CHOT Reyes minimized the significance of the incident involving him and TNT's shooting guard Kim Aurin towards the end of the first half during Sunday’s Game 3 against Rain or Shine in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
Reyes was spotted angrily scolding Aurin as the ex-University of Perpetual Help shooter made his way back to the bench during the last seconds of the first half.
The coach who has won the Coach of the Year award six times mentioned that he primarily reminded Aurin about not fulfilling his defensive responsibilities towards the close of the second quarter during their conversation.
Reyes straightforwardly described the incident where he didn’t follow the instructions, culminating in him angrily kicking a section of the LED panel.
"Sa amin, you can make mistakes on effort or execution, but if you do not follow instructions, that’s insubordination. He was supposed to foul, hindi niya sinunod, upo siya. Ganun lang naman yun."
Aurin was unable to foul Adrian Nocum and instead ended up pushing his own teammate, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, attempting to prevent the Rain or Shine sophomore guard from advancing with the ball.
This opened up an opportunity for Leonard Santillan to capitalize with a foul shot added by Glen Khobuntin. Rain or Shine’s star player then finished the three-point play, giving their team a 50-37 advantage.
Aurin did not play during the 107-86 defeat that reduced TNT's advantage in the best-of-seven series to 2-1.
He concluded the game with four points and one assist in 15 minutes of playing time.
The irony of it all is that after Reyes substituted Aurin with Calvin Oftana, he ended up receiving a technical foul.
Reyes expressed surprise at being issued a technical violation since it had been Aurin who had been the focus of his anger.
I'm not complaining about the referees. It's Aurin I tend to criticize," the TNT coach stated. "But that's how things are.