PBA Controversy: Were the Romeo and Pogoy injuries product of dirty plays?

 

It seems like one of the negatives of the concise schedule in pushing this PBA bubble is pretty clear now. Injuries are piling up.

The new ones from Friday involved two big-name players in Terrence Romeo of the San Miguel Beermen and RR Pogoy of TNT Tropang Giga.

Let us check them out.

The injury of Pogoy started from a landing spot violation by Gelo Alolino. Pogoy managed to play it out but he aggravated it deeper into the game. 

Looking at the picture, I think the main controversy is that, why was Alolino's right foot kicking outward when he was in a standing position at the beginning? That is not the usual motion in contesting a jump shot. The shooter is usually the one who does that. I also question the immediate reaction of Gelo of instantly looking if the shot was good or not. Instead of showing any remorse after his foot was landed by that left of RR.

Although, Alolino does not have a history of being a physical player. 

On the other hand, here was the video of the play that caused the shoulder injury of Terrence Romeo. A collision with Ryan Reyes was the reason for his injury.

Watch it here.

So, Reyes did the right thing of trying to stop Terrence because Romeo is about to get into his shooting range. 

I think the first question about the play is, did Reyes planned to give a foul by bumping to Terrence? Looking at the entire play, there is a good chance that the answer is Yes because the Beermen were in a semi-transition and Reyes, knowing how high his defensive awareness is, could have concluded that Romeo will just blow by him if he will not commit a foul.

So, a foul was necessary. 

The 2nd question now is, was his action too much? 

I think, it is not. If we look at it, Reyes' shoulder was really the part that was about to collide with the shoulder of Romeo. Reyes decided to tilt his body to offer his back, instead. A hit in the back is less risky than that shoulder-shoulder collision. This is a usual action in committing a foul to stop transition plays.

Overall, which play was dirtier?

Romeo may have suffered more but I think, the action of Alolino was uglier than that of Reyes.