Emotions were at fever pitch during the Rain or Shine-TNT encounter as both teams didn’t just dispute the last two quarterfinals berth of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup, but both teams showed they wanted to get the win — whatever it takes.
At the height of the game, things nearly went out of hand when resident Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was seen behind the bench of the Elasto Painters and exchanged heated words with veteran mentor Yeng Guiao.
“I thought he would just pass by, but surprisingly he stayed behind the bench,” said Guiao, whose team defeated TNT, 119-112, to formally secured a berth in the playoffs.
“We were surprised he was behind our bench. That’s disrespectful. Totally, disrespectful.”
According to Guiao, they had to defend their territory, which is their area near the bench.
“Nobody does that. You go to the bench of the other team. I don’t know what he was doing there,” he added. “I don’t know if I’ve seen that in my 33 years of coaching.”
“We have staff behind our bench and that’s a dangerous thing to pull. I don’t know what went wrong with him.”
Guiao and Hollis-Jefferson exchanged heated words near the Rain or Shine bench as players and coaches from both teams intervened and didn’t let things go out of hand.
But Hollis-Jefferson had a different take on the issue, claiming that he was the one disrespected.
“I didn’t say anything to one person at that bench,” explained Hollis-Jefferson, who claimed that he came to the aid of his brother, Rahlir, who took over his spot as TNT reinforcement.
Rahlir was called for a transition take foul on Andrei Caracut, giving the opposing player two free throws plus ball possession for Rain or Shine.
Rondae, the younger of the two brothers, added that he was after the referee, and not against anyone from the Rain or Shine bench.
“You can’t be aggressive, disrespected me as a man,” the younger Hollis-Jefferson said. “My frustrations were with the ref, that was it.”
“I didn’t say anything to any player.”
Rain or Shine booked its fifth straight win and improved its record to 5-5.
