Unlike the emotions he exuded throughout Monday night’s game, the Australia Boomers’ Daniel Kickert was a man full of remorse as he acknowledged the role he played that led to the ugly brawl between his team and Gilas Pilipinas in their 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers rematch, Monday.
Kickert was the one who threw an elbow to the face of Gilas shooting guard Roger Pogoy, right after the latter collided with Chris Goulding. The 6-foot-10 Kickert has also been accused of pushing other Gilas cagers during the pre-game warm-ups.
“I was pretty in a position I think where, obviously, I made an action which is regrettable and unfortunate,” he said in a video clip by ESPN5. “I think I overstepped a little bit with my response to the escalation in the game.
“And I regret those things.”
The 35-year-old also lamented that Monday night’s game could have been simply a good victory for them had the incident not taken place – the Boomers won by default, 89-53, as the Filipinos ran out of players due to ejections.
With the win, the Australians will head into the second round of the Qualifiers as Group B’s leader with a 5-1 card – their only loss came at the hands of Rui Hachimura and the Akatsuki Five of Japan, 78-79, last week.
“It was a good trip for the boys. It would’ve been a good win but ended in a controversial decision obviously,” he quipped.
“I’m gonna let FIBA do everything they need to do to take the time, go through the process and come to the answers that they see fit and bring down the sanctions that they bring down,” said Kickert, a native of Melbourne.
“I’m not gonna comment too much on the Philippines team or any other things. I’m gonna step back and let FIBA do what they wanna do.”
