Games today
Araneta Coliseum
3:00 p.m.- Barako Bull vs. Globalport
5:15 p.m.- Meralco vs. Rain or Shine
7:30 p.m.- San Mig Coffee vs. Barangay Ginebra
Three teams try to break free from a three-way logjam at the third spot as the league offers a rare triple-header of the 38th PBA Philippine Cup today at the Araneta Coliseum.
Barako Bull Energy Cola faces Globalport Batang Pier in the 3 p.m. first game while facing off next are the Meralco Bolts and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Capping off the triple treat is the big encounter between the San Mig Coffee Mixers and the sputtering Barangay Ginebra Kings.
Meralco, Rain or Shine and San Mig Coffee crowd the third to fifth spots with similar 4-2 (win-loss) records. The three teams are looking to tie the Alaska Aces, who grabbed the solo second place last Friday night with a resounding, 94-92 win over the erstwhile unbeaten Talk N Text Tropang Texters.
The defending champions Texters still lead the standings with a 6-1 ledger.
Globalport, Ginebra and Barako Bull are hard-pressed to win as the three teams are on a slump. Both Barako Bull (2-5) and Globalport (1-6) are on a three-game slide, while Ginebra (2-4) has lost its last four games since starting the tournament with back-to-back wins.
The league had its last triple-header three years ago.
“We are doing this for the national team, we want to finish as early as possible and give our players (who are in the Smart Gilas Pilipinas) time to rest and prepare,” said the league’s media bureau chief Willie Marcial in a report posted at pba-online.net.
The national team is set to compete in the FIBA-Asia Championship on September. The tournament will serve as a qualifier for the 2014 World Championship in Spain.
REF SUSPENDED
Meanwhile, a referee was suspended following a goaltending call in the dying seconds of the Alaska-Talk N Text game last Friday night.
According to spin.ph, referee Rey Yante was meted six game days suspension for an “error in judgment.”
With Talk N Text leading, 92-90, Yante slapped Kelly Williams with a goaltending violation after the Fil-Am forward blocked the shot of Alaska’s Cyrus Baguio.
The call tied the score at 92-all. Ranidel de Ocampo missed in the next play before JV Casio sealed Alaska’s come-from-behind win by converting a nifty layup with 2.4 seconds left.
Before Yante, referee Jun Marabe was suspended for three weeks after committing a “gross error in judgment” when he called a foul on Gabe Norwood in the closing seconds of the Rain or Shine-Barangay Ginebra duel last Oct. 7. Ginebra went on to win that match, 95-94.
Last Oct. 28, the game between San Mig Coffee and Barako Bull ended in a controversial fashion after Rafi Reavis swatted the ball after an Enrico Villanueva attempt while it was on top of the rim that preserved the Coffee Mixers’ 92-91 victory.
The league, however, insisted that the play was legal based on a Fiba rule that the league adapted in the 2006-07 season.