# Brawl breaks out at Australia vs Philippines World Cup basketball qualifier



## PS1gamenwatch (Jul 4, 2018)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...orld-cup-video-brawl-fox-sports-a8429056.html

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...-in-filipino-basketball-brawl-was-regrettable

A massive mid-game game brawl led to nine basketball players being ejected during a 2019 World Cup qualifier between Australia and the Philippines.

Tensions exploded when Philippines guard Roger Pogoy struck Australia’s Chris Goulding with an elbow. Australia was leading 79-48 with four minutes to the end of the third quarter.


Philippines’ head coach, Vincent Reyes, called it “the height of being unsportsmanlike” while a spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte described it as a “regretful incident” and said the government did not justify the behaviour of the country's players.

The game’s governing body, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), has opened disciplinary proceedings, and penalties and fines will be announced in the coming days.

Vice-chairman of the Philippines' basketball body, Robert Pruno, defended the players.

He said: "I think we stood our ground and I think I'm proud of the Gilas Pilipinas boys for standing our ground, fighting for the Filipino people.”

Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis fears the ugly scenes in the Philippines will make it harder to call on Australian NBA stars for international duty. Aside from the physical and emotional toll on players and the reputational damage on the sport, Monday night’s all-in brawl could have further consequences for the Boomers.

NBA teams are already reluctant to release players as it is for the two FIBA windows that fall in the league’s off-season. But the ugly events in Bulacan could provide them with another excuse to withhold top-line stars like Ben Simmons from joining the Boomers for anything short of World Cups or the Olympics.

Alternatively, players themselves may not want to risk their own safety for qualifiers in countries like the Philippines, where security measures were clearly not up to scratch.

Two current NBA players, Milwaukee Bucks pair Thon Maker and Matthew Dellavadova, were on Australia’s roster for the match. Maker is facing a possible Fiba suspension after he attempted numerous fly-kicks on Filipino opponents in amongst the carnage.

“Obviously that’s one of the concerns ... what it means generally in terms of players’ willingness to participate and put their hand up,” Lemanis said.

Daniel Kickert admitted he “overstepped” the mark by elbowing Philippines guard Roger Pogoy in the face. Kickert is likely to receive a long suspension from the global governing body for his hit on Pogoy, which sparked the ugly third-quarter brawl.

“I was put in a position where I obviously made an action which was regrettable and unfortunate,” Kickert said in Brisbane. “I think I’ve overstepped a little bit with my response to the escalation in the game, I regret those things.”

Boomers’ assistant coach Luc Longley alleged Philippines coach Chot Reyes incited his players to act violently, blaming him for the ugly brawl that marred the game. He described the all-in fight as the worst thing he’d ever seen on a basketball court.

Longley rushed to the aid of Chris Goulding as he was set upon by a dozen Filipino players and officials. “It was horrifying ... really disturbing,” Longley said.

Guard Goulding escaped serious injury despite also having a chair thrown at him by one of the Filipino coaches. Goulding touched down at Melbourne Airport early on Wednesday morning but declined to address the incident. “I’ll speak to everyone at a more appropriate time,” he said.

Lemanis said Goulding and Nathan Sobey, who was punched by an official and also hit by a chair, only had a few “bumps and bruises” to show for the fracas. “The emotional scars, we’ll see over time. That’s hard to tell,” he said.


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## Coconut Gun (Jul 4, 2018)

Imagine living in some shitty non-American country and thinking that your basketball matters in the slightest.


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## Kiwi Lime Pie (Jul 4, 2018)

The funny thing is that I was browsing random basketball clips on YouTube earlier this week and came across clips of the Philippines team doing this same sort of thing in other games in the past. So, this particular team is no stranger to hard fouling and scuffles. 

The level of unsporting behavior seen both in those clips and in this specific game are disgusting . I hope FIBA issues some stiff sanctions to make it clear that this behavior is unacceptable.

Also, I'm not sure what I think of the fact that once the Philippines team was reduced to playing 3 on 5 after having 8 players ejected for the fight, their remaining players started using end-of-game fouling tactics to have two of their remaining players foul, leading to Australia winning the game by default despite still being in the third quarter. For those unaware, international basketball declares the game over by default when a team is reduced to one player.


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## HG 400 (Jul 4, 2018)

Throwing elbows isn't allowed in basketsballs?

Why the fuck are Australians even playing this???


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## millais (Jul 4, 2018)

lol, basketball, more like basketbrawl


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## Chewy Suarez (Jul 10, 2018)

There’s a basketball World Cup? The fuck?

What’s next, one for bass fishing?


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