Gilas looks ahead to Olympic quest

MANILA, Philippines - The sacrifice of benching naturalized player Marcus Douthit in the Incheon game against South Korea will pay off in instilling discipline as Gilas looks forward to the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics by winning the FIBA Asia Championships in China next year.

Gilas coach Chot Reyes said the other day he made the tough decision of keeping Douthit out of action as a lesson for the future. “I didn’t scold him,” said Reyes. “I just thought Marcus quit playing against Qatar. That was the most important game of the tournament for us, not the game against South Korea. If we beat Qatar, we could’ve relaxed a bit against South Korea.”

Reyes said in a midnight meeting with the team after losing to Qatar, Douthit’s teammates left it up to him to decide what disciplinary action to take. “They agreed to abide by whatever I decide and my decision was to bench Marcus against South Korea,” said Reyes. “How could I let the incident go without doing anything about it?”

Reyes, however, declined to provide details of what went on at the meeting. An insider later disclosed that Douthit tried to explain his lethargy and apologized to the team. “Marcus felt bad that he was taken out of the game in the first quarter after making three straight shots,” the source said. “When he went to the bench, the score was close. But without Marcus, Gilas went up by seven. And when he got back, Qatar pulled away. He just lost his focus. At halftime, he was last to leave the dugout and looked like he was watching a video on his phone. On the court, it seemed like he stopped playing. Qatar attacked his defense, first from the outside then inside. The perception was he deserted the team and that’s a severe infraction.”

Douthit didn’t even join his teammates at halfcourt for the customary wave to the fans after the Qatar game. On the way back to the dugout, fans noticed Jimmy Alapag berating Douthit like he let the team down.

“It’s ironic that I really pushed for Marcus’ contract to be renewed,” said Reyes. “Remember that his teammates don’t get paid to play for Gilas. He’s the only one who gets paid to play for the national team and that’s triple the max of a PBA player. That’s his job, to play his best every game. In the World Cup, you see teams like the US and Argentina splitting time among players. Imagine if a player starts demanding time or telling the coach how to play him, that would create a big problem. Marcus mentioned it was too severe a punishment to bench him in the most important game of the tournament but I told him Qatar was the more important game.”

Reyes bit the bullet in the South Korea encounter and Gilas nearly defied the odds, blowing a 16-point lead to lose, 97-95. For the next game against Kazakhstan, Reyes said Douthit’s teammates appealed to reinstate the 6-11 center and he acceded.

“We can’t lose sight of our ultimate goal which is to qualify for the Olympics,” said Reyes. “We won’t sacrifice our long-term goals for any one player or any one game. We’re looking ahead to winning the FIBA Asia Championships next year and qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.”

The Philippines had sought to bid for the hosting rights of next year’s FIBA Asia Championships but the FIBA Asia Board recently decided to award the privilege to China. Only the winner of the FIBA Asia Championships will represent Asia at the Olympics where 12 countries, including host Brazil, are competing.

Gilas’ failure to preserve a big lead down the stretch proved to be its undoing in Incheon. The same meltdown haunted Gilas at the recent FIBA World Cup in Spain. At the Asian Games, the Philippines lost a 19-point lead and beat India by nine after being outscored, 23-15, in the fourth period. Gilas led by seven in the fourth stanza but bowed to Iran, 68-63. The Philippines frittered away an early eight-point edge to lose to Qatar, 77-68. Against Kazakhstan, Gilas was up by 18 and won, 67-65. In five straight games, Gilas was outscored in the fourth quarter.

“Fast start but slow finishes could be an indication of fatigue since Gilas was coming off playing in Spain but Iran and South Korea also played at the World Cup,” said a basketball expert. “Gilas surprised teams in Spain as an unknown entity but in Asia, Gilas is well-scouted. Closing out games is critical. That’s something the coaching staff must work on. We need to know how to put tough opponents away. If only Andray Blatche was ruled eligible to play in Incheon, the Philippines would’ve surely gone to the semifinals and perhaps, the finals. Without a naturalized player, Gilas nearly toppled host South Korea. The good news is Blatche will be able to play for the Philippines at the FIBA Asia Championships next year and he’ll lead the charge to bring the country back to the Olympics in basketball for the first time since 1972.”