Fiery coach Joe Lipa started chair-throwing trend

Former national team coach Joe Lipa whose achievements include winning a bronze medal in the Asian Games in South Korea in 1986 admits that he started the trend of throwing a chair onto the court during a basketball game.

The fiery mentor told us he did it not just once but twice and gave us an insight into the reasons for his actions which merited an automatic ejection.

Lipa recalls that he first threw a chair onto the court when he was coaching the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP in 1999 although he couldn't recall the opponent of Ateneo.

He said "I was frustrated by the referees as well as my team" providing an insight into a tactic used by coaches to either get slapped with a technical or get thrown out, hoping that it would fire up their players.

The revered Baby Dalupan of Crispa often used the tactic of being called for a technical which, on many occasions, worked positively for the famed Crispa Redmanizers.

Lipa recalls that he repeated the chair-throwing gesture during the "first years of the now defunct MBA while coaching the Nueva Ecija Patriots."

He said on this occasion he was "frustrated by the referees" whose calls and non-calls were hurting his team badly.

Lipa also remembered that coach Roel Nadurata "threw his shoes onto the court" in frustration at the officiating in a PABL game when he was coaching the RFM team.

Asked about B-Meg coach Tim Cone's action in hurling a monobloc chair onto the court when the referees failed to call a foul on the driving James Yap, Lipa, who at one time served as technical adviser to the PBA referees, said Cone did what he did "because his team was playing very badly" and it was not caused by the referees.

Cone decided not to heed the summons served by PBA Commissioner Chito Salud which means he will be sanctioned by the Commissioner without having a chance to explain his side, if that is at all possible.

Salud said "this is the first time I have seen anything like that happen."

Salud basically shared the views of Lipa that Cone was "obviously disappointed with the level of play of his players and he saw they were getting nowhere and that was his way of whipping up his team, but obviously the wrong way."

The Commissioner said if Cone incurred a technical foul he would have "let it go" as a sign of frustration but added "for a coach like him, let alone a head coach of the PBA that kind of behavior has no place in the league and is not respecting the game."

Despite Cone's action and subsequent pronouncements Salud expects a good series especially if the two teams — B-Meg Llamados and Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters — "just focus on the game and leave the officiating to the referees."

He pointed out that BMeg were champions in the last conference "so what's the problem?"

Salud believes that Cone "feels a certain sense of entitlement because on paper he thinks his club has the advantage over Rain or Shine, rightly or wrongly because if you take a look at the record of Rain or Shine and BMeg in this conference they haven't won against Rain or Shine who have always been on top of the standings. I don't know where that sense of entitlement is coming from and when you have that sense of entitlement, meaning this team is mine, I'm entitled to win this because my players are better he'll be in a lot of trouble because the other team will just sweep you away."

Recalling the semifinals of the Philippine Cup, the Commissioner said Rain or Shine on paper and track record was clearly the favorite against Powerade. But what happened? The players got complacent and felt they could take that team anytime they wanted to even if it reached a seventh game and it did and they lost."

He suggested that B-Meg "wake up and not take Rain or Shine for granted." After B-Meg suffered their third straight defeat at the hands of coach Yeng Guiao and Rain or Shine, Salud thinks Cone "hasn't been able to solve the Rain or Shine puzzle."

Salud referred to "the propensity to assign blame. Where is this coming from?"

The Commissioner said Cone's statement about needing some help from the referees "really stood out. Nobody gets help from the refs."

However, Salud said "to be fair maybe that's not the way he meant it but that shows he was asking for help."

The commissioner has decided to fine Cone P3,400 for incurring his fourth technical foul of the conference and the additional fine of P20,000 for "serious disrespect for the game that could be misinterpreted as inciting further chaos and outbursts from fans. This behavior clearly constitutes flagrant misconduct on the part of Mr. Cone."

We honestly believe the statement of Cone should not be taken out of context. It seems to us that he was asking for help in reference to the protection of his players from losing their tempers in what he feels is rough and sometimes dirty play.

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.