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SMB's Ross criticizes refs: 'It was really a joke'

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/sports/03/01/pba-030117.jpg"/><figcaption>San Miguel point guard Chris Ross. file photo</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel point guard Chris Ross insists that the referees were at fault for the eventful ending of the PBA Philippine Cup game between the Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on Sunday.The wild sequence started after SMB&#x27;s Chico Lanete was fouled on a rebounding play by Ginebra&#x27;s Sol Mercado. Somehow, the referee handed the ball to Ross, who shot – and missed – a free throw. San Miguel called a 30-second timeout, and when action resumed, the team was called for a technical foul, because Ross was the wrong free throw shooter.Ginebra thus was given a technical free throw – which LA Tenorio converted – before Lanete trooped to the line for his own charities. The SMB guard made the first but missed the second, and the Gin Kings held on for a 100-96 win.All the while, Ross sought an explanation for the technical foul.&quot;I stayed in my spot I was in the whole time, and I wasn&#x27;t nowhere close to the play, and the ref walks up to me and hands me the ball, and the announcer says, &#x27;Chris Ross at the free throw line&#x27; so I shoot the ball. I mean, what else am I supposed to do?&quot; he said after the game.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/basketball/news/2018/01/28/ross-late-technical-foul-vs-ginebra-explained-36809">READ: Ross&#x27; late technical foul vs. Ginebra explained</a></li></ul>Ross stressed that he merely &quot;went with the flow.&quot; The point guard was hunched over near the charity stripe, but he emphatically denied waving off Lanete at the line. He maintained that he was only following the instructions of the referee and the announcer by shooting the free throw.This, even though Ross was aware that Lanete was the right free throw shooter.&quot;I knew Chico was supposed to (shoot). I was watching the whole play. Chico was in there, he got fouled, and I thought Chico was going to the line, and they walked up to me to give me the ball, and the announcer said, Chris Ross, shoot the free throw,&quot; he said.&quot;So I shot the free throw. What else am I supposed to do, give the ball to Chico? I don&#x27;t know.&quot;A frustrated Ross said he was put in a lose-lose situation by the officials.&quot;I don&#x27;t know, if I do something different, do I get a tech? Or do I do what they tell me to do, and I still get a tech? I mean, I don&#x27;t know, it was bizzare, to say the least,&quot; he said.What he knows for sure is that the situation was &quot;a joke.&quot;&quot;Honestly, it was a joke. It was really a joke,&quot; he said.Ross is also certain that the referees were the ones who made a mistake.&quot;It&#x27;s obviously the ref&#x27;s fault, all three of them because they didn&#x27;t intervene, and they put the blame on me by giving me a technical. So I mean, that&#x27;s the only explanation I can give,&quot; he said.At the end of the day, however, the result of the game is what matters, and the final score showed that SMB lost for the first time in the PBA Philippine Cup.Ross gave full credit to Ginebra for their effort. &quot;They played well, they played with energy,&quot; he conceded.Still, he is confident that the Beermen will quickly turn things around.&quot;We&#x27;re a veteran group, and we know how to bounce back,&quot; he assured. &quot;We know we got anouther tough team coming in on Sunday, Magnolia. They&#x27;re playing great ball with or without Paul Lee.&quot;For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com" target="_blank">ABS-CBN Sports website.</a>

San Miguel point guard Chris Ross insists that the referees were at fault for the eventful ending of the PBA Philippine Cup game between the Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on Sunday.

San Miguel point guard Chris Ross insists that the referees were at fault for the eventful ending of the PBA Philippine Cup game between the Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on Sunday.

SMB's Ross criticizes refs: 'It was really a joke'

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SMB's Ross criticizes refs: 'It was really a joke'

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 28, 2018 11:55 PM PHT

Read More:

PBA

PBA Philippine Cup

San Miguel Beermen

Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings

Chris Ross

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