The trigger that sparked the free-for-all brawl between Gilas Pilipinas and the Australian Boomers involved Roger Pogoy and Daniel Kickert.
Pogoy, a 6-foot-2 guard, initially collided with Chris Goulding, an Australian player who had been talking trash at Gilas all game long. As Goulding fell, Pogoy was struck with a violent elbow by Kickert that instigated the bench-clearing brawl.
“Naawa talaga ako kay Pogoy nung tinamaan siya [ni Kickert]. First time ko nakita is kuya Jayson [Castro] na sumugod nang ganun. Family ang tinginan kasi namin dito,” recalled Calvin Abueva, who rushed to the court during the melee.
“Yung nangyari last night, it’s not something na gusto pa namin i-reason out. Siguro naman kahit sino yung nandun, yung yun mangyayari,” added Maliksi, who was not on-duty but was also involved in the fracas.
“What if sa family mo nangyari? Seven-footer yun, si Pogoy ano ha yung height niya? Turing talaga namin sa Gilas pamilya parang magkakapatid talaga kaya tulungan talaga.”
What followed was a scene that will forever live on in Philippine basketball folklore.
A total of 13 players were ejected, while fines and punishments are still being decided by the International Basketball Federation.
But for Pogoy, the hits – which started during the warm-ups – and jeers he received simply reached a boiling point once he was clocked by Kickert.
“Unang-una hihingi muna kami ng sorry sa lahat ng fans ng Gilas tsaka fans din ng Australia na may nangyari kagabi na ‘di inaasahan. Move on na lang tayo,” Pogoy said on Tuesday evening during Chooks-to-Go’s private dinner with the team.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa teammates ko, totoo silang teammate, ‘di nila ko iniwan. Yung number four [Goulding], grabe kasi yung trash talk atsaka si Kickert. Sinabi ko na sa kanila na, ‘You’re already up by thirty, why are you still doing this?’
“Tao lang din tayo, napuno din ako. Binangga ko rin siya. Pang-basketball pa rin, hindi yung pang-UFC. Nanghihingi kami ng sorry – sana matuto kami dito, sana hindi na maulit,” he added.
However, their goal of defending their teammates only made things worse.
“Sa kagustuhan naming ipagtanggol yung kakampi namin, lalong lumaki yung gulo,” Castro posted on his Instragram account.
