Foxsports.com.au spoke with Jason Cadee, who represented the Boomers that night and Shane Heal, who was on commentary, to revisit the build-up, the chaotic scenes as they unfolded and the lasting aftermath.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI guess how chaotic last time was, it\u2019s probably hard to \u2013 or it\u2019s for the same reason this conversation\u2019s popped up \u2013 it\u2019s hard to ignore what happened,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n
Watch the Australian Boomers face the Philippines in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers on Sunday night (10.30pm AEDT) with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n THE TENSIONS BEFORE TIP-OFF<\/p>\n While the brawl ultimately took centre stage, the tension between Australia and the Philippines had been building well before tip-off.<\/p>\n For Cadee, the friction dated back to a previous clash in Melbourne at Margaret Court Arena earlier in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cIt probably started when we played a game against them in Melbourne at Margaret Court,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those who were there at that game, it was largely a Philippines audience because we know how much the Philippines love their basketball. The crowd was nuts \u2013 just loud and completely into the game \u2013 and it was sold out.<\/p>\n PLAYER RATINGS: Under-strength Boomers battle past lowly rivals in World Cup qualifier<\/a><\/p>\n Mitchell McCarron of Australia under pressure from Kevin Alas of Philippines during the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifier match between Australia and Philippines at Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Thursday, February 22, 2018. (AAP Image\/ Hamish Blair) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLYSource: AAP<\/p>\n \u201cI remember we won that game and after the game they interviewed Andray Blatche and he mentioned, \u2018Yep, this is a great atmosphere, but wait till they come over to play us at home \u2013 they\u2019ll see what a real crowd kind of is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In the lead-up to the return fixture, the Boomers were coming off a loss that added further edge to the matchup.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lead-up to the game, we actually lost to Japan like four days earlier, so that was our first loss,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cDelly (Dellavedova) and Thon (Maker) had joined the group and so there was this element of \u2013 when we got to play the Philippines, it wasn\u2019t like it didn\u2019t matter, we could have played anyone \u2013 but from our side we were disappointed in how we played against Japan, even though they played well.\u201d<\/p>\n Following that defeat, Australia held a closed-door training session in the Philippines. During the session, Boomers officials removed a court decal due to concerns over player safety.<\/p>\n The move was publicly criticised by Philippines officials, who posted video of the incident and declared they \u201cwould not back down\u201d against Australia.<\/p>\n The tension only escalated on game day.<\/p>\n ‘This has got wild in the Philippines!’ | 02:06<\/p>\n During warm-ups, several Philippines players crowded toward Australia\u2019s half of the floor. Calvin Abueva attempted to trip Boomers centre Daniel Kickert, who retaliated by pushing a player he believed had made contact \u2013 but it was the wrong player.<\/p>\n A brief confrontation followed before officials stepped in to prevent it from escalating further.<\/p>\n However the fuse had been lit.<\/p>\n THE GAME, THE ELBOW AND THE EXPLOSION<\/p>\n The game between the two nations began as a highly physical contest. Looking back, Cadee believes there were clear moments where frustration began to spill over.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the jump of that game we were just on point \u2013 people playing well, playing the right way \u2013 and then as the game went on we got up big. The one thing I know, I\u2019ve grown up in Sydney, I\u2019ve had many Filipino friends, they\u2019re very competitive,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the third quarter, we were up like 30 at half time and they were a better team than that too \u2013 our games against them had been close.<\/p>\n \u201cThen some things started to carry on where there was a bit of niggle stuff going and then I remember Chris (Goulding), Chris was cooking.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I remember we were just trying to give him the ball in all different positions. Then he\u2019d mentioned that the bloke standing next to him, who was one of the instigators of it, was pinching him and doing all these things to try and annoy him.\u201d<\/p>\n AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS BASKETBALL BRAWL WITH PHILLIPPINESSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n Chris Goulding was on fire with 20 points as tensions escalated. With the score at 79-48, physicality rose sharply when Philippines guard Roger Pogoy shirt fronted Goulding.<\/p>\n Kickert then elbowed Pogoy, prompting Andray Blatche, Jayson Castro and members of the Philippines bench to rush toward Kickert. Blatche attempted to throw a punch before Thon Maker blocked it, only to be struck by Terrence Romeo moments later.<\/p>\n For Shane Heal, who was commentating the game, the unfolding scenes were surreal.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess the first thing I remember was just being in shock. Matty Russell and I were just sitting in a little booth and it was just the two of us,\u201d Heal said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt must have been late at night and once the fight started, we didn\u2019t get any information but we had to carry it for what seemed like hours with no information. Just replays of what\u2019s going on and having to talk about every incident.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were in shock because obviously you just don\u2019t see basket brawls. Not like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Heal said the intensity had been evident well before the explosion.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no doubt there was a whole lot of feeling at the start of the game and it was a real physical game,\u201d Heal said.<\/p>\n Davis focussed on title after MVP loss | 00:58<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then, I guess the reaction of Kickert \u2013 his heart was in the right place because he\u2019s sticking up for a teammate.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it just felt like it was a bit unnecessary, particularly with seeing what happened after that and the way they reacted to it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was unbelievable. You just wouldn\u2019t imagine that something like that\u2019s going to happen between two national teams of all things.\u201d<\/p>\n For Cadee, the moment Goulding went down and Kickert threw the elbow was when everything spiralled.<\/p>\n \u201cI was right near it so out of the corner of my eye I saw Chris get floored and then I remember turning and next minute seeing Kicks floor him,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first sight, to be honest, I was like, oh geez \u2013 in terms of, all right, there\u2019s two unsportsmanlike fouls coming. That\u2019s normally the extent of it.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe everyone comes together and whatever, but then there was a moment where someone came in and had their fist clenched and I remember just thinking, wait, what?<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like that way in slow-mo \u2013 that next five seconds turned into 15 seconds where next minute there\u2019s punches thrown and it just felt like there were blue shirts everywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cThat stadium held, I think, 50,000 and they had at least 30,000 to 40,000 there.\u201d<\/p>\n AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS BASKETBALL BRAWL WITH PHILLIPPINESSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n What followed was chaos. Philippines players, coaches and officials rushed the court. Australian players were forced to defend themselves as punches were thrown from multiple directions.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom that chaotic scene you just spoke about, that\u2019s when it all kind of switched to absolute chaos because I just remember seeing blue shirts everywhere,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cI noticed pretty quickly \u2013 I\u2019m not a fighter at all \u2013 but no one was really trying to fight someone that was looking. It was more, who\u2019s not looking.<\/p>\n \u201cThen Sobey was right in front of me with two blokes trying to hammer fist him, so I tried to help him and then Thon pops up and Kicks pops up. It was honestly just a whole lot of nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember trying to find yellow jerseys to the stage where then we get back towards half court. I remember Luc Longley grabbing me and it felt like he probably lifted me three metres off the ground.<\/p>\n Watch the Australian Boomers face the Philippines in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe kind of grabbed me and was trying to grab whoever he could to put behind where he was standing.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the most distressing moments came when Goulding was trapped under a pile of Philippines players, officials and court side fans.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that moment, I think me and Longley almost together pointed and we saw Chris under the basket, you couldn\u2019t see him because of the signage,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen he proceeded to run down and kind of clear that way for Chris to be able to get up.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that one was probably almost the worst bit of the lot because that\u2019s when Sobey got a chair thrown at him and then one of their players that wasn\u2019t playing snuck around behind him and just absolutely crunched him in the jaw from behind.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the loudest hit I heard of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS BASKETBALL BRAWL WITH PHILLIPPINESSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n After order was eventually restored, officials reviewed footage for nearly 30 minutes before delivering their verdict.<\/p>\n A total of 13 players were ejected \u2013 nine from the Philippines and four from Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember us standing there waiting for the decision of what\u2019s going on being like, can we just get the f*** out of here,\u201d Cadee said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like it went forever because we\u2019re just standing there. It wasn\u2019t like we just stood on the sidelines \u2013 it was a really weird feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were people highly emotional about what had just gone on. Our staff didn\u2019t let anyone leave the bench. It was kind of like, you don\u2019t leave the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n For Heal, the delay only added to the madness of the night.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you start looking at some of the footage of, I think it was Goulding that was on the ground and then there\u2019s just layers of people and people coming in with chairs, trying to see whether spectators got involved and assistant coaches,\u201d Heal said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just total madness and us trying to fill time without knowing anything that was going on or what was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Heal recalled in 2018 seeing the haunting reaction on the face of Aussie veteran Matthew Dellavedova, who played a key role in calming things down.<\/p>\n