Wanted: Back-up for Douthit

TOKYO – When naturalized player Marcus Douthit limped off the floor late in the second period of Gilas’ 79-63 loss to Qatar at the FIBA Asia Cup last Saturday, his value to Smart Gilas became dramatically evident.

Douthit, 32, sprained his left ankle in a rebound situation and had to be helped back to the bench by teammates Gabe Norwood and Sonny Thoss. Qatar was up, 28-24, when Douthit went down. Qatar took advantage of his absence to trigger a 6-2 run to end the quarter on top, 35-26.

With his ankle heavily retaped, Douthit came back to play in the second half. The wounded warrior refused to sit it out and battled courageously. He scored the first basket of the third quarter but it was clear the 6-10 center was nowhere near his fighting form. Douthit went scoreless in the fourth period as Qatar pulled away to win handily, 79-63.

Douthit wasn’t the only casualty in the game that settled third place at the Ota City General Gym. Ranidel de Ocampo and L. A. Tenorio both didn’t play in the fourth quarter. De Ocampo twisted his left ankle coming down from a layup while Tenorio strained his left hamstring. Neither injury was serious but coach Chot Reyes chose to avoid an aggravation.

Dr. George Canlas checked on the injured players and said there was no major damage. Tenorio previously complained of pain in his right elbow which was overextended in the Iran contest. Because of his heroics in the recent Jones Cup, Tenorio was a marked man throughout the FIBA Asia Cup.   

It was in the final period when Qatar crushed Gilas’ hopes of a comeback. Qatar drained five triples in the last 10 minutes. Gilas trimmed the lead to seven, 59-52, on Gary David’s two free throws but the PBA’s top local scorer missed a jumper that would’ve cut the margin to five. The lead was eight when Qatar broke loose with three straight triples to erect a whopping 17-point edge, 73-59. After David sank a triple, Qatar’s Trey Johnson iced it with a three-point play as Norwood fouled out with 2:28 left.

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Gilas assistant coach Ryan Gregorio said the rotation was severely compromised with Tenorio and De Ocampo unavailable and Douthit hobbling in the fourth quarter. “Coach Chot (Reyes) was down to six guys then Qatar got hot,” he said. Gregorio said bringing in Greg Slaughter or Junmar Fajardo to back up Douthit with three to five minutes a game is an option for the future. He said another point guard like Jayson Castro or Alex Cabagnot would also be useful.

Reyes said he wouldn’t mind Japeth Aguilar subbing for Douthit. “Slaughter and Fajardo have size but they’re not as quick as Japeth and we need quickness at the five spot,” said Reyes. “We could also use Kelly (Williams) to help Marcus out on the boards. Overall, I’m not disappointed with the players’ effort. But as I mentioned before the tournament, this is a new experience for our guys. In the Jones Cup, we played a round robin without do-or-die games. At the FIBA Asia Cup, we played in two knockout games in the quarterfinals and semifinals. I wanted to see how the players would react to the pressure, which guys would freeze or not. Now, I know. This was our first big test playing against tough national teams in Asia.”

Reyes said when Castro, Williams and Ryan Reyes are back healthy, they’ll be key pieces in the Gilas team. Another player who’ll likely be invited to reinforce Gilas is Marc Pingris.

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PBA commissioner Chito Salud flew in to witness Gilas’ last three games against Chinese-Taipei, Iran and Qatar. “This is a temporary setback,” he said. “We can’t be Asian champions overnight. It will take patience and perseverance. Winning the Jones Cup was a gift but playing in the FIBA Asia Cup was a learning experience for us because some of the guys got their first taste of playing knockout games in an international tournament. I think we could tweak the lineup a little bit and maybe, bring in three new players. The PBA will do its part in supporting coach Chot and the Gilas program.”

Iran wound up first in the competition with a perfect 7-0 record. Star forward Samad Nikkhah Bahrami predicted that the winner of the semifinal duel between Iran and the Philippines would go on to bag the crown – he was right. Runner-up was Japan with a 5-2 mark. Qatar was a surprise third despite a 3-4 record, losing to Iran, 85-75 in overtime, to Japan twice, 73-69 and 73-66 and Chinese-Taipei, 75-73. Qatar’s wins were over India, Lebanon and the Philippines.

Gilas finished fourth with a 4-3 mark, beating Lebanon, 78-68, Uzbekistan, 85-50, Macau, 98-46 and Chinese-Taipei, 75-68 and losing to China, 71-68, Iran, 77-60 and Qatar, 79-63. Down the ladder were in order, China, Chinese-Taipei, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, India and Macau.