The brawl that broke out between the Australian Boomers and the Philippines' national basketball team has made headlines over the past few days, and much of the discussion has been around and who is at fault.
The Boomers led the game 79-48 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, and a forgotten fact is that during the brawl, the Boomer’s bench stayed put and didn’t get involved in the fight.
If they had left the bench to play a role in the brawl, the Boomers would have been disqualified from the game, adding another loss to their World Cup qualification campaign.
The bench has received some criticism for participating in the brawl, but star player Chris Goulding has emphasised that the discipline that they showed, won them the game.
“There’s been a lot of backlash to the guys on the bench because they didn’t come off the court,” said Goulding on SEN Breakfast.
“In the end that discipline that we showed as a team is what won us the game.
“If we ran off the bench, everyone would have been disqualified and that’s another loss against us in our World Cup qualifying,” he added.
“Although it must have been hard for them as our mates to try and protect their teammates, they did the right thing, the discipline they showed was absolutely amazing.”
Milwaukee Bucks point guard and Aussie veteran Matthew Dellavedova was one of the players on the bench making sure the players stayed put.
Goulding has revealed what was going through his head when he was attacked by the Filipino bench - players, coaches and staff.