The Philippine Online Chronicles

Game Four of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup quarterfinals was marred by the forfeiture of the Talk 'n Text Tropang Texters at the one-minute mark of their duel against the Barangay Ginebra Kings today at the Araneta Coliseum.

The forfeiture was sparked by a team walk-out ordered by Talk 'n Text head coach Chot Reyes after a “questionable” flagrant foul penalty 2 call on Tropang Texters forward Ranidel de Ocampo, who hit a driving Ginebra guard Ronald Tubid with an elbow to the head.

A flagrant foul penalty two results in an automatic throw-out and a one-game suspension for the offending player. Such a foul is called whenever an offending player deliberately hits an opposing player on the head or plants his feet in the shooting space of the opposing player.

In a post-game press conference, Reyes slammed the referees for being “obviously biased” in their officiating of the series. “We do not expect 100 percent partiality from the referees, wag lang garapalan (for as long as the calls are not obviously biased),” an emotional Reyes said, citing the huge number of free throws awarded to Ginebra “throughout the series.”

In the first three games of the series, Ginebra attempted 126 free throws while Talk 'n Text attempted 70.

“We question the partiality of the referees, especially when they are constantly calling fouls na manipis (touch or soft fouls) in our key players like [Jimmy] Alapag and de Ocampo. That's why we did not start them in this game because we are anticipating the referees to call early fouls on them,” Reyes explained. “This is the playoffs, hard fouls are expected,” he added.

De Ocampo is a former national team standout and currently averages 9.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in the conference.

On his part, Ginebra head coach Jong Uichico said that Talk 'n Text have been playing “very physical” in the series, prompting the referees to frequently call fouls on them. “It (de Ocampo's foul) may merit a flagrant [foul penalty] two... if they will stick to the rule that no one can hit a player on the head.”

The game ended when Ginebra was leading, 27-20, in the opening quarter. The series is now tied at 2-2 but Reyes is set to file a protest with the PBA Commissioner's office.

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