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Fistfight breaks out in Australia vs. Philippines basketball match

BOOMER Thon Maker was in the thick of a “disgraceful” brawl against the Philippines but appeared to defend his actions on social media.

Alex Blair and James Matthey
4 min read
July 3, 2018 - 12:14PM
Aussies involved in 'all-out basketbrawl'

BOOMERS star Thon Maker has broken his silence after Australia’s match against the Philippines descended into chaos when a sensational fist fight broke out during the pair’s FIBA World Cup qualifying clash.

The ugly all-in brawl erupted at the Philippine Arena with just over four minutes left in the third quarter with Australia ahead 79-48.

The explosive encounter, which led to objects being thrown around the court as players threw wild punches, was sparked after Boomers guard Chris Goulding was fouled and shoved to the floor.

Aussie Daniel Kickert reacted immediately, elbowing an opposition player. Chaos ensued as the Filipino side raced into the melee. They came from everywhere as the benches cleared and all hell broke loose.

Maker — who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA — was seen jumping up to hit opposition players. In a social media post the Sudan-born star appeared to suggest he was comfortable with his actions because he was defending his teammates.

“I am deeply disappointed in the actions displayed during yesterday’s game against the Philippines,” he wrote. “Being from a war-torn country, basketball for me has always been a means to bring people together.

“I feel a great responsibility as an NBA player to carry myself in a way that promotes peace and unity.

“My hope is that this experience provides a springboard for discussion regarding the security surrounding these games.

“I take responsibility for my actions knowing they were a result of my desire to protect my teammates and myself.

“It is a tremendous honour to represent Australia, the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA and my goal is to reflect that in my conduct.”

At one point several Philippines stars could be seen piling on top of an Aussie star, throwing punches while he lay helpless on the ground. A chair was also thrown at an Australian player’s head.

The game was eventually halted for more than 30 minutes as officials reviewed the wild scenes and contemplated calling off the match.

“(We) want to appeal to everybody to please settle down,” the stadium announcer said. “We didn’t want (that to happen). We will wait for referee’s decision, but please I would like us to respect the game.”

Officials ejected 13 players from the game, including Aussies Nathan Sobey, Goulding, Maker and Kickert. Nine of those sent packing were from the Philippines camp.

Incredibly, the game was given the green light to carry on despite the Philippines having only three players available for the remainder of the quarter. The match continued until two of their players deliberately fouled out to end the contest.

Former Australian captain Shane Heal said in commentary the decision to allow the game to carry on was “laughable”.

The Boomers ended up winning 89-53 in Bulacan to finish top of their FIBA World Cup qualifying group but the result was the last thing on everyone’s minds. Basketball Australia’s Chief Executive Anthony Moore issued a statement following the match to apologise for the Boomers’ involvement in the violent incident, then spoke again on The Today Show on Tuesday morning.

“It was hard to comprehend what was occurring and then to watch the replays and to see our players … being assaulted by fans is one of the more extraordinary things I’ve ever seen,” Moore said.

“When you’ve got an issue or incident that spills outside the playing surface and you’ve got fans assaulting players, that’s something that really concerns us and we’ll be talking to our International Federation FIBA about that.

“We had players and coaches that feared for their physical safety. That’s the knife edge we were on last night. It was pretty ugly and wild scenes.”

Moore called it a “black eye” for the sport and admitted the Australians had to accept some of the blame for what happened.

Scheduled post-match press conferences for both teams were cancelled in the aftermath of the incident and all eyes will now turn to FIBA who will assess the fight with the likely outcome of suspensions or other disciplinary actions to players from both countries.

Social media exploded at the scenes, with some fans claiming the brawl trumped LeBron James’ stunning A$208m transfer to the LA Lakers as the biggest basketball news of the day.

Heal told Channel 7 program Sunrise some of those involved should be banned for life.

“You certainly cannot justify the way the Philippines team acted after that,” Heal said. “Some of the officials coming in, there was a photo of the security guard holding the player and the official coming and punching him in the nose.

“They are some of those things that have to have those officials banned for life.”

Fox Sports commentator Matt Russell was calling the game and blasted the Philippines’ “pack mentality” in the fight.

“While the Australians weren’t guilt free, the reason it reached the level it did was because of this almost pack mentality from the Philippines who looked like a group of dogs feeding on a carcass on the ground,” Russell told Macquarie Sports Radio.

Aussie basketball icon Andrew Bogut was among those to slam the “disgusting” scenes.

— with AAP

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/basketball/fistfight-breaks-out-in-australia-vs-philippines-basketball-match/news-story/69b0a80240e2379eee37f6a97dfcee1b