BLACKWATER continues to surprise all the experts and has joined the league’s elite at the top of the standings midway through the elimination round of the 2016-2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup elimination round.
Despite a lightweight lineup Blackwater is at second place just behind the league-leading San Miguel Beermen. Trailing at third place are league powerhouses TNT KaTropa, Star Hotshots, Alaska Aces, Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters and GlobalPort.
Mac Belo, probably a shoe-in for the Rookie of the Year honors, led Blackwater to another surprising victory when the Elite subdued Terrence Romeo and the GlobalPort Batang Pier to grab second place.
Blackwater’s other young studs are pugnacious point guard Nard Pinto, collegiate star Roi Sumang who almost withered on the vine when he first joined the league but who seems to have found a home in Blackwater, as well as Art Dela Cruz an undersized big man who somehow finds ways to score underneath the goal against taller, longer, heftier defenders.
Veteran Ronjay Buenafe was on his way to retirement before getting the call up from the Elite.
Blackwater’s lineup is a curious mishmash of young studs bristling at the bridle and over-the-hill veterans trying to recapture lost glory. Through sheer grit and determination the squad has clawed its way up the standings and is almost sure to make the playoffs.
★★★★★
Controversial calls by referees are quite common in sports competitions whether in basketball with the Philippine Basketball Association, boxing, football or the fastest emerging sport in the Philippines which is women’s volleyball.
The Philippine Super Liga got more than its fair share of controversy when a crucial call went against Petron in the fifth set of the first game of the 2016 PSL Grand Prix Championship playoff eventually won by Foton.
The call came in the middle of the fifth set after Foton scored three consecutive points to cut the Petron 3-8 advantage to just 6-8.
The replay technology is supposed to help decide controversy conclusively and without a shadow of a doubt. That simply wasn’t the case in that game.
What seemed like a wild spiking error by Petron’s Frances Molina sent the volleyball sailing out the baseline. Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos contested the call saying the ball grazed the fingers of Foton blocker Dindin Manabat.
The replay did show Manabat’s fingers move as the volleyball passed above. The flight of the ball was uninterrupted but two fingers of Manabat clearly moved as the ball passed above.
Curiously, the officials thumbed down the challenge even when the replay clearly showed Manabat’s right index and middle fingers move as the ball sailed above.
(See the sequence at 8:00 to 8:07 of the TV5 Sports video at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po46-wtBuig&index=13&list=PLSHv_e8U7Z-1-irHkOzanhD3tmCy11HZH)
Foton cut the Petron lead to 7-8 after that point. Later, riding the unstoppable momentum of their rally Foton would continue on to win the set 15-9 and Game 1 of their best-of-three championship.
After winning that first game Foton would go on to win the second game as well to annex the PSL crown making that controversial call crucial.
If the call went against Foton then their rally gets nipped in the bud. Petron would likely have won the game and could have conceivably gone on to win the PSL crown.
That controversial call raised a firestorm in social media. Petron lodged a protest but nothing came of it.
My two cents worth: at this point whether the call was right or wrong is hardly important. What’s really important is that all the attention and media mileage generated by that controversial call contribute to the growth and popularity of the sport of volleyball in the country.