Chot Reyes blasts Marcus Douthit, claims he ‘quit’ on Gilas

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes was not a happy man after his team suffered a shocking and disappointing 77-68 loss to Qatar on Friday, September 26, during the opening day of the 2014 Asian Games men’s basketball quarterfinal round.

Reyes was particularly unhappy with naturalized Filipino big man Marcus Douthit, who finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds against the same team he torched for 19 markers and 14 boards during the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. 

Whether or not Reyes used the public to fuel his starting center with his comments – something he used to do frequently while he was a coach in the PBA – is still a question, but he held no punches back with the words he used. 

“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 reporter Patricia Hizon. “I don’t think it was an issue of fatigue. I think it was more of an issue of desire.” 

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. – coach Chot

— Patricia Hizon (@patriciahizon) September 26, 2014

Reyes went as far as to say that Douthit “quit” on Gilas, and that the entire team is “disappointed” with him.

Coach chot: all of us are disappointed at Marcus @spinph

— Reuben Terrado (@reubensports) September 26, 2014

Reyes also mentioned that Douthit had bad “body language” during the game.

Per Reuben Terrado of Spin.ph:

“I don’t know what happened. Towards the end of the first half, he was at the dugout watching a music video. He was the last to leave the dugout. He had a very bad body language. And Qatar pounced on him.”

Douthit’s performance has been uneven so far in the Asian Games’ men’s basketball tournament. In Philippines’ loss to Iran on Thursday, September 25, the big man put up just 10 points and 10 rebounds, and missed a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter that sealed the loss and was criticized by Reyes after the game.

“He was open but there’s a reason why he was open. That was the shot Iran wanted. When our shooters get denied, we keep running into trouble,” Reyes told Terrado.

Gilas led Qatar by three entering the half, 39-36, but was outplayed to start the third quarter. 

Qatar extended their advantage to as much as 12, 51-39 thanks to a 15-0 run as their coaching staff came out with the necessary advantage to steal momentum away from the Philippines, while the latter’s offense was held without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. – Rappler.com

Related Stories:

• Gilas Pilipinas trumps India to kick off Asian Games campaign
• Gilas Pilipinas falls to mighty Iran in Asian Games
• Gilas suffers shock loss to Qatar at Asian Games
• Gilas falls to South Korea as Asian Games medal hope fades
• Chot Reyes takes blame for disappointing Asian Games stint