to get the goat of opposing players and get in cheap shots) are no angels.

It seem obvious that the battle plan of TnT is to play RoS at their own game – PHYSICAL while keeping a sane mind. The mental aspect of the game is included, something Guiao and his boys have done in the past. So does it mean they are losing focus or losing in that department?

Guiao is no angel. He has been ejected for numerous times and has gone as far as flashing a dirty finger at the commissioner. Yes the PBA commissioner. Now by doing that, shouldn’t that merit ban in itself?

How about bumping Dondon Hontiveros who went up for a shot and was far away from Guiao during his San Miguel Beer days? Hontiveros is not a dirty player and yet Guiao did that without provocation?

The bottom line here is we have a coach who seems to want everything go his way. He blames the referees, he blames the league and he blames the opposing team because of his tactics.

Guiao is someone who was once admired for his coaching genius but not to the extent that he gets involved in plays and disrespects league officials and the game.

So instead of blaming everyone else, why can’t he blame himself for losing in the psychological battle? It is obvious he is losing it and he obviously will not admit it.

This is not to protect Ivan Johnson. The guy does have a temper and a history. But rather than cry and rant, why not devise a master plan to play the game it is supposed to be – tactical basketball.

Unless of course he has forgotten that this is a game of wits and not of bullying.