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Australia's Kickert regrets role in brawl with Gilas Pilipinas

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/07/04/20180704_australia.jpg"/><figcaption>Australian basketball player Daniel Kickert arrives at Brisbane airport on July 4, two days after their FIBA World Cup Asian qualifying game against the Philippines. Patrick Hamilton, AFP</figcaption></figure></div>Australian big man Daniel Kickert has expressed regret for his role in the <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/basketball/news/2018/07/02/fiba-gilas-australia-match-ends-ugly-brawl-43829">Boomers&#x27; brawl with Gilas Pilipinas</a> during their FIBA World Cup qualifying game last Monday at the Philippine Arena.Kickert was accused by the Philippine team of shoving Gilas players during warm-ups, and taking cheap shots at the Filipinos. It was his elbow on Roger Pogoy with four minutes left in the third quarter that triggered the fracas.&quot;I think I overstepped a little bit with my response to the escalation in the game,&quot; the 35-year-old <a href="http://tv5.espn.com/video/clip?id=23991524">Kickert admitted</a> upon the Boomers&#x27; arrival in Australia on Wednesday morning. &quot;I regret those things.&quot;Kickert said the entire situation was &quot;regrettable.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/basketball/news/2018/07/04/luc-longley-blames-chot-reyes-fiba-violence-43905">READ: Luc Longley blames Chot Reyes for FIBA violence</a></li></ul>&quot;I was put in a position I think where I obviously made an action which is regrettable, and unfortunate,&quot; he also said. &quot;It… would have been a good win, I think, it ended poorly with a bit of a controversial issue, obviously.&quot;Kickert&#x27;s elbow on Pogoy was in response to the Filipino players&#x27; hard foul on Chris Goulding. From there, the Gilas squad rushed the court, with Goulding eventually being swarmed by several members of the Philippine team including assistant coach Jong Uichico.Both Kickert and Goulding were thrown out of the game along with two of their teammates. Nine Gilas players were ejected, and Australia won by default when the Philippines was left with just a single player with 1:57 to play in the third frame.Members of Gilas Pilipinas had tagged Kickert as the instigator of the entire brawl, with head coach Chot Reyes pointing to his antics during the warm-ups as well as his &quot;cheap shot&quot; on Pogoy. The players themselves stressed that they only sought to defend Pogoy from the much bigger Kickert when they rushed to the court.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/03/18/gilas-players-say-sorry-as-they-look-to-move-on-from-brawl">READ: Gilas players say ‘sorry’, as they look to move on from brawl</a></li>	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/02/18/chot-says-brawl-absolutely-unacceptable-but-defends-gilas-players">READ: Chot says brawl ‘absolutely unacceptable’ but defends Gilas players</a></li></ul>Kickert, who plays for the Sydney Kings in the National Basketball League (NBL), offered no comments on the actions of the Philippine team and instead left his fate up to FIBA.&quot;I&#x27;m gonna let FIBA do everything they need to do to take the time, go through the process and come to the answers they see fit and bring down the sanctions that they bring down,&quot; he said.&quot;I&#x27;m gonna step back and let FIBA do what they wanna do.&quot;For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

Australian big man Daniel Kickert has expressed regret for his role in the Boomers' brawl with Gilas Pilipinas during their FIBA World Cup qualifying game last Monday at the Philippine Arena.

Australian big man Daniel Kickert has expressed regret for his role in the Boomers' brawl with Gilas Pilipinas during their FIBA World Cup qualifying game last Monday at the Philippine Arena.