Picking up the pieces

The quest to begin repairing the damage wrought by the brawl between the Philippines and Australia during their World Cup qualifying match on July 2 began almost immediately after the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas held a press conference Thursday to announce the fines and sanctions slapped by the international basketball federation (Fiba) on both countries.

With coach Chot Reyes and naturalized center Andray Blatche out of the roster for a varying number of games and several key players also suspended, Gilas Pilipinas will be hard-pressed to come up with a competitive squad when it faces Qatar at the start of the second round of qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup.

“Obviously, we have to replace [Blatche] and it’s going to be part of the assessment,” said SBP president Al Panlilio during Thursday’s press conference at the PLDT offices in Makati City.

San Miguel Beer rookie Christian Standhardinger is the only player eligible on standby to take Blatche’s place, even as the SBP scours its roster of coaches for a replacement for Reyes, who was slapped a one-game ban. Blatche was suspended three games for his role in the fracas.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial reiterated that the national team will have all 12 professional clubs as a pool when it tries to fill a roster that lost 10 players and two coaches.

“He is always here to help the national team and during unfortunate times like this, the league is willing to step up,” said Marcial.

Aside from Reyes and Blatche (three games), Fiba also banned assistant coach Jong Uichico (three games), scrappy forward Calvin Abueva (six games), Jio Jalalon, Carl Bryan Cruz and RR Pogoy (five games), Troy Rosario, Jayson Castro and Terrence Romeo (three games) and Matthew Wright and Japeth Aguilar (one game).

The Fiba ban does not include the PBA so the players can still suit up for their mother clubs.

Reyes was also fined 10,000 Swiss francs (approximately P535,000). Fiba also fined the SBP 250,000 Swiss francs (approximately P13.4 million) and Basketball Australia 100,000 Swiss francs (approximately 5.35 million).

Australia, meanwhile, will lose three players to suspensions: Daniel Kickert (five games), Milwaukee Bucks forward Thon Maker (three games) and Chris Goulding (one game).

Panlilio said the Gilas players and coaches will serve the suspension during the country’s succeeding home games on Sept. 17 against Qatar, Nov. 30 against Iran and Dec. 3 opposite Kazakhstan.

“We could probably make an appeal on the fines and suspensions but first we want to clarify these facts with the Fiba,” said Panlilio, who was accompanied by SBP executive director Sonny Barrios, deputy executive Butch Antonio and legal counsel Aga Francisco.

“It’s a learning process for all of us. My advice to them is to compete hard, but not violently. We play for the country to win,” said Panlilio, adding that the Philippine hosting of Fiba World Cup in 2023 was never mentioned in the decision.

The referees who officiated the abbreviated match won by the Boomers, 89-53, were banned from any international competitions organized or recognized by Fiba for a period of one year.

The Fiba also punished the SBP by directing Gilas Pilipinas to play its next home game (against Qatar) behind closed doors.

Panlilio admitted that having to play without the country’s “sixth man” is going to be “painful.”

“I think it’s driving a lesson to everybody that we could have (responded during the heated match) in a better way,” said Panlilio. “Of course, it’s painful [without the] people who want to watch us live, the fans who have always been our sixth man in all these competitions.”

The Philippines has also been placed under probationary status by Fiba for two more home games for a period of three years.

“If there is no untoward incident in the Qatar game, the next game will be held with the public in attendance. Any time there’s a similar incident—I hope to God (there is) nothing more—then they can put us in a closed door again. In the next three years, we better have no similar incident,” explained Barrios.

Panlilio saw the probationary period as a chance for the country “to show that maybe this is just a blip in our basketball history.”

Panlilio, though, is confident that the game against Qatar can still be broadcast on various platforms so fans can still watch from their homes.

“The logistics and the rest, Fiba said they will work with us on how to execute that,” he said. With report from Celest Flores-Colina