HEALING THE WOUND

Game today:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

7:30 p.m. — Philippines vs Australia

For the first time in eight years, Gilas Pilipinas will host the Australians for a crucial battle in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers tonight at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Action starts at 7:30 p.m. with the Filipinos expected to go all out not just to gain redemption from their painful 66-69 loss to New Zealand last Thursday, but also to prove how their basketball program had improved since the last time they hosted the Australians on 2 July 2018 that ended in a bloody, free-for-all-melee at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

The brawl, which was triggered by Roger Pogoy’s hard foul on Chris Goulding in the third quarter of their 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers match, is considered as the darkest chapter in the history of international basketball.

But a lot of things happened since then with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) launching a massive revamp in its program, leaving June Mar Fajardo, Troy Rosario and assistant coach Jong Uichico as the only remaining member of that infamous squad that is still in the current roster.

In an interview with ESPN, Basketball Australia executive general manager Jason Smith assured that the sour relationship caused by the infamous brawl between the Filipinos and the Aussies is now a thing of the past. In fact, as soon as they learned that they will play in Manila, they took some measures to make sure that no unnecessary incidents will happen again.

“Once we knew what the draw was, and where we’d be playing, we immediately reached out to the federation and started discussing what we could do to support each other,” said Smith, who is closely working with SBP executive director Erika Dy and Basketball Australia’s general manager for government and international relations Tristan Russell.

“There was an agreement that we would work together on what we could to to provide an awareness of the relationship behind the scenes between the two federations, and that we’re working together to mend the past and progress from there.”

With the wound created by that dark episode slowly healing, Gilas can now focus on basketball as it chases a big victory that will send it to the next round of this prestigious continental event.

Gilas coach Tim Cone said his main focus at this point is not their bitter history with the Boomers but how to recover from their painful loss to the Tall Blacks, who did a marvelous job neutralizing their naturalized player Justin Brownlee while controlling the shaded lanes.

“That’s past history. Those sort of flare-ups happen every once in a while,” said Cone, whose side has yet to beat Australia since posting a razor-thin 101-100 win in the FIBA World Cup in Puerto Rico in 1974.

“It’s not common. It won’t be common for us. Again, that’s just past history. How many times has that happened in the course of Gilas? One time out of how many games they have played over the last 20 years.”

“To me, it’s not even really worth talking or worry about.”

With Brownlee well-defended and Kai Sotto — the only Filipino who has deep knowledge of Australian basketball after playing for the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League for two years — not in uniform, Cone admitted that he has to make some adjustments to avoid suffering the same fate they had when the taller, faster Aussies beat them in the FIBA Asia Cup last year, 84-60.

Among the players he expects to further deliver is Juan Gomez de Liaño, who made a lot of heads turn with 10 points and two assists in his first game with Gilas Pilipinas in two years.

Aside from Gomez de Liaño, Cone is also hoping to draw solid numbers from Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez, who combined for 31 points against New Zealand, as well as from Scottie Thompson, Quentin Millora-Brown and Brownlee to finally pull off an earthshaking upset.

On the other hand, Boomers coach John Rillie, an Athens Olympics veteran, is bringing in only 10 players but they are oozing with momentum following their masterful conquest of Guam.

Against Jericho Cruz and the Guamanians, 6-foot-6 Tanner Krebs fired 28 points while 6-foot- 4 Elijah Pepper tallied 23 on top of some crucial baskets in that pivotal second-quarter breakaway.

Two-time World Cup veteran and Olympian Nick Kay, the team’s senior statesman at 33 and was also part of the Boomers side that brawled with the Filipinos, had 10 points and 11 rebounds while Tom Wilson compiled 11 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists to underscore the firepower of these mighty Australians.