PAST is past.
That’s how Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone looks at Sunday’s game in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers where the Nationals face Australia in Manila for the first time since the infamous brawl that happened nearly eight years ago.
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Gilas and the Boomers were frontpage news on July 2, 2018 during their World Cup qualifying match at the Philippine Arena where a free-for-all erupted between the two teams.
Bad blood between them began even before the game when Australia players were caught removing advertisement stickers on the floor during their practice, as Calvin Abueva then got into a verbal altercation with an Aussie during warm-ups.
A full-scale brawl later erupted in the game when Roger Pogoy hit Chris Goulding, leading to both benches clearing and multiple players getting ejected.
The match was later abandoned with the Boomers winning, 89-53, as the Philippines only had one player in Baser Amer, as June Mar Fajardo and Gabe Norwood fouled out in the third quarter.
Back at it
Fast forward to nearly eight years later, and the Filipinos and Australians clash again on a hardcourt in Manila, but this time at the Mall of Asia Arena.
For Cone, though, the history between the two teams is the last thing on his mind.
“That’s past history. Those sort of flare-ups happen every once in a while,” he said recently. “It’s not common. It won’t be common for us. Again, that’s just past history. How many times has that happened in the course of Gilas? One time out of how many games they have played over the last 20 years.”
“To me, it’s not even really worth talking or worry about.”
Instead, the focus for Cone is what needs to be done in order for Gilas to beat the Boomers in this World Cup qualifiers.
The brawl actually wasn’t the last time both teams faced each other, with Australia having already defeated the Philippines, 84-60, in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup in August of last year.
“We played them already in the FIBA Cup. That’s the key. The continuing familiarity that we get by playing these guys more and more. I think it just helps us to come up with ways to be successful,” he said.
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