Reyes lauds Aussies’ defense

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said he was impressed by Australia’s defense and admitted the Philippines couldn’t execute like it did in demolishing Chinese-Taipei because the Boomers disrupted the flow of the hometown team’s offense at the Philippine Arena last Monday.

“Sure, they shot the lights out but it was Australia’s defense that hurt us,” said Reyes. “We couldn’t do what we did when we beat Chinese-Taipei by 22 last Friday. The Australians were bigger. They were quicker to the ball. I thought they should’ve been called for a foul when they caged Jayson (Castro) and Terrence (Romeo). But that’s basketball. The Australians played physical and talked trash. You can live with that because it’s part of the game. What I couldn’t take was (Daniel) Kickert’s strike on RR (Pogoy) in a dead-ball situation. RR was previously called for an offensive foul. That was a basketball move. Kickert’s attack was unbelievable. That’s called bullying.”

At the half, Australia had more points in the paint, 28-18, more fastbreak points, 10-1, more assists, 15-8 and more three-point conversions, 7-of-18 to 3-of-12. The big difference was in defense where Australia held the Philippines to 41.2 percent from the field while the Boomers shot 58.3 percent. The game was called with Australia on top, 89-53, time down to 1:57 of the third period as the Philippines had only eligible player, Baser Amer, left on the floor after ejections and foul-outs.

Reyes said the sight of Pogoy down on the ground prompted his Gilas teammates to come to the rescue. “I don’t condone violence,” he said. “But if you’re a father and see your son bullied, you’ll do something about it. That’s why (assistant coach) Jong (Uichico) snapped. (Chris) Goulding kept taunting our bench all game long and Jong must have reached boiling point. I think it was the same father reaction by Peter Aguilar. The Australians disrespected us on our homecourt and we just stood up to them. First was the decal stripping. Then there was the physical contact during the warm-ups. And during the game, there were cheap shots.”

Reyes said Australia was determined to win at all costs, coming off a one-point loss to Japan. “We were ready for their bounce back,” he said. “We knew they would come on strong. We went out there to win, not to fight. With Gilas, we’re a brotherhood. We watch each other’s back. People might not understand that concept. But we believe once a Gilas, always a Gilas. We’re a family. When RR went down, even Jayson sprang to action. Jayson’s never been involved in any fight. He told me right from the start, he felt the Australians showed disrespect but didn’t react until Kickert’s blow. That wasn’t the trigger point, it was the last straw.”

What concerned Reyes at the half was Australia’s effort. “I told the guys the only way we can come back is to show the effort to win those 50-50 balls,” he said. “Then, during a timeout, I told the guys to foul early before they take off for a layup in transition because they were killing us with fastbreak points. When I told the guys to hit somebody, I meant making sure the refs call it before the attempt. That’s basketball language. It’s like when you set a pick, you try to chop the other guy’s head off doing it. We don’t take things literally. So for those who think I meant to go after the Australians, they should know basketball language.”

SBP president Al Panlilio said respect begets respect. “The Australians were really scared,” he said. “After the free-for-all ended, I assured them nothing untoward would happen again. The Australian Ambassador was in the arena. It was an unfortunate incident, something we all regret. We will address whatever shortcomings there were in security and make sure when we host the 2023 World Cup, we’ll have covered all the bases.”