Goorjian apologizes after players criticize PBA on social media

MANILA, Philippines -- Brian Goorjian apologized on behalf of his team after Bay Area players Hayden Blankley and Myles Powell criticized the PBA on their social media accounts after Game 3 of the Commissioners' Cup Finals.

Powell and Blankley were both summoned to the PBA Commissioner's Office on Thursday following the Dragons' 89-82 loss in Game 3, where they squandered a double-digit lead against Barangay Ginebra.

Blankley, on an Instagram story, alleged that the game was "cooked." Powell, for his part, said on Twitter that the PBA should "do better" as he highlighted the foul discrepancy between the two teams.

• READ: Bay Area's Powell highlights foul discrepancy, tells PBA to 'do better'

"When you lose, that emotion runs through you, referees are always talked about. But it shouldn't have been done on social media," said Goorjian.

"We apologize for it. It will never happen again," he guaranteed.

Blankley was fined P75,000 and Powell docked P100,000 for their comments.

Goorjian insisted that he has personally never complained about the officiating and has not been critical about the PBA. Bay Area is playing in the Commissioner's Cup as a guest team.

• READ: Bay Area claims Game 4 to tie series with Ginebr

"I support the referees here. I've been in this press conference 15 times; I've never said anything negative about the PBA, I've never said anything negative about the referees," said Goorjian, who explained that his decision not to speak to the media after Game 3 was due to his frustration with his team and himself, and not the officiating.

"After the game is over, I was angry at my team. I was angry at how I coached the game, I was disappointed. And so keep your mouth shut, don't do this. It's lessons learned after 40 years of coaching," he said.

"But I have never once come up here and said a negative thing about the PBA or the officiating, ever. And I never will. That's a crybaby, and I'm not that. Brought up different."

The Dragons went on to win Game 4, 94-86, on Friday night to tie the best-of-seven Finals series at 2-2.

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