The Ginebra-San Miguel elimination round match-up some days ago ended with the Kings squeaking out a victory over the Beermen 100-96. While the Ginebra win surprised some because of how dominant erstwhile unbeaten San Miguel seemed to be in its earlier games, with Ginebra itself mired in a three-game losing streak, most post-game talk hovered around the confusion caused with only four seconds left in the game.
By now, everyone knows that San Miguel was mounting a furious rally as time was ticking away, when veteran SMB guard Chico Lanete was fouled taking a shot in the shaded area. There was a lull in the action, and when play resumed, Lanete was supposed to shoot two free throws. However, one referee handed the basketball instead to Lanete's backcourt-mate, Chris Ross, who, with neither protest nor clarification from him or anyone on or off the court, and hearing his name mentioned by the venue announcer on duty, stepped to the line and attempted the first charity shot. Ross missed it. Then the perplexity surfaced. Several personalities - coaches, players, even fans - realized that there had been a mistake. Ross was nowhere near the play when the foul was called and it was clearly Lanete who should have been shooting the free throws.
The referees huddled, assessed the situation, and charged Ross with a technical foul for attempting the free throw in lieu of Lanete. Ross and the entire San Miguel team did not agree with the call. However, there is an existing rule in the PBA that a technical foul will issue against a player who shoots a free throw when he is not the designated free throw shooter. The spirit behind the rule is to prevent a team from switching free throw shooters to gain an advantage, i.e., to replace a poor free throw shooter with someone who presumably shoots better from the line. SMB protested to no avail, and after the game, Ross and SMB Coach Leo Austria made their statements regarding the whole free throw brouhaha. The league as well issued a clarificatory statement and cited the earlier-mentioned existing rule.
The game had ended, but the PBA was not about to just let this incident pass. There were protestations, attempts at explanations, and accusations, prompting an investigation. Two days later, the Office of the newly-installed Commissioner handed out its decision. For his post-game statements, which were deemed detrimental to the league, and for incurring two technical fouls during the game, including attempting a free throw that he should not have taken, the PBA assessed Ross a P25,800.00 fine. All four referees who officiated the game, namely Jimmy Mariano, Mardy Montoya, Noy Guevarra, and Gerry Borja, were suspended from one to three weeks, probably depending on their "level of participation" in allowing Ross and not Lanete to shoot the free throws.
The big surprise, however, is that the PBA also suspended scorer Lito Mendegoria and venue announcer, sometimes referred to as "barker", Noel Zarate (also an ESPN5.com contributor). Table officials, they are called, tasked with specific roles during games. For the most part, what they do does not directly affect the action on the floor. For Zarate in particular, his task is to inform the participants at the venue - players, team officials, and fans alike - about what is taking place and why. He announces the starting line-ups and introduces the coaches, he adds flavor to the game by declaring out loud who makes a shot, who passed the ball to the shot-maker, what violation was committed, how much time is left, etc. Mendegoria, for his part, tallies the scores for each player and team by recording in his book each made basket.
Expectedly, there were many who expressed support for the two table officials and declared their disagreement that both were penalized along with Ross and the referees. For most, the transgressions of Ross and the officiating quartet are clear. One referee inexplicably handed the ball over to Ross instead of Lanete. Ross took a free throw he was not supposed to take. The other three referees simply allowed both to happen when they shouldn't have. But, what about Zarate and Mendegoria? Should they be considered "guilty parties" as well? The question is not a simple one to answer.
Ross said that the handing over of the ball to him by the referee, coupled with Zarate announcing that he (Ross) was to shoot two free throws, practically compelled him to step up to the line and take them. Zarate, though, merely did what he usually does, which is to react accordingly when a referee hands the ball over to a player that is supposed to shoot free throws by announcing that that player would be shooting a certain number of free throws. Mendegoria was probably just waiting whether the free throw/s would count so he could record them as points. Where did they go wrong to merit their suspension? Did they have the obligation to make sure that the right person was shooting the free throw? Is it their responsibility to any extent? These are open-ended questions that perhaps can be clarified moving forward.
What is clear though is that the PBA meted out varying degrees of penalties to everyone that could possibly have been responsible for the mishap. In the eyes of league officials, Ross, the refs, and the two table officials were all participants in one way or another. Each of them had a duty and the league felt they somehow fell short. For the league, those involved exhibited a level of carelessness, negligence, and/or complacency, or maybe even deliberate behaviour, that cast a negative light on the game itself and, consequently, on the PBA as well. It turned the attention of everyone from what was an entertaining, hard-fought game to instead trying to understand a violation that could have been prevented with the right amount of care.
The message that the new PBA brass sent when it announced the penalties is that every single person involved in the running of the league has a responsibility, and he must fulfill such responsibility to the best of his abilities in each and every activity the league undertakes. The Office of the Commissioner wants everyone in the PBA hierarchy to pay attention, be on their toes, fully focus on the game or activity at hand, follow protocol, and enforce the rules. Sure, there will be slip-ups every now and then. That is why there are corresponding penalties. Hopefully they are not applied too often.
What every employee and representative of the PBA and of each member team must realize is that it is never about any individual or group of individuals, but always what is best for the league. There is a shared responsibility to make the league the best that it can be, one that is entertaining, fair, and balanced. The PBA uses the hashtag #WearePBA. The penalties that resulted from the Ginebra-San Miguel near end-game controversy are an example of making that hashtag work.