Before bidding farewell to his first full season as a PBA head coach, Nash Racela of TNT KaTropa had a parting shot at Ginebra forward Kevin Ferrer who drew the ire of Glen Rice Jr. in Game Four of the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.
Rice was ejected in the first quarter of TNT’s do-or-die game as he couldn’t keep his temper in check against Ferrer.
“Best player si Kevin,” Racela told sportswriters. “As simple as that. Kevin Ferrer was the best player.”
Ferrer, for his part, denied provoking the TNT import who threw the ball at him after getting frustrated.
“Wala naman akong ginagawa,” Ferrer said. “Siyempre deny lang, bigla akong chinoke. Nagulat talaga ako. Wala akong sinabi. Pisikal lang. Tingin ko yung larong Pinoy, ‘di siya sanay dun.”
Despite TNT’s disappointing exit, there are still some silver linings in its season. The squad was able to reach at least the semifinals of all the three conferences, and even made the finals of the Commissioner’s Cup.
However, KaTropa just couldn’t get over the hump against San Miguel Corporation-owned teams.
Racela, who served as a long-time assistant before being promoted as head coach, conceded the fact that facing an SMC squad is a tough hurdle even for his TNT squad which is considered the most accomplished among the teams in the MVP umbrella.
“I’m happy that for three conferences, we were able to advance to the playoffs — twice in the semis and one in the finals. It just so happened that in all three conferences we played a San Miguel team and I’m sure you know how tough it is to play a San Miguel team. It’s really hard, but if we want to win a championship, we really have to get past a San Miguel team, but today, I’m sure a lot of people are happy with our loss,” he said.
