Phl 5 can win SEAG gold minus Douthit

MANILA, Philippines - Their four-peat mission in the UAAP already accomplished, Ateneo coach Norman Black shifts his focus to next month’s Southeast Asian Games, confident his squad has a real good shot at the title with or without Marcus Douthit.

The 6-11 Douthit is part of the 18-man pool of mostly collegiate stars Black has assembled for the Games but the naturalized center is reportedly playing for the Foshan Dralions in the Chinese league as import.

To remedy Douthit’s likely absence, Black said they will possibly ask Aldrech Ramos of Far Eastern to rejoin the pool to reinforce 6-11 Greg Slaughter of Ateneo and 6-6 Ian Sangalang of San Sebastian in their frontline.

“I think we’ll have a very good chance, particularly if Marcus Douthit plays. He’ll give us size, interior presence in offense. I believe in the philosophy that if you can win the battle inside the paint, you have the chance of winning. But if we won’t have Marcus Douthit, we still have Slaughter and Sangalang,” Black said during yesterday’s SCOOP sa Kamayan.

Providing firepower are Chris Tiu of Smart Gilas, Ronald Pascual of San Sebastian, Jake Pascual and Garvo Lanete of San Beda, RR Garcia of FEU, Cliff Hodge and Chris Ellis of NLEX, Jeric Teng of UST, Bobby Ray Parks of National U, Kiefer Ravena, Emman Monfort, Nico Salva and Justin Chua of Ateneo, and Fil-Ams Chris Newsome and Keith Jensen.

The pool will go full-blast on its training beginning Monday all the way to the Nov. 11-22 SEAG. Black said they will trim the roster down to 14 by the time they leave for Jakarta and name the Final 12 during the team managers’ meeting.

“We have a history of winning and it seems we have the most talented players in this part of the world. But you can’t bank on that alone during the tournament; you have to get the players to blend and execute your game plan to have a chance of winning,” he said.

Black, who had previously steered an all-pro team to fourth place in the 1994 Asian Games, admired the commitment of his crew to the cause.

“Everybody’s committed to the SEA Games so I don’t see a problem with chemisty. And when you have players committed to a common goal – the championship – normally they’re willing to sacrifice for the good of the team,” he said.

The multi-titled mentor said the pool will work on their defensive sets in the last four weeks leading to the SEA Games, as always expecting their defense to fuel their high-octane offense.