Ginebra mentor Uichico, 2 other players fined

Barangay Ginebra coach Jong Uichico, known as a mild-mannered gentleman inside the court, and two more players were meted fines by Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Atty. Chito Salud for separate incidents in the two playdates in the ongoing PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-five series.

On Monday, Salud slapped Uichico the heaviest fine of P30,000 for his rare public outburst during an interview before the start of the second period of Game 2 of the Gin Kings' semifinals encounter against the Pilipinas-Smart Gilas squad. Uichico was also given a technical foul in each of the two games, which cost him an additional fine of P2,600. Ginebra guard Mark Caguioa was also penalized for throwing his forearm on the nape of Gilas' Marcio Lassiter, resulting in a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2. He was meted a P10,000 fine. Caguioa was also assessed a P5,000 fine for tripping Gilas guard JV Casio in a separate incident. Gilas' naturalized player Marcus Douthit was fined P10,000 for violating the landing spot rule resulting in a contact. "We imposed the fines upon review of the game. I know this is the first time Coach Jong did such a thing ,and it's quite understandable that under such circumstances, it can happen, especially when the stakes are getting higher," said Salud in a telephone interview. Uichico told GMA News he is still not aware of the fine imposed on him by the PBA Commissioner's Office, but he admitted his mistake with his rare public outburst. "I know there's a fine for what I did, but I am still not aware of it," said Uichico in a telephone interview. "But things like that happen and it happened in the spur of a moment because of the nature of the game." "But if there's one thing which surprised me, it's the trend on the physicality of the game every time Smart Gilas plays," added Uichico. "How come a least fouling team like Smart Gilas always plays a physical game? It doesn't make sense." The Gin Kings are just a win away from reaching the finals, and they can close out the series and score a rare sweep in the race-to-three semis with a win in Wednesday's Game 3. - KY, GMA News