Perasol apologetic, but firm in officiating stance after ejection

MANILA, Philippines – UP Fighting Maroons head coach Bo Perasol is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

In the middle of a heated UAAP Season 82 Battle of Katipunan match between UP and the two-time defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles, Perasol completely lost his cool and charged at a referee while hurling expletives at the 6:23 mark of the 3rd quarter. 

As he was being held back by players and fellow staff, the fourth-year tactician was promptly tossed from the game.

UP head coach Bo Perasol has been ejected for charging at the referee at the 6:23 mark of the 3rd quarter. That’s an automatic suspension to be served at the Maroons’ first game of the 2nd round. #BattleOfKatipunan #UAAPSeason82 | @JRnalistic pic.twitter.com/lo2eNeu3gH

— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) September 29, 2019

After his team absorbed a 69-83 drubbing at the hands of their finals foes, Perasol was quick to say sorry for his outburst. 

“I apologize, first for my team, for losing it,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter what happens on the court, but I have to think about my composure because that is what I preach. And I was the one who lost it.” 

“It was basically the reason why we played that way. That was a lesson for us,” he continued. “And I don’t think that that was who we are. But it was mostly because of what I did. As their leader, as their head, I need to be better.”

With that being said, however, Perasol maintained his stance on the game’s officiating and admitted that his anger had been piling up leading to his snapping point.

“There was an instance that when the official called the third foul on Bright [Akhuetie] and Bright was already at the other baseline, I really thought that the official followed him there,” he said.

“And for me, I was telling him, ‘You’re going to ruin the team, or you’re going to ruin the competition, a beautiful competition at that, by making personal calls like that.’”

Akhuetie, who finished with just 6 points on a 1-of-3 shooting, fully agreed with his coach, calling the referee “shitty” and “fucking stupid.” 

“If you see something that you’re going to shout at, you say a technical foul, but for me, you cannot provoke a player and follow him up to the end of the baseline,” Perasol continued. 

“Bright was already at the other end of the baseline, and you give him a technical foul after his third foul. If you are thinking well enough, you cannot do that as an official because you’re going to ruin the beauty of the competition.”

Ateneo fully capitalized on Akhuetie’s foul trouble as Ange Kouame ran wild with a game-high line of 19 points, 15 rebounds and a staggering 7 blocks. 

Although Perasol is now facing at minimum a one-game suspension, he’s confident that his team will do just fine with or without him at the sidelines heading into the second round. 

“I really do not know about that. But I’m sure that they’re going to deliberate on that,” he said. “But I’m going to make my appeal as well. So if it’s going to be that way, I’m quite sure that my team is going to take that.” 

“We’re just fortunate to have the record now that we’re 5-2, but we need to be better coming to the second round,” he continued.

“We have gauged ourselves from the best team which is Ateneo, and I’m quite sure that we’re going to learn our lessons from there. We are going to be better, and we need to be better.” – Rappler.com