New PBA rules draw more fire

The PBA Commissioner’s Office believes that officiating has improved, but two veteran coaches disagree and are calling for a review of the new rule changes.
Yeng Guiao of Red Bull and Tim Cone of Alaska Milk are urging PBA officer-in-charge Renauld "Sonny" Barrios to take a closer look at how referees are calling the shots.

"I’m talking to (other PBA) coaches and they don’t know what a foul is and what a foul is not," said Guiao. "I’m still confused with the officiating."

Cone said the rule changes endanger the players’ career.

"I’m not saying the league is wrong or right in making these adjustments. It’s kind of a game of attrition. Normally, basketball is like a chess match. Now the game is like UFC," said Cone, referring to the contact sport Ultimate Fighting Championship.
"Whichever comes out bloodied at the end of the game might win it," added Cone.Barrios had insisted that the referees are in control despite the rugged action on the court. But Cone and Guiao begged to disagree.

"It’s hard to run the offense. We can’t isolate at the post because there’s so much banging, pushing and shoving," said Cone. "People are driving to the basket getting bumped, getting hacked, and still not a foul. If we coaches cannot understand what a foul is, what more the public?

Guiao said the public has to understand the game in order to appreciate it.
Ryan Gregorio, who coaches the front-running Purefoods TJ Giants, said officiating remains inconsistent, but has learned to cope with it.

"We just have to roll with the punches and ride with the waves. Ang importante the referees are adjusting and my players are also adjusting. The most important thing is action and reaction. We are reacting positively sa officiating," said Gregorio.
Last week, Cone also criticized the way the referees handled the plays off the timeouts, saying: "There’s no sense of control out there on the floor, the way the refs took the ball on the floor coming out of timeout or break, nobody can organize anything."

Cone even likened the PBA games to high school basketball, which "makes (PBA) coaches look stupid."

In every timeout – 30 seconds or a full one-minute – the buzzer will sound with every 10 seconds left in the timeout and referees. As soon as the timeout ends, the referees will put the ball back in play.

The rule changes were adopted this season to expose PBA players to the international brand of play.