Yeng Guiao: ‘Richard Howell called me a bitch’

MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao held nothing back as he described what happened during a controversial endgame scuffle in Game 1 of the best-of-5 semifinals series between the Painters and the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in the 2014 PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

“He called me a bitch,” Guiao declared what Talk ‘N Text import Richard Howell said following an initial scuffle on Monday, April 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Guiao on Howell after their initial scuffle at endgame: "He called me a bitch." #rstream pic.twitter.com/o7ZihUJCBM

— Jane Bracher (@janebracher) April 28, 2014

The initial scuffle occured with Rain or Shine down 91-85 with 17.1 ticks left in the game, and Guiao was speaking with the referees on the court with both his hands raised. Howell was then seen walking past Guiao as the coach’s hand hit the torso of the passing Howell.

But it was only after Howell was a few steps away that he suddenly turned and went for Guiao and pointed his finger directly at the veteran coach.

“I was raising my hand and he walked through me,” Guiao recalled. “And then he came back at me, I don’t know what his problem was.

“I just held my ground that’s why (my hand hit him).”

It escalated to the point that Beau Belga rushed to his coach’s defense and pushed Howell away. But cooler heads prevailed with TNT head coach Norman Black pacifying his players that already had Harvey Carey in the mix as well.

No violation was called and as play was about to resume and Rain or Shine set to inbound the ball, that’s when Guiao claimed Howell called him a ‘bitch.’

“The refs heard it and they did not do anything. And that’s supposed to be profane language,” Guiao explained. “Pag ako profane language agad yun eh. That was within hearing distance of a lot of people. Again, the refs should do their job.”

He added, “Lahat kami narinig namin sa bench.”

(If it was me that would have been an automatic call of profane language. All of us on the bench heard it.)

Howell was then subbed out by Black to contain the situation before play resumed. Jayson Castro even had to restrain Howell a little as the import was still clearly upset.

“I guess he’s just having a bad game, he got blocked 5 times. Maybe he’s trying to take it out on me,” Guiao remarked.

For his part, the 6-foot-8 Howell denied calling Guiao a ‘bitch’ or any other curse words for that matter.

“No, I never cursed at him,” Howell, 23, told media after the game.

“I never said anything to start it. I feel like he started the whole argument.”

"I never cursed at him. I never said anything to start it. I felt like he (Guiao) started the whole argument"-Howell pic.twitter.com/8BJeXOdAlV

— Jane Bracher (@janebracher) April 28, 2014

Howell, who finished with 14 points and 22 rebounds, admitted it was his first time to experience that kind of argument with a coach in-game.

“(It was a) misunderstanding. It was some words going back and forth between me and the coach. He just said some things that he probably shouldn’t say but it was just a little argument.”

Black shared what he thinks happened from his vantage point.

“I don’t think he (Howell) could’ve said anything to make Yeng put his hands on him though,” he said.

“I’ll let the Commissioner be the one to evaluate that and handle it. But I did not see Richard say anything.”

The altercation wasn’t the only controversy of the game.

There was also a missed call on a clear out of bounds violation by Talk ‘N Text as Alapag tried to save the possession from a scramble as time wound down. It resulted to a split from the line by Ranidel de Ocampo, which inked the final scored and secured the Game 1 win for the Texters, 91-85. That prompted Guiao to talk to the referees about reviewing the play, which resulted to the scuffle.

“I didn’t see the play. I heard the reaction of the Rain or Shine crowd but I was not sure whether it was their ball or our ball,” Black addressed the crucial missed call.

“But these plays happen the whole game so that’s really the referees’ responsibility to govern the game. Whatever call they make, that’s what we have to abide by.”

With the win, the Texters remained undefeated in 11 games this conference. Game 2 will happen on Wednesday, April 30. – Rappler.com