Air21, Coca-Cola drop opening day assignments in Dubai

Dubai, UAE – Bad officiating and jet lag were the reasons why Air21 and Coca-Cola dropped their opening day assignments at the start of the 2nd Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Basketball Tournament Thursday at the Al Nasr Sports Club in Oud Metha.

The Express suffered an 80-77 defeat against the UAE National Team while the Tigers were dominated the entire game by Al Nasr Club, 72-55.

Air21 players complained that the referees’ calls are all one-sided since the UAE National Team was very physical with their game where they even received kicks and flying elbows from some of the players.

The Express’ Willie Arboleda received a second motion kick in the face from a member of the UAE National team when both of them fell on the floor while battling for the lose ball.

Air 21 was leading by much as five points going in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter when another UAE player challenged the entire Express bench that changed the momentum of the game.

Police and officials from the Al Nasr Club immediately responded to the situation but the player was not easily pacified as Air21 just kept their cool.

“We were surprised to see that even though team managers from Al Nasr Club already intervened, the man did not back down. Anyway, this is just a basketball game and we don’t mind those kinds of rough plays," said Air21 team manager Lito Alvarez.

In another game, 6-foot-11 American import Vincent Jones and Al Nasr’s outside shooting were too much for Coca-Cola to handle as the Tigers played sluggishly due to jet lag.

The Tigers arrived in Dubai less than a day before the game and the match started at 9:30 pm which was actually 1:30 am (Friday), Manila time.

Coca-Cola played catch up the entire match but three straight three-pointers in the third quarter gave Al Nasr a 15-point spread and the hosts were never threatened after that.

Jones also dominated the paint both offensively and defensively and had six block shots, two of which came at the expense of Asi Taulava. Jones also won the slam dunk contest

Tigers coach Bo Perasol said they were not able to execute their plays as his players were feeling the jet lag.

Meanwhile, Al Nasr Club coach Tarek Selim announced that he is planning to hold a 10-day basketball camp in the Philippines next month to expose his team to more international competitions and to learn more from Philippine basketball.

Games on Friday (March 5) Al Nasr vs. UAE National Team (7 pm Dubai time/ 11 pm Manila time) and Burger King vs. Coca-Cola (9pm); Saturday (March 6) UAE National Team vs. Coca Cola (7pm Dubai time/ 11 pm Manila time); Al Nasr vs. Burger King (9 pm).

Source: Angel Tesorero  | GMANews.TV