Filipino coach blamed for brawl

BRISBANE: Boomers assistant coach Luc Longley has alleged Philippines coach Chot Reyes incited his players to act violently in their World Cup qualifier, blaming him for the ugly brawl that marred the game.

Threetime NBA champion Longley touched down in Brisbane yesterday morning with Australian head coach Andrej Lemanis and immediately made his views known, describing the allin fight as the worst thing he’d ever seen on a basketball court.

Longley, who rushed to the aid of Chris Goulding as he was set upon by a dozen Filipino players and officials in a horrific pileon, said Reyes was ‘‘embarrassed’’ by how his team was playing and urged them to hit back at the Boomers.

Footage of an angry Reyes during a timeout showed him telling his players: ‘‘Hit somebody. Put somebody on their ass.’’

Reyes later defended his comments as routine instructions from a basketball coach, saying he wanted his players to foul Australians on fast breaks.

Longley said Reyes had also sent on a ‘‘thug’’ in Roger Pogoy, who took numerous ‘‘cheap swings’’ at Goulding — one of which felled the Australian guard and prompted Daniel Kickert to retaliate with the elbow that sparked the third quarter brawl.

‘‘I do believe their coach, Chot Reyes, incited them to come out and thug us. I think there’s video evidence of that,’’ Longley told reporters.

‘‘This is out of the party line but I’m most disturbed with their head coach.’’

Longley said Reyes shook his hand after the game but did not look him in the eye. — AAP