Philippine men’s basketball team head coach Yeng Guiao is baffled that a Hong Kong referee was part of the officiating team during the match against China in the 2018 Asian Games, where the Filipinos succumbed to an 80-82 beating.

In an interview with ANC’s "Early Edition" on Wednesday, Guiao said he was surprised to learn about the inclusion of the referee in the game, noting that Hong Kong is being "controlled" by China.

“[The] Hong Kong referee, which is also a Chinese territory, is kind of interesting,” Guiao said. “They [Asiad] let Hong Kong ref against us. They gave them (China) 39 free throws. And, they gave us only 15. I thought somebody from Hong Kong, which is controlled by China, should not referee at a China game.”

Guiao also rued costly mistakes committed by the team in the final minute of the payoff period where the Chinese pulled off a comeback to snatch the lead from the Filipino cagers.

According to Guiao, the team got a little excited on keeping the game close, despite the size and quality of the powerhouse crew of China, and even had a chance of upsetting the opponent.

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Guiao also lamented the cramps Jordan Clarkson experienced before the start of the final quarter where his squad was able to trim down the deficit to two. The Filipino-American NBA player returned to the court despite nursing the cramps.

“Si Jordan Clarkson cramped so we have to put him in the bench for several minutes. We got him back but he was really in pain. He was not in 100% when he got back,” Guiao admitted.

Regardless of the result, Guiao stressed that he is satisfied on how his players performed in the match, rating them at 9.5 out of 10.

“’Yung 0.5 na lang ay we committed some mistakes in the last 60 seconds. But again, let’s just move on,” Guiao added.

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