Heat coach rattled by fallout of brawl
TOWNSVILLE Heat coach Rod Anderson says he couldn’t sleep and feared for the safety of his colleagues as the basketball world reels from the fallout of Monday night’s all- in brawl between the Australian Boomers and the Philippines.
FIBA has opened an investigation into the violent scenes that marred the World Cup qualifier in the Philippines which saw 13 players – four from Australia and nine from the Philippines – ejected from the game.
Anderson knows a number of players on the Australian team and described watching Boomers star Chris Goulding being kicked and punched multiple times by a number of Philippines players as “scary”.
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis and forward Nick Kay have formerly been involved with now- defunct NBL side Townsville Crocodiles, while Boomers doctor Brendon Aubrey also hails from Townsville.
Anderson has coached against Goulding at QBL level and has taken part in a pre- season with his NBL club Melbourne United in the past.
The brawl was sparked when Goulding was shoved to the floor late in the third quarter.
Boomers forward Daniel Kickert then struck the offending Philippines player which saw the home team clear the bench and ignite the brawl.
The Boomers bench somehow stayed put as chaos ensued around them, which is likely to ensure their sanctions from FIBA are nowhere near as harsh as their rivals.
“I know a number of those guys on the team and it’s scary seeing a guy like Chris Goulding, who I’ve known for years and years, to be at the bottom of a pile like that,” Anderson said.
“It rattled me to see people you know in danger in a foreign country and being in a situation like that where the crowd are out of hand.
“To see that including Australian players and going around the world, it really damages the basketball brand, the brand that a lot of really great Aussies have built up over time.”
Anderson believes the Philippines, who are due to host the 2023 World Cup, should cop the full wrath of FIBA and be given a lengthy ban.
“I think Philippines basketball has to be suspended from FIBA basketball for at least a year. Other countries have had the same problems in the past and have been banned for a year.
“That went global and it’s bringing the game into disrepute.
“I think Basketball Australia will get away with that, but Daniel Kickert’s in a lot of trouble. I can see him getting a ban up to a year himself.”
Townsville Fire assistant coach Mark Wrobel will fill the same role for the Australian Sapphires under- 17 women’s team at the world championships in Belarus next month.
FIBA rules dictate that an international ban applies to all levels and age groups of competition.
But the Boomers’ attempts to diffuse the situation rather than incite it ensured that won’t happen.
“I think the Australians did really well to control themselves in that situation,” Wrobel said.
“No doubt FIBA will look at the conduct Australia held themselves and not applaud obviously the initial events, but be quite satisfied with how the team reacted to the kerfuffle, because it could have been a lot worse.”