Douthit banners re-tooled Gilas in FIBA Asia Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Andray Blatche's debut with Gilas Pilipinas has to wait a little longer.

Despite Blatche finally being granted a Filipino citizenship last month, the national men's team will still play with old reliable Marcus Douthit when it competes in the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China from July 11-19.

The 34-year old Douthit will banner a re-tooled Gilas team which features a mix of FIBA Asia Men's Championship veterans and new faces.

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Joining Douthit in Wuhan joust are holdovers LA Tenorio, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David, Japeth Aguilar, Junemar Fajardo and Beau Belga.

Gilas coach Chot Reyes opted to rest FIBA Asia Mythical Five member Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Larry Fonacier, Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood. Instead, he will bring in Jared Dillinger, Jay Washington, Paul Lee and cadet players Kevin Alas and Garvo Lanete.

Washington is the latest addition to the national pool whom Reyes wants to play as 'stretch four', a role which De Ocampo played during the Gilas' silver medal run in the FIBA Asia Championship last year. The GlobalPort forward has only started practicing with the national men's team last week.

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Gilas is bracketed with FIBA Asia Men's Championship group stage tormentor Chinese Taipei and old rival Jordan, now being handled by former Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

The grudge rematch with Chinese Taipei will happen right in their opening match on July 12 followed by Uzbekistan (July 13) and Singapore (July 14) before winding up their group stage assignment against Toroman's Jordan on July 15.

All Gilas' games will be aired exclusively on TV5.

Bunched in the other group are China, FIBA Asia Champions Iran, Japan, India and Indonesia.

The top four teams in each group will advance in the crossover quarterfinals.

There will be a one-day break on July 16 before the tournament resumes with the quarterfinals on July 17, semifinals on July 18 and finals on July 19. The winner of the tournament will automatically qualify for the next year's FIBA Asia Championship.