By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Alaska Aces’ head coach Jeff Cariaso wasn’t pleased with what Phoenix Super LPG’s head coach Topex Robinson did in the last three seconds of their game.
Already up by five points and the outcome already secured, coach Robinson decided to call a timeout with three seconds left in the game in an attempt to score one more basket.
Phoenix then attempted for the last shot with superstar Matthew Wright missing his attempt but a furious Cariaso didn’t shake hands with the entire Phoenix team and coaching staff and went straight to the locker room.
Several minutes after, Cariaso explained that what Robinson did was unnecessary with the result already settled.
“Coming from the Alaska culture, I expect more class from coach Topex in this particular situation. I would not have done that. But that’s me,” said Cariaso.
In defense of his actions in the dying seconds of the game, Robinson said that they are chasing for the quotient system in the PBA that would determine a tiebreaker based on their past wins’ lead with the other teams.
Also, Robinson decided to burn his final timeout to make sure they won’t collapse in the game and finally clinch their victory in a convincing manner.
“A lot of things has happened here in the PBA wherein you relax and thought that you got the game in control. I have one more timeout and I’m going to use it,” said Robinson.
The Super LPG team is currently in a tight spot for the playoffs with a 5-5 win-loss record while Alaska is ranked fourth win six wins and four losses.
