Gilas cagers looking to put ugly brawl behind them
Gilas Pilipinas players and team officials gathered on Tuesday night for a dinner hosted
by team sponsor Chooks-to-Go in a
hotel in Ortigas.
Each Gilas player was given a microphone to comment on the fight that resulted in 13 ejections during the game between Gilas Pilipinas and Australia at the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan on Monday.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes, assistant coach Jong Uichico, team manager Butch Antonio, and Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas were among team officials present at the dinner. Players Japeth Aguilar, Gabe Norwood, Troy Rosario, Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Roger Pogoy, Jio Jalalon, Allein Maliksi, Baser Amer, Carl Bryan Cruz, and June Mar Fajardo.
Jayson Castro, Matthew Wright, and Andray Blatche were not in attendance.
"After we say our piece now, that's it. You can now put it behind you and focus on the future," Reyes told players. "To put closure to this, I think it'd be a good idea to ask the players individually to say their piece, what they felt. Then we can close this chapter."
The 11 players in attendance spoke.
"Nobody walked into last night thinking that's going to happen," said Norwood, one of the team's longest-tenured members. "At the end of the day we're a brotherhood, we're a family."
"We apologize to the Filipinos, to the fans watching the game. Our intention was to defend our hurt brother (Roger) Pogoy. We're sorry and we hope this won't happen again," Rosario said.
Late in the third quarter of the lopsided contest, Pogoy collided with Chris Goulding, sending the Boomers player to the floor. Daniel Kickert saw his fallen teammate and retaliated with a forearm to Pogoy's head. Madness and chaos ensued.—
ESPN5