THOUGHTS | MO TAUTUAA'S DUNK SHOULD HAVE COUNTED

Look, I want TNT to win. I really want to see another grand slam, especially since it's been over a decade since the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers pulled it off.

And yes, I also want to talk about how chaotic TNT’s fourth quarter was in Game 1. In the final three minutes, it felt like San Miguel was about to pull off an incredible comeback with a wild 19-0 run. It was frustrating to watch, but to be fair, it showed that San Miguel absolutely deserves to be in the finals.

But here’s the thing: maybe TNT just lucked out and still pulled off the win despite playing sloppy basketball. Let’s break it down. In the last 3:30 of the game, Kelly Williams brought the ball up and passed to RR Pogoy. Williams set a screen, and Pogoy ran straight into it, resulting in a jump ball. San Miguel won that tip and tried to go to June Mar Fajardo, but his shot was blocked by Williams. CJ Perez was then called for a foul after bumping into Williams, who was clearly trying to set up the same two-man play with Pogoy.

Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser came in for Poy Erram, who earlier passed up a shot on that same play. Pogoy took another shot off a Williams screen, but it rimmed out. June Mar grabbed the rebound, and after misses from both Perez and Mo Tautuaa, June Mar finally converted. He even yelled “foul” at the ref, clearly thinking there was contact.

On the next play, Calvin Oftana used another Williams screen, but his dribble was interrupted by Fajardo, Williams, and Don Trollano. Oftana recovered and dished it to BGR for a dunk that finally ended TNT’s nearly eight-minute scoring drought.

Timeout.

Chris Ross then hit a three after a Tautuaa screen, putting San Miguel up 96-94.

TNT came back with Williams feeding Pogoy, who found Oftana for a missed triple. San Miguel returned the favor, with Ross giving the ball to June Mar, only to be blocked by Oftana. Pogoy took the ball past halfcourt, used another Williams screen, and drilled a triple to give TNT the lead at 97-96 with 1:04 left.

Back on the San Miguel end, Perez found Tautuaa, who faked a jumper and drove in for a dunk. The ball got a lucky bounce, and San Miguel regained the lead, 98-97, with 56 seconds left. TNT ran the same play again with Pogoy using a Williams screen, but San Miguel read it perfectly. Left with no options and facing Trollano, Pogoy threw up an airball with 35 seconds to go.

San Miguel had a chance to stretch their lead, but Ross missed. With 11 seconds left, Jordan Heading drove hard and fell. Ross got on the ball, and the referees called a jump ball with five seconds remaining.

And then it got weird.

The referees started reviewing Tautuaa’s dunk from earlier. I don’t know if TNT called for it, but the officials had to look since that shot could have decided the game. The last time TNT was in a similar spot was when Rain or Shine’s Gian Mamuyac fouled Calvin Oftana beyond the arc, and Oftana was only given three free throws instead of four.

More than 45 seconds after the dunk, the referees decided to wave it off due to offensive basket interference. That call flipped the lead, putting TNT ahead with six seconds left.

Naturally, the arena filled with boos. Chot Reyes called a timeout as the San Miguel bench reacted to the decision. To make matters worse, after TNT won the jump ball, the refs didn’t immediately call a foul on Trollano, who was clearly relentlessly jabbing Oftana.

Eventually, Oftana hit two free throws. Then San Miguel calls for a timeout. CJ Perez launched a desperation heave and missed. TNT escaped with the win and now leads the best-of-seven series, 1-0.

But here’s the real issue. Did Tautuaa really deserve the offensive interference call? He attacked the rim with such savage force that his motion caused the rim to snap. Even Chot Reyes shook his head because he knew that if the same thing happened to his team, he’d be livid. No one on the TNT bench reacted like the shot should have been reviewed. They just played on. And this is Chot Reyes we’re talking about—he’s the same guy who passionately demanded four free throws for Oftana in that Rain or Shine game.

And when the announcers started saying it was the right call because Tautuaa’s dunk had a “pitik” motion, how can that even be the case when all he was trying to do was score and give his team the lead? It was a clear forward motion, and he had to hang on the rim to avoid injuring himself. The dunk didn’t even go clean—it was a missed snapback that happened to get a lucky bounce.

Ugh.

Way to ruin what could have been an epic game, refs.

People might say Tautuaa should have gone for a layup instead, but he’s an athletic player with real hops. Like BGR’s sideline dunk earlier, he has the right to go hard to the rim when the moment calls for it. Sure, the dunk didn’t go clean, but it was all in one fluid motion. It’s like a three-point shot that gets a lucky bounce. It still counts.

What bothers me the most is how one minute of basketball changed the narrative. From chasing a grand slam, TNT suddenly became the villains. That one call turned “grand slam” into “grand scam” in the eyes of many fans. It’s already tough for TNT to beat a strong team like San Miguel four times. It’s even harder when the public starts believing the referees are in their pocket.

And if TNT had really been upset about the call, we would have seen Chot Reyes going off. He’s not exactly subtle when he’s mad. In fact, the referees even gave him a technical foul because they thought he was yelling at them, when in reality, he was mad at Kim Aurin.

Robert Non had to be restrained, and honestly, I wouldn't blame the Beermen if they decide to protest the call. It was a game-changing moment. If the officials really had doubts about it, the fairest thing they could have done was to replay the last 50 seconds. I'm not saying whether that's possible or not, but it was one of those rare situations where neither TNT nor San Miguel had a real chance to react, adjust, or prepare.

And if I were in TNT's shoes, I would have seriously considered missing the second free throw on purpose after Oftana coolly knocked down the first. It might have been the smarter move rather than giving San Miguel a clean shot near their basket. That four-point swing created such an odd situation, and maybe taking control of the final seconds in a more strategic way would have helped prevent even more chaos.

But with how chaotic the last few minutes were, no one was really in the right frame of mind to come up with a proper strategy. And let’s be honest, it’s not like TNT didn’t give up 19 unanswered points to the Beermen either.

If there’s any small win for San Miguel, it’s that they exposed TNT’s heavy reliance on perimeter shooting. And despite all of TNT’s defensive schemes, June Mar still found ways to dominate. San Miguel had a real chance to steal Game 1 if they had executed a better inbound play. But they didn’t, and the Beermen didn’t overreact, because sometimes that’s just how the game goes.

But the Tautuaa dunk? That’s a different story. It was a bad call. That slam should have counted. How can there be offensive interference on a play that was clearly one fluid, forward motion?

What started as a lucky bounce turned into an unlucky twist. A series that once felt friendly now has all the makings of a heated battle.

Game over.