Just how many different threads do we need to discuss the same incident?????

Probably they just wanted to hit somebody.. anyone. Dogs.

Not condoning any of the actions against them but both Goulding and Sobey generally play with an attitude that can get under the skin of opposition players.

Particularly when they start trash talking.

these phillipino players are all cowards, they would not dare to target a big guy like Thon Maker, so they have to find a weak target like Sobey , who is only 6'40

Carl, just shut up. You have no idea.

Mate the tiny pecker who is 5'9 super man punch kickert who is 6'10. I saw kickert running. No balls at all.

My friend is living there at the moment. He will be pretending not to be Aussie for a while because you don't know how they'll react to you now. He could get Sobeyed.

Where were police, security, officials?
If i were Sobey,Golding or any other Boomer player I'd be exploring legal options against FIBA for having an unsafe workplace !!

A

I didn't think Kickert was a coward in this situation. It’s easy to look back in hindsight. In the moment, Kickert saw his team mate eat two elbows to the face and fall to the ground. In real time, it likely appeared the elbow to Goulding was worse than it actually was.

Kickert certainly over reacted with the elbow and deserves a multi game suspension. But he was attempting to match the force being dished out by the other team - elbows to the face. The fact that he connected cleaner or is a bigger man doesn’t change the bottom line.

As far the running, give me a break. He wore the Superman punch and then squared up and was about to lay the little fellow and out when he was king hit from behind by two players. He falls on a chair under the basket and then gets up and tries to square up again in the area behind the basket. Starts eating blows from multiple people back there.

That area behind the basket was flat out dangerous. See what happened to Goulding. Kickert was getting king hit left and right and felt himself getting swarmed. He was a few seconds away from being on the deck getting swamped out like Goulding did.

Sending this, he booked it to the Boomers side of the court so his back was not as exposed. Tagged a few guys on his way and squared up again once he got there.

Anyone critiquing that move has never been in a fight. It was the smart thing to do. People acting like he king hit the guy and then sprinted away are misrepresenting both his actions and the scenario.

Given the level of violence being exerted on the Boomers, they could have used a few more guys willing to throw a punch. The flying kicks weren’t very helpful.

Also, at the point the bench notices Goulding getting stomped out but the guys on the floor don’t,I think the right move is to leave the bench. That was a flat out dangerous situation that outweighed Fiba considerations.

Again, I don’t condone the elbow. Kickert deserves a multi game suspension and maybe shouldn’t play for the Boomers again (especially considering his age and lack of form these days). But people saying he has no balls or misguided. Elbow aside, he was the only Boomer willing to fight in a situation that flat out required fighting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nVUth1m5Dvs

The tape doesn't lie.

15 seconds - Kicks wears the superman punch he doesnt see coming. The opposing big guy also throws a dig to his face that partially lands. Kicks realizes the fight is on.

16 seconds - Kicks sets himself under the basket and squares up with the little guy who had super punched him. As he is about to get his punch off, Kicks is absolutely clocked from his blind side. The force of the blow knocks him onto a chair under the basket.

20 seconds - Kicks gets up off the chair, squares up as two guys are attacking him, and gets his first punch of the fight off. He connects and drops the first guy coming at him.

21-22 seconds - Kicks backs out of the frame as the second guy comes at him. He is squared up with that guy and the guy in turn squares up with him as they both go out of frame. The first guy who got dropped gets up and continues going after Kicks. 2 on 1 at that point.

22-23 seconds - You see two Philippino bench players sprinting towards Kicks location. So now at least 4 on 1 scenario. And if the Goulding bystanders are any indication, very likely some fans and spectators were beginning to get froggy with Kickert at that point. It’s at this point that Kicks decides to get out of dodge before he is swarmed and defenseless.

25-26 seconds - Kickert re enters the frame after running from the area behind the basket. Once he feels more secure, he turns around to a backpedal and actually squares up to 3 opposing players who are pursuing him. Kicks gets some punches off and trades blows with them. One guy trails off towards another Boomer, so its still a 2 on 1 situation. Kicks is facing them as 2 staff / officials approach him from behind. At that point, you clearly couldn’t trust anyone not wearing a green singlet. Kickert is in an at best 2 on 1 situation and at b worst 4 on 1. He senses this and books it towards the Boomer side of the court.

29 seconds - an opposing player attempts to intercept Kicks and Kicks gets a punch off at him.

30 seconds - Kicks makes it to safe ground on the Boomers side of the court. He turns his back at an angle towards the Boomers bench. Longley is now in Kicks vicinity decreasing the chances of another brutal king hit like Kicks suffered at the 16 seconds mark. And for now the fifth time, Kicks squares up with his adversaries and even gives them a little Ali shuffle taunt. Tellingly, now that it’s not a jumping / swarming situation, the opposing players don’t engage.


Call Kicks what you want. A dick. Arrogant. Soft on rebounds and defense. Over the hill. But nobody who actually watches that video can call him a coward or a man who can’t handle himself in a fistfight. It’s pretty clear if he got his feet set and back secure he would have dropped anyone on that team. When the sh** hit the fan, Kicks kept his head and was game.

He was also one of the first ones back down the court when they realized what was happening with Goulding and was the player who walked Goulding back to the Boomers bench in what was still a dangerous and volatile situation.

Outside of the initial elbow, Kicks has nothing to be ashamed of.

KB, Kickerts initial elbow absolutely warrants a suspension and was the wrong thing to do. But as both Lemanins and Longley pointed out, the context was that Goulding had just gotten blatantly struck in the face with elbows / forearms twice in a matter of seconds. Kickert is the de facto enforcer, and a response was clearly warranted. As Kickert and virtually everyone concedes, his response was over the top and unwarranted. A simple shove would have been sufficient. But sh** happens in the heat of the moment and Kicks ended up hitting that guy way too hard. He should and will be punished, and as he indicated he accepts that he was in the wrong.

Kicks can and should be criticized for that. My point of contention is with the folks trying to pile on with the "hes a running coward" narrative. Because even if that was a cowards punch, Kicks did not act cowardly in the aftermath.

"The first punch and the whole incident relates to Kickert's first punch which any court in Australia would define as a Coward Punch"

A coward forearm to be precise, but just as forceful and cowardly. Massive overreaction to Goulding's dramatic and premeditated swandive.

Sorry but Kickert does have a history of stupid behavior, and this incident was him showing what a moron he can be.

What exactly should Maker be warned about? Next time let your teammates get king hit and allow them to have their heads stomped whilst on the ground? There is no place for fighting in basketball and the FIBA rules exist for a reason.

But under no legal system on the planet does someone have an obligation to be passive and allow themselves or their mates to get the crap kicked out of them. If anything, someone should teach the kid how to throw a punch in case he ever finds himself in a desperate situation again.

Or a kick.

Sign him up for karate classes since has has the leap to go with a kick.

Forget a basketball court. In that situation, where over a dozen men are viciously attacking you and your aquantances, you have a complete moral and legal justification to defend yourself. Which is what Maker made an albeit poor attempt at doing. It's not as if he was using his knee to break down the opposing teams 3-2 zone. You sincerely think due to FIBA guidelines he should have stood there helplessly and waited for the beating of himself and his teammates to commence? Insane.