A Sad Day for International Hoops

I was jolted out of my sleep one early Monday morning here in California by the news that Gilas Pilipinas, the national team of my former country Philippines, got into a brawl with the Australian team during a game at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan as part of the qualifiers for next year's FIBA World Cup in China.

According to the reports I read from social media, the incident took place in the third quarter and the Australians leading by a big margin, 79-48, when an Australian player threw a punch at Gilas player Carl Bryan Cruz. That led to a bench-clearing and punching incident that saw nine Gilas players thrown out, including Cruz, Terrence Romeo, Andray Blatche and Jayson Castro William -- a guy not really known for his hot-headedness on the court as a Talk n Text player in the PBA. Five Aussies were also ejected, including NBA player Thon Maker, who threw a swing at Romeo at the height of the melee.

A friend of mine on Facebook also told me that he witnessed Gilas assistant coach Jong Uichico also trying to get into the fracas but he was restrained by head coach Chot Reyes.

The bad blood between the Philippine and Australian camps started the day before when officials of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas lashed out at the other side for removing the FIBA stickers on the court. The Australian camp claimed that the stickers made the court slippery but the SBP said that the Aussies had no permission to remove the stickers which were approved by FIBA.

As I am writing this, reports have it that both camps have refused to grant interviews to the media present at the game and that they are waiting for the results of the investigation that will be conducted by FIBA regarding the incident.

This incident could reflect on the career of Maker, who currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. His Australian teammate Matthew Dellavedova wisely stayed away from the heat of the action and continued playing the game until it was stopped following the fouling out of June Mar Fajardo and Gabe Norwood, leaving Baser Amer as the only Filipino player on the floor. Final score: 89-53, Australia.

If there will be players suspended from both countries by FIBA, then it would have an effect on their campaign in the next round of the qualifiers which will be the last before the seven countries that will go to next year's FIBA World Cup in China are determined. At least Reyes and the SBP can call on the other players in the Gilas pool to take their places. Remember Gilas already lost Kiefer Ravena who was suspended for 18 months by FIBA after testing positive for a drug which Ravena inadvertently took while drinking a sports drink.

Watching the videos and photos of that incident made me miss my days as a sportswriter back in Manila. If I was still writing for Bagong TIKTIK, I would have surely gone to the Philippine Arena and witnessed that incident first hand. Although some people criticized the Gilas players for taking a selfie on the court after the brawl, at least, I would have been part of international hoops history. That's why I'm hoping that SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan gives me a plane ticket, a passport and Filipino citizenship so I can come back to Manila and cover the FIBA World Cup which the Philippines is hosting in 2023.

I really miss covering basketball in the Philippines but my mother really wanted me to stay in America for good because she is already retiring from her job at age 71 and that she cannot afford to continue sending money to me back in Manila at her age now. Being in the US is a sacrifice I had to make because conditions back there in Manila aren't getting any better for my cousins who are too lazy to work and one of my aunts is selling her house back in Pasig where I used to live before I left for California in March 2016. And the political situation in Manila isn't getting any better either.

Going back to basketball, this incident involving the Philippines and Australia will surely be talked about for a long time especially since the Aussies are a world power in basketball, having fallen short of a bronze medal in the last Olympics in 2016 in Rio. In fact, both Australia and New Zealand used to be in a separate FIBA continental bracket called Oceania before they were added to the Asian Zone last year, making it more competitive for the Philippines aside from dealing with other powers like South Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei and the Middle Eastern countries.

Incidentally, on the same day the brawl took place, Japan routed Chinese Taipei, 108-68, to join Gilas and Australia in the next round of the World Cup qualifiers.

It's a long late night now back there in Bocaue and once the sun rises back there in a few hours, there will still be a lot of people talking about the brawl that somehow resembles the "Malice in the Palace" between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers in the NBA in 2004. I hope my former country still gets a chance to host more FIBA events in the future considering how popular basketball is back there. For the meantime, let's keep our heads cool and accept whatever punishment FIBA will slap on both countries.