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Laban Gilas Pilipinas! Puso! This is the battle motto of the Philippine basketball team. Although the chances are big or small, but with such a strong heart, Gilas Pilipinas will fight to win above all else.
The chances were indeed great tonight of July 2 for the Australian Boomers were too big. Fight the Gilas boys did exactly the same thing and they won. But it was a victory which Pilipinas can not be proud of.
Not that they engaged in a free-for-all. The fights in basketball are inevitable. They burst into FIBA tournaments, the Olympic Games and the National Basketball Association. Opposing players bump into each other, mostly unintentionally, but sometimes deliberately. Deliberate mistakes provoke temperaments that fog up, finally fights.
RR Pogoy deliberately struck Chris Goulding. It's basketball. It seemed to me that Pogoy did not hit him hard enough to knock him down. But by falling, Goulding asked the referee to call "Foul!"
. In retaliation for his fallen teammate, the great Daniel Kickert blinded Pogoy with a vicious bend, not only reversing RR but knocking him out. When something like this happens in the NBA, the injured player is sent to lockers for medical tests to determine if there are more serious injuries.
The Gilas boys would not take this bad shot on any of theirs. They rose from their seats and ran after the Australian bully, naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche joining the hostile pursuit.
It is then that "Laban Gilas Pilipinas!" meant "Fight, fair or unfair!" And "Puso!" showed a dark color. Oversized and outplayed, but outnumbered Gilas Pilipinas were not. A coach and an official joined reserve players to bond with Australian players.
Jason Castro, Blatche and other members of the Gilas team have been raining punches and kicking Goulding who was still flat on his back. Assistant coach Jong Uichico not only joined Goulding's fight, but dropped a chair on him. Brian Cruz hits Kickert from behind. Nathan Sobey was tied behind one of the goals by the fans. An official hit him with a right hook while the player's arms were held by a fan. When he got away from the fray, Peter Aguilar, Japeth's father, threw him a chair
When Sobey went to his bench, Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo confronted him and knocked him down. Cruz and Mathew Wright chased an Australian player who was coming back, both banging hard on the Boomer.
When the fight broke out, Chot Reyes and the team officials watched from the sideline. In contrast, coach Boomer and his assistants prevented players on the bench from joining the fray. Assistant coach Luc Longley, as a boxing referee, bravely separated the combat players
Longley blamed Chot Reyes for the incident. He accused Chot of inciting his players to act violently. At a rally with his players, Chot was surprised telling his boys: "Hit someone. Put some on their ass."
The Coach Gilas explained during an ESPN 5 Sports Center interview that his instruction was typical of basketball jargon which means playing physical. He said: "Anyone who understands basketball, if you offend yourself with this statement, you do not know basketball."
Luc Longley is a person who can be considered to have extensive knowledge of basketball. He played for the University of New Mexico, an NCAA Division 1 school, for four years. He was a member of the Australian basketball team that competed at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Barcelona and Sydney.
He played in the NBA, first for the Minnesota Timberwolves. His coach was Bill Musselman, who was known for his branding intensity and who said "Defeat is worse than death" because "you have to live with defeat". He then played for the Chicago Bulls when legend Phil Jackson was the head coach The team members were Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr and the bad boy Dennis Rodman.
He also played for Phoenix Suns under the direction of Danny Ainge who, when he was a player, was not kidding. He played for the New York Knicks under the direction of Jeff Van Gundy, the NBA Finals Annotator.
Longley would have understood when Chot told his players to "hit someone, put some on their buttocks" if he had heard about it. NBA coaches give the same instructions to their players. But Longley is offusque because he has never heard the same words from his coaches.
Chot could have just told his boys to make a mistake. In fact, during a live action, he was seen signaling to his players that he was at fault. He did not have to use what he calls basketball jargon.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas was the host of the match and the body officials, including the president, Senator Sonny Angara, were present. None of them tried to restrict local players or calm the fans. It was only when the order was reinstated and the guest players were mutilated that the president of the SBP, Al Panlilio, went to the crowd to calm down and respect the players Australian.
Marc Pingris, ex-Gilas, took a selfie of the team members who were all smiling as they said "we really beat those guys, is not it?" not?"
A few hours after the unfortunate incident on Tuesday morning in the Philippines, Basketball Australia General Manager Anthony Moore apologized for the involvement of Australian players in the fight. Tuesday afternoon, no excuse was issued by SBP. Instead, justifications and excuses were given by Chot and other officials and supporters of the team.
"It's our home!", Says a poster from Gilas Pilipinas. The FIBA 2023 World Cup will take place in this house. I wonder what sports journalists from other countries will call this home in 2023, The Rough House, the house with flying chairs, or the house where visitors are put on their ass.
Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a member of Manindigan! a group of businessmen, professionals and academics focused on causes.
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