Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes singled out Daniel Kickert as the one who lit the fire that erupted into an ugly, bench-clearing incident between the Filipino dribblers and the Australia Boomers on Sunday evening.
Reyes said that Kickert had been trying to get on Gilas’ nerves right from the pre-game warm-ups. According to witnesses, the 6-foot-10 Aussie bumped Carl Cruz, which Calvin Abueva didn’t like, so he retaliated for his teammate.
That incident caused a little commotion at the center court.
“There was no excuse for him doing what he did during the warm-up. Nakakita na ba kayo na tinira yung kalaban sa warm up? Sa lay-up line? Hindi pa naguumpisa, tinira na tayo,” rued the veteran coach.
“What do you expect us to do?”
Reyes shared that he and his fellow coaches had already advised their wards to ignore Kickert’s antics. But, the mentor added, they found it hard to control their players given Kickert’s actions in the brawl.
Right after Roger Pogoy was whistled for an offensive foul for hitting fiery scorer Chris Goulding, Kickert then defended his teammate by giving the 6-foot-2 Filipino marksman a forearm directly to the face a la MMA.
All hell broke lose after that.
“We already restrained the players before the game. We told them ‘wag na pansinin. Then Kickert did all of those things at the start, sa warm up line. We told them ‘wag na pansinin, focus on the game,” shared Reyes.
“But when he did that in the third quarter, it was hard to restrain them anymore.”
Social media was abuzz with the incident, with some netizens declaring the incident was ’embarrassing’. Reyes understands the reaction, but he defended his team, pointing out that they only stood up for each other as they treat one another as family.
“I understand the disappointment and some are embarrassed but you don’t know what happened. You have to be in the team – within our circle – to understand what went down,” the outspoken strategist said.
“All I know is this team remains solid, we have each other’s backs.”
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has just announced on Twitter that they will now open disciplinary proceedings against both teams. And for Reyes, the team will face whatever sanctions might be handed out.
“It’s up to FIBA in the end. We need to face those consequences, it is what it is,” he said.
“One thing I know about this team is that we’re not gonna back down.”
