MANILA, Philippines - Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Marcus Douthit rues missing the chance to match up with 2013 FIBA Asia Championship MVP Hamed Haddadi in the team’s 71-85 loss to Iran at the MOA Arena in Pasay Sunday.
Douthit aggravated his calf injury in the second quarter of Gilas Pilipinas’ semifinal match-up against Korea and was limping prior to Sunday's game.
But he said skipping the penultimate game is worse.
"It hurts. It hurts more than the injury itself. I see our guys playing so hard out there and I can't do nothing about it," said Douthit, a Providence College product.
The 33-year-old big man, who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Draft, gave credit to Iran and particularly Haddadi, who wound up with 29 points and 16 boards.
"Haddadi really hurt us a lot and he played a good game. I just wished I could've been out there with the team. Iran definitely went to him when they needed him," said Douthit.
Despite the setback, Douthit is happy with what the team has accomplished and bared that he is raring to play in the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain.
"I will play next year. The objective was to get to the top three and we finished second so we accomplished our goal in this tournament," he said.