Gilas coach, itinurong nagmando sa gulo ng Gilas at Australia match

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Hindi pa humuhupa ang turuan at sisihan sa naganap na rambulan sa pagitan ng Gilas Pilipinas at Australia Boomers sa World cup qualifying nitong Lunes sa Philippine Arena.

Sa media conference matapos ang pagbabalik ng Australian team, direktang itinuro ni assistant coach at dating NBA star Luc Longley si Gilas coach Chot Reyes na nagpaningas sa naganap na kaguluhan.

Inilarawan ni Longley ang aksiyon ng Pinoy cagers, official at fans na ‘ganster behavior’ at naganap ito dahil sa instruksyon ni Reyes na nadinig sa mismong TV monitor.

Ayon kay Longley, iniutos ni Reyes, pangulo rin ng TV5, ang katagang “hit somebody, put somebody on their…” sa Gilas huddles ilang minuto bago naganap ang kaguluhan may 4:01 ang nalalabi sa third period at abante ang Australia ng 31 puntos, 79-48.

Kabuuang 13 players, kabilang ang apat sa kampo ng Australia ang na-patalsik sa laro, sapat para tuluyang manaig ang Aussies batay sa FIBA rules matapos matira ang tatlong players sa Gilas.

Mariin naman itinanggi ni Reyes na ang naturang pahayag ay isang utos para manakit ang Gilas. Aniya, isa lamang iyon na ‘routine instruction’ para sa agarang foul sa fast breaks.

Humingi na rin ng paumanhin si Reyes, gayundin ang Gilas players na sangkot sa gulo. Maging ang Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) ay nagpahatid na rin ng paumanhin sa Australia at Fiba.

Hindi naman tinanggap ni Longley ang depensa ni Reyes at ikinadismaya rin ang aniya’t walang malasakit na group selfie ng Gilas na na-post sa social media habang magulo ang kapaligiran dahil sa insidente.

Hiniling ng Basketball Australia sa Fiba na isama ang naturang kaganapan bilang ebidensiya sa isinasagawang imbestigasyon.

“I do believe their coach Chot Reyes incited them to come out and thug us,” pahayag ni Longley. “There’s video evidence of that.

“Then he substituted a thug out there who took three or four cheap swings at (Goulding). This is out of the party line but I’m most disturbed with their head coach. I think he was embarrassed by the way his team was playing. I think he was embarrassed by the shape they were in. I think he was embarrassed by how they fought.

“He wouldn’t look me in the eye at the end of the game when I shook his hand. I think he was embarrassed and that’s where a lot of it came from. I’m upset with him more than anybody. To let his team take gangster selfies on the baseline after something like that, that shows a total lack of control and respect,” aniya.

“Those are the sorts of images you hope you never see, one guy lying on the ground covering up his head and being kicked and beaten by the other team, players and officials and guys from the crowd.

“It was horrifying. I wasn’t supposed to come off the bench. It was really disturbing. I went onto the court to protect our guys, with the idea of not hurting anyone, just putting my big body in the way.”