Gilas Vs Boomers: The Aftermath Part 1

It's been less than 24 hours after the "Brawl In Bocaue" (aka Gilas Vs Boomers), and the aftermath of of the incident has proven to be as vicious as the brawl itself.

Here are the first three things to watch out for:

Thing #1 Racism.
It's alive and kicking (hard). I've never seen so many racist tweets and posts bombard my feed in so short a time. The Aussie contingent (as well as several other nationalities like Lebanese, American, Singaporeans etc...) on Twitter and Facebook have been pretty vicious with their comments, with "monkey" and "dog" the most prevalent ones.

The Filipino netizens have hit back as well, but most of their racist taunts have centered on Autralia's historical status as a former penal colony. It's pretty darned bad too.

Thing #2 Consequences.
We already know that FIBA has launched their investigation on the incident. I expect FIBA to come down hard on Gilas, especially Pogoy, Abueva, Cruz, Jalalon, Blatche, and most unfortunately, Castro.

On the Aussie side, Kickert might be the only one in any real danger of being punished, although Goulding might get a warning.

On an aisde, Goulding's representatives have been making noises that, if they deem the FIBA sanctions too light, they might file legal cases against the Gilas players for the brawl. I'm not sure how far that would prosper but that's certainly cause for concern for our players.

And then, there's our 2023 hosting gig. I do think there's a realistic chance that it gets pulled out. It's the strongest statement FIBA can make and I think there is a chance they make it. If that happens, that would be just awful.

Thing #3 PBA Politics.
To be clear, I do not in any way or form condone or support the brawl. I do find it distateful, though, that several players of a rival congolomerate have publicly disparaged their fellow players. In my opinion, a little professional courtesy would have been nice. But obviously, the politics of the PBA take precedence. Which might actually work in the PBA's favor. I'm guessing Castro, Romeo, Cruz, Abueva, et al will all have a little bit more motivation when they face these players.

That being said, 24 hours ago, I said it was a great time to be a Filipino sportsfan. My position on that is now the complete opposite.

Thoughts on The Gilas 12 Vs Chinese-Taipei

The twelve men who will play for Gilas Pilipinas versus Chinese-Taipei has just been revealed.

Coach Chot Reyes has named Jayson Castro, Andray Blatche, JuneMar Fajardo, Terence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, Matthew Wright, Gabe Norwood, Roger Pogoy, Jio Jalalon, and Allein Malicsi to our twelve man lineup.

Left out of the lineup are Baser Amer, Carl Bryan Cruz and Gilas Cadet Troy Rike.

Here are three thoughts on our lineup:

Thought #1 No surprises here.
The twelve named were the most obvious choices. Baser Amer is still new to the program and has not proven he should be picked over Jalalon (who wouldn't have been picked either had Kiefer Ravena been available), Carl Bryan Cruz is basically Matthew Wright-light, and Troy Rike is only with the team to further expedite his entry to future Gilas lineups.