MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes on Tuesday shrugged off those who criticized him for his instructions to the national team during a timeout in their FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier against Australia.

Reyes was caught on video exhorting the Gilas players to “hit somebody, put somebody on his a**” during a break in action of the contest.

Soon after, the game devolved into a brawl, with Gilas players rushing to the court. Nine Filipinos were ejected and the Boomers won by default when the Philippines was left with just one player with 1:57 to go in the third quarter.

• READ: Gilas loses to Australia by default after fight-marred game

Reyes’s words during the timeout have since gone viral, with some wondering if the Gilas coach had actively instructed his players to instigate the melee.

Coach Chot Reyes on Gilas' last timeout before the brawl: "Hit somebody. Put somebody on his ass."

— Anton Tioseco (@antontioseco) July 2, 2018

But Reyes was quick to dismiss those allegations during an appearance on Sports Center.

“Anyone who understands basketball, if you take offense in that statement, you don't know basketball,” he said.

Moreover, Reyes pointed out that his complete instructions was to give up a foul in transition so that Australia could not score any easy buckets.

“Foul early, don't give a lay-up. Foul early, hit somebody, put him down so that the referees will call a foul,” he explained.

This, Reyes reiterated, was simply basketball terminology.

“It's basketball. For me, I'm not even bothered by all the bashers and the negative feedback that I'm getting on that. Every coach that you ask will tell you, that's basketball,” he insisted.

A former Gilas player, Larry Fonacier, had already come to Reyes’ defense on Twitter. The NLEX veteran clarified that Reyes did not give out a “direct order to hit in a dirty way.”

“He always uses this term when he feels his team is not matching the opponents’ physicality,” Fonacier explained. “That’s all.”

Just to put this into context, being a player of coach for so many years, he always uses this term when he feels his team is not matching the opponents’ physicality. That’s all. It is not a direct order to hit in a dirty way. https://t.co/iAnsMAMxO5

— Larry Fonacier (@larryfo12) July 2, 2018

Reyes was grateful for Fonacier for his support, saying: “I appreciate Larry for coming to my defense, and I think even Rudy Hatfield said that.”

“Better than me talking, I think it's better for the players to do the talking,” he added.

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