By Melody Gross 
The five-point advantage less than two minutes from the end of the fifth and final game of the league final put FC Porto in a clear advantage to reclaim the title after five years, curiously at a time that even saw the Dragons return to the tournament. The sport’s highest level after the extinction of the professional division in 2012, after losing the final in the “Nigra” in Dragao Caixa against Benfica. Then everything changed. And the club itself He admits to quitting basketball at the highest level again after what happened.
Usually quiet coach Moncho López was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when he saw, in a possession that was still ahead of the last minute mark, a contested loose ball between Riley and Travant Williams turning into possession. The ball is on the black and not in the air ball. However, it could completely explode shortly thereafter, in the game’s defining motion: with the showdown tied at 85 and 6.8 seconds to play with possession of the blues and the seats, the Nevels fired with Ellisor’s unauthorized touch before launch (Travante also jumped with base/end but it’s a start the movement that the dragons complain about) and in the apostasy dispute, The referees indicated a foul on Anderson In the rebound on Mica Downs, who would have gone to the free-throw line to make the point that would give the win that made Sporting champions.
Even before the American hit the free-throw line, the Spanish coach of the white team hit the table where the medals were, kicking a chair and even a bucket that was near the bench. After 86-85, Nevilles, top scorer in the fifth game of the final, Throw the cup to the ground, He broke it in such a way that some union officials later tried to piece the pieces together for delivery to the Lions. Other players, such as Miguel Queiroz and Joao Soares, went to protest with the judges before heading to the changing room and from there to the bus, without receiving the finalists’ medals.
After the timeout requested by Moncho Lopez, Jarrett Nevilles took control of the field and failed but was fouled by James Eliaser who missed Carlos Santos. In the sequence, the same referee noted a foul on Eric Anderson Jr on Mica Downs on the rebound and literally provided two free throws to Sporting With less than a second to play (…) As in the first match, FC Porto Joao Rocha left the wing with obvious reasons to complain about the work of the refereeing team.And as in the first match, difficult decisions in the last moments were always in favor of Sporting, which helps explain why Porto’s failure to raise the National Champion’s Cup (…) It was a title that was publicly withheld In a result heavily influenced by referee Carlos Santos, the white and blue players wrote Location Club official.
“I am speechless about what happened today! The biggest shame I’ve seen in my entire life! I apologize to everyone who loves basketball and sports for what I just saw! Today they enjoyed us and the work of an entire era. My colleagues are absolutely broken and I can’t stand not being able to do anything at all,” the captain of the dragons, Miguel Queiroz, wrote on Instagram.
???? Vitor Hugo, FC Porto’s director of basketball, commented on the referees who prevented the club from becoming a national champion.#FCPorto #FCPortoBasquetebol #Basketball #FCPortoSports pic.twitter.com/nLACn5MeOo
– FC Porto June 2, 2021
“This final was marked by always controversial decisions against FC Porto. What happened today was one of the biggest robberies I’ve ever seen. I have already received messages from our president, who is indignant, as well as from other members of the board of directors and even players from the opposing teams, who have expressed their amazement at what has happened. Next week we will have a meeting to decide whether it is worth preserving a sport we are back in in the First Division and for which the club has honored us. What happened today is very dangerous. It was a huge robbery. It wasn’t just a match today. What happened today is unbelievable, so we have to rethink the game. I stand in solidarity with FC Porto, with my management and with the partners, who have been very happy with us and very angry. What happened today is a brutal insult. It’s a shame! ”, assumed director Vitor Hugo, also speaking to the media at FC Porto.
???? Moncho Lopez: “We showed until the last second of the last game that we have the ability to be champions. What happened today is unacceptable. It was a referee who showed a clear tendency to harm our team.”#FCPorto #Basketball #FCPortoSports pic.twitter.com/2DG5KWkP3g
– FC Porto June 2, 2021
“I’ve been in Portugal for many years and I’ve seen things I like a lot and other things I like less, but what happened today is unacceptable. It was a referee who showed a clear tendency to harm our team and we can keep the final: an error that doesn’t whistle on our player and it gave us the possibility to go. To the free throw line and win the match.. Who knows what will happen next, but it is inconceivable that this foul does not blow the whistle. There was an uneven standard throughout the match, which makes me think it was intentional. It does cost, especially when we talk about referees from This level, international, but as cool as I’m talking about, we can go back in the series, to other games. We often felt there was a tendency to whistle at varying standards. This is a poor service for Portuguese basketball, It spoils the sport and calls into question many things. “Anyone who knows basketball like me, wouldn’t leave the final step,” Muncho Lopez said.