Gilas goes for broke against Korean archrivals

INCHEON, South Korea – With their backs against the wall, Gilas Pilipinas so-called “Puso” (heart) will be tested against the revenge-seeking Koreans in what is expected to be an emotional game in a hostile environment here Saturday.

The tables will be turned as a pre-dominantly Korean crowd is expected to fill the Samsan World Gymnasium in their 2 p.m.  (1 p.m. Manila time) clash.

Filipinos based in Korea and even those who planed in to this city to watch Gilas are scrambling for tickets as they are reportedly sold out.

With the Qatar stunner on Friday, tension has gripped Gilas which is threatening to break them apart and dimmed their slim hopes of advancing to the medal round.

Gilas coach Chot Reyes called out naturalized big man Marcus Douthit for his “poor” performance against Qatar.

"If he wants to go home, he can go home," said Reyes referring to the naturalized center.

"If he wants to play, we'll play him. But I have to ask the players because they were really upset," Reyes added.

Douthit shunned the media for interviews following Reyes' tirades in the post-game press conference and even the other Gilas players were not available for comments opting to focus on their next assignment.

Korea is the farthest on Reyes' mind on the eve of their quarterfinal match but he was clearly perplexed by the team's collective poor play against Qatar.

"I'm not worried who we are playing (against) but I'm more worried about our team.  We gotta figure out who's coming out and who's willing to play.

"It wasn't only Marcus but there were a bunch of players who were not ready to play from the start (today)," Reyes said.

They barely have less than one day to figure it all out.

"It can't happen. We can't afford that. We might have been complete in number but we were not complete in spirit," Reyes added.

They really can't especially against the host team, which has an axe to grind against Gilas after losing in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Men's Championship in Manila last year.

Reyes needs all Gilas players to be in the same page with him if they want to avoid an embarrassing exit in this tournament where they were tipped as one of the favorites after a competitive showing in the FIBA World Cup.