FIBA or UFC? | What Went Down on that Bench-Clearing Brawl

Members of the Australian Basketball Team tears down stickers

Aussie team ripping our/Fiba logos on the court of Phil Arena w/o asking permission. We will not back down. Those stickers go in. Regardless. pic.twitter.com/LMwyiBNtG4

— Manny V. Pangilinan (@iamMVP) July 1, 2018

This seems  innocuous enough, but looking back at the timelines, this event seemed crucial. Basketball Australia complained that the stickers were slippery and put their players at risk. What’s puzzling is how they put it upon themselves to tear the stickers from off the floor. Of course, this earned the ire of team Gilas Pilipinas.

Team Australia apologized

FIBA-approved stickers removed by Australia yesterday are now being replaced 2 hours before Gilas Pilipinas’ game against the Boomers. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m here at the Philippine Arena. #FIBAWC | @dioquinodelfin pic.twitter.com/Dy0jwBydJf

— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) July 2, 2018

Australia’s Boomers team manager Mark Bradtke issued a statement apologizing for the incident. He said they only had the best of intentions in tearing out the court stickers, wanting to make players from both teams safe from injury.

“We look forward to using this situation as a building block for basketball to having the best environment for all participants, officials, and fans, and lastly, to maintain our great relations with Philippine basketball,” Bradtke said in his statement. Well, we all know what happened next.

Melee

This video is for those who have not seen what happened yet. And it clearly speaks for itself.

Coach Reyes’s Interview

There are unsubstantiated claims that Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes gave his players instructions to take the Australians down, and not figuratively.

Video proof (thanks to @radnovales ) pic.twitter.com/zuKYce1BLm

— Anton Tioseco (@antontioseco) July 2, 2018

Now, he could just be telling his players to be more aggressive, being down by 30 points at that point. Here’s an interview with Reyes after the game:

Like we said, we’re not here to judge. But some inappropriate things went down right after the brawl. Like…

This questionable selfie

SELFIE MUNA BAGO MA SUSPEND#FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/ggYlL0yQKD

— Christan Jay (@christansalva_a) July 2, 2018

We’re not really sure what’s going on here. What were they thinking posing for this selfie?

This tweet from Terrence Romeo

Dun sa mga kapwa namin players na nag sasabing embarassing kami wala kaming paki alam sa inyo . Kami mag kaka teammate sa loob kailangan namin mag tulungan. Hindi namin pwede pabayaan yung isat isa. Kung embarassing kami sa mata niyo bat di kayo mag convert ng australian.

— Terrence Romeo (@tbvromeo) July 2, 2018

Too soon?

Let the memes begin

And of course, the internet obliged everyone.

Facing the consequence

We’re pretty sure the Philippines will be banned from future FIBA events. There’s a lesson here somewhere, but we’re still going through all the memes.

What do you think of the incident? Tell us below!