‘A real black eye for the sport’: Gaze predicts heavy sanctions over basket-brawl
Related Story: 'Sickening' all-in brawl sees Boomers-Philippines basketball match abandoned Related Story: 'Bruised and battered' Boomers sorry for 'their part' of Philippines brawl
Australian and Filipino basketball players can expect "significant penalties" for their part in a vicious all-in brawl, Sydney Kings head coach Andrew Gaze says.
The violent scenes, involving players, local officials and even spectators, broke out during a World Cup qualification match between the countries in Manila.
"It's a real black eye for the sport," Gaze said of vision that had been broadcast around the world and shared widely on social media.
"The way in which we want the game to be projected is severely compromised."
The game descended in to chaos four minutes from the conclusion of the third quarter when Philippines guard Roger Ray Pogoy lashed out at Australia's Chris Goulding.
Daniel Kickert responded with an elbow to the face of Pogoy, upon which all hell broke loose.
"The initial foul was a strong foul, no question about it," former Australian assistant coach Alan Black told the ABC.
"But what followed [from Kickert] was very surprising. Very rarely do you see that sort of reaction to that type of incident. Whether there had been things brewing prior to that it's hard to say but it looked like the reaction was … let's just say it was surprising."
As the Filipino bench emptied, wild punches were thrown, kicks launched and objects thrown, including a courtside chair in a shocking incident that will have repercussions for both teams once an investigation by the International basketball federation (FIBA) is concluded.
"My first reaction is one of shock," Gaze told the ABC.
"You see little altercations between players on court, but when it spills over you've got the Filipino bench, staff coming on and throwing punches, throwing chairs, it was a frightening situation."
Basketball Australia CEO Anthony Moore said Australian players, coaches and officials held genuine fears for their safety, and relied on help from the Australian consulate, in attendance at the game, to return them to their hotel.
"Physically, our players are fine. They're bruised and battered … [but] all the players are shaken up and Chris in particular," he said.
When a relative calm had been restored, 13 players, including four Australians, were ejected. The game continued but was brought to a halt as the local players deliberately fouled out.
"I've never seen anything like it. It escalated so quickly," Black said.
"The fact that there were officials involved and the fierceness of the whole thing just shocked me.
"It almost looked orchestrated. It was so instantaneous and violent."
The blame game
Moore accepted Australia was not blameless, but insisted his first priority was player welfare.
"Whilst we accept our responsibility for our role in last night's incident, what we don't accept is the action whereby fans and officials actually get involved in the fray," Moore told reporters in Brisbane.
He did not rule out the prospect of potential criminal action being taken against those involved, but said Basketball Australia would first allow the investigation and tribunal process, announced by FIBA via a tweet, to be concluded.
"I can't speculate on what the sanctions will be because we're actually in new territory in this regard," Moore said.
"We want to work with FIBA on the tribunal and get that outcome and we'll assess our outcomes from there."
External Link: Filipino coach: tweet
Philippines coach Chot Reyes laid the blame squarely with the Australians, claiming they had created an atmosphere that prompted his players to react as strongly as they did, due to underhand treatment of his players earlier in the night.
"The brawl is absolutely unacceptable but the reality is Kickert was hitting our players during the warm-ups," Reyes said.
"The foul of Pogoy on Goulding was called an offensive foul, it was a basketball play, but he was the one that came in and decked Pogoy for the fifth time.
"You cannot expect to do that to a team five times and not expect there to be retaliation."
Moore disputed those claims.
"That is something that we absolutely don't believe occurred and that will come out as part of the tribunal process that FIBA undertake," he said.
In further bizarre scenes after the game was abandoned, the Filipino team were seen smiling and taking selfies on court, something Moore described as "strange".
An ugly look for the game
Regardless of the strength of sanctions and how they are ultimately distributed, the shameful night was a horrendous look for a sport that has been riding a groundswell of goodwill due to national team success and increased individual Australian involvement in the NBA.
External Link: Boomers chair throw tweet
FIBA will be under pressure to come down hard on those deemed most guilty for igniting the conflict.
Black insisted the matter should be left with the world governing body alone to resolve, and saw no value in Basketball Australia acting ahead of the tribunal's conclusion, as Cricket Australia did when imposing sanctions on players in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal far in excess of punishments handed down by the world governing body.
"I would wait until the sanctions come down from FIBA then Basketball Australia can make a decision based on whether they thought they were appropriate or not," Black said.
"This is different to where Cricket Australia took the high moral ground. Let's see what FIBA come up with and then make decisions from there.
"[However] if I'm a FIBA official sitting there now, I've no idea what they come up with.
"It could be anywhere from six months to life bans, and anything in between. There would be no precedent that I'm aware of."
Heavy sanctions expected for both teams
The NBA has traditionally taken a firm hand with such incidents.
External Link: Thon Maker: tweet
In 2004, the 'Malice at the Palace', in which a game between the Pacers and Pistons similarly descended in to violence that also drew in crowd members, saw nine players suspended for total of 146 games.
The brawl was sparked when Ron Artest fouled Detroit's Ben Wallace, with Artest suspended for the remainder of the season, a sanction that saw him sit out 73 games and cost him about $US7m in lost wages.
With the Boomers wining their World Cup qualification pool and the Philippines also progressing as runners up, penalties may also be faced by the teams in the next phase of qualification.
Kickert and Milwaukee Bucks star Thon Maker — who launched an attempted kung-fu style kick at a group of opponents — could expect lengthy suspensions, while the Philippines may suffer even sterner punishment due to the numbers involved in the fighting, and the fact officials got involved and fans were allowed to enter the fray.
"Assuming both FIBA and Basketball Australia make correct deliberations, I don't think [the incident will have a negative impact on the sport in Australia]," Black said.
"It's not as if this is a weekly event or a yearly event or even a decade event. I've been involved in the game for 50 years and this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this."
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