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The Final Score: The difference between Marcus Douthit and CJ Giles


To naturalize a player is an admission of need. Maybe it's more of a want. But the luxury becomes necessity in the context of ambition. One can say a Philippine Men's Basketball Team can succeed without a naturalized 6'11" center, like Marcus Douthit or CJ Giles. But it's hard to say having one lessens our chances of winning. Not when we see 6'7" guys on other teams playing power-forward and hitting threes. Not when opponents are likewise busy naturalizing 7-footers to complement their 6'8" forwards. Giles had to leave Gilas. He's with Duhok of Iraq now. It's what striving basketball teams do; make tough decisions. Douthit, on the other hand, has to stay. It's what ambition, the kind which disregards what anatomy and convention suggest, demands. "There is no doubt that CJ Giles is a good player," Gilas Head Coach Rajko Toroman says. "The problem with CJ Giles was his attitude. You can see what he has done with his career - Philippines, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia. There is no doubt about his skills. Very, very skilled player who can jump, who can shoot the ball. But it's really not about his skills but about his behavior." In Tuesday's game between Smart Gilas and Duhok, 31-year-old Douthit and 25-year-old Giles punctuate the importance of height. Gilas needs Douthit to defend against guys like Giles. Duhok needs Giles to defend guys like Douthit. It must be easy for Toroman to watch Giles sit on someone else's bench, hear Giles give some other head coach a hard time. Giles reportedly liked to party too much when he was with Gilas in 2009. Giles reportedly still likes too party just as hard in 2011. If Duhok doesn't mind, neither do I. Even if Duhok Coach Fikrat Toma Abdul Ahad suddenly takes offense, decides to part ways with Giles because of CJ's nightlife, another team will surely hire the former L.A. Laker. So he can score against guys just like him. So he can defend against naturalized centers just like Douthit. "Marcus Douthit is a very different player," Toroman says. "He's smart. His attitude is good. He's practicing good with the team. Marcus is living the normal life of a professional player. That's very good for us. Marcus also has more experience than CJ Giles. Experience and attitude is on the side of Marcus." Toroman has a naturalized center who won't give him fits. At least not as much as Giles did. Against Duhok, Douthit tallies 14 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. Against Smart Gilas, Giles records 20 points and 23 rebounds. Toroman scores his third win of the tournament. Douthit and Giles man-hug at the end of a grueling contest. There seems to be a world of difference between the two. Yet they punch the clock, in another game, against another team, in one of many tournaments, to meet the different demands of being the "one" to help his team win it all. - GMA News

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