WUHAN, China — One of the reasons why Smart-Gilas Pilipinas is playing so well in the FIBA-Asia Championship is because of the presence of naturalized center Marcus Douthit.
The 6-foot-11Douthit, without a doubt, is the heart and soul of the national team.

Smart-Gilas reached the knockout quarterfinal round of the Asian championship with a 5-1 record, including a clean sweep of the second round following impressive wins against Jordan (72-64), Japan (83-76) and Syria (75-52).

The Philippines is playing Taiwan at presstime.

Douthit has averaged 18.6 points and 10.5 rebounds in the tournament serving as the qualifier for next year’s London Games.

His best game so far was against Japan when he poured in 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

“We understand that Philippines, without good big guy will never do something on FIBA-Asia,” said Smart-Gilas Serbian mentor Rajko Toroman. “Because we’re small, that’s the reason why we got him. He’s a big impact to our team.”

Douthit, a native of Syracuse (New York) who was picked by the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2004 Rookie Draft of the NBA but played professional basketball in Russia, was recruited by Toroman back in 2010 as the fourth import of Smart-Gilas.

Impressed by Douthit’s performance, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas quickly worked for his naturalization papers, which was approved only last May. He missed representing the country in the Asian Games last year in Guangzhou (China).

Toroman has only fine words for Douthit’s performance, saying: “He is very skilled offensively. He is very clever and very creative for his size and he’s doing a great job.”

In the last two staging of the FIBA-Asia, the national team has relied on local talent, the likes of Fil-Ams Asi Taulava, Erick Menk and Sonny Thoss, who went to battle against the much taller heftier opponents that includes Jordan.

In 2007 in Tokushima, Japan during the Olympic qualifier for Beijing Games, Jordan eliminated the SMC-Team Pilipinas in the preliminary round, and was the tormentor of the 2009 Powerade-Team Pilipinas as it dealt the Nationals a setback in their quarterfinal game.

source: Waylon Galvez -MB