Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes minced no words for naturalized center Marcus Douthit after the team absorbed a 77-68 defeat to Qatar on Friday, putting the Philippines' medal Asian Games medal hopes in jeorpady.

 

"I'm gonna ask Marcus, if he doesn't wanna play, we'll go all-Filipino. If he wants to go home, he can go home," Reyes told reporters after the game.

 

Douthit struggled on defense against Qatari center Mohd Yousuf Mohamed, who nailed five three-pointers to spark his team's uprising in the third quarter. Douthit's inability to defend forced Reyes to go long stretches in the second half with a small-ball lineup, with undersized forwards Marc Pingris and Ranidel De Ocampo manning the Gilas frontline.

 

But Reyes said it wasn't just Douthit who seemeed to be not ready for the game, noting other players were as well.

 

Gilas will figure in virtual must-win contests on Saturday against South Korea and Sunday against Kazakhstan to try to keep their hopes for a semis seat alive. — JST, GMA News