3 September 2019
By Kevin Estrada
MANILA — On the eve of the tip off of the new UAAP season, the league is launching wave of innovations and reforms ahead of the showpiece basketball tournament.
This was bared by executive director Atty. Rebo Saguisag and baskeball commisioner Jensen Ilagan on their appearance at the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum Tuesday morning at the Amelie Hotel.
For their showpiece championship in basketball, the UAAP is implementing sweeping changes to the organizational structure, in line with the FIBA rules to standardize gameplay.
“This is the first time that we will not have a specific technical director,” said the concurrent technical director of the ASEAN Basketball League. “Since day one, ang aking main objective is to educate, empower and enable our referees.”
This season’s pool of referees have undergone the rigorous training since their trials last July, as well as giving them a refresher on the current rules in place since last year.
Ilagan had also appointed former PBA referee Edith Boticario as the league’s first female deputy commissioner, a move that will professionalize the structure, as well as tapping a commissioner of every game instead of having a single one for the entire season.
“The main role of the game commissioners are usually the smooth function of the table officials. Wala silang authority on the officiating,” Ilagan added, in order to remove the bureaucracy by implementing one of the old adages in sports. “The referee is the full authority when it comes to officiating.”
Taking cue from the ongoing FIBA World Cup in China, the UAAP is also putting up LED boards in front of the respective benches that will serve as barriers to discourage unsportsmanlike behavior.
“That’s one set-up we initiated. For FIBA, it’s a marketing directive. But also we adapted that para ma-prevent kaagad yung mga brawls and altercation,” Ilagan stressed, in which it was an implementing measure.
The most important program that Ilagan had carried over from the ABL is the introduction of the video review in their games that they officiate, in which it will serve as an educational tool.
“We mandated them to review the videos, similarly to what the coaches are doing,” he said. “Kung maganda po yung game, it should be the standard.”
In addition to the measures put up by Ilagan, Saguisag stressed the huge importance of analytics in basketball, wherein every performance is driven by numbers for a more objective review of the game.
And that even includes the officials.
“Everything now is data-driven. So you have analytics for everything,” Saguisag quipped, noting that the game is leaning towards the scientific side, including the evaluation of the referees. “Di na pwede yung eye test lang. We have to have some basis to be able to support our assertion that a certain referee is performing well or not.”
Follow the writer on Twitter: @kevinlestrada
