Douthit putback gives Gilas a win over visiting Korean pro team

Douthit putback gives Gilas a win over visiting Korean pro team

by rick olivares

“Play the game!” yelled Smart Gilas assistant coach Allan Gregorio as SK Knights forward Beek In Son charged Mark Barroca for what the Korean thought was a hard foul. “This is not a taekwondo tournament!”

The friendly game between the Philippine national team and the visiting Korean pro basketball club was anything but friendly. The Filipinos had been used to playing the rough and tumble Koreans since the 2009 Fiba Champions Challenge Cup in Jakarta when they tangled with Army team Sangmoo twice during the tournament. That match had all the makings of a mixed martial arts match both of which Gilas won.

And it didn’t take long for the Filipino and Korean teams to get re-acquainted with the rough play when they played each other at the San Juan Arena last Tuesday September 7, 2010.

After the half of which Gilas led 40-34 courtesy of an 8-2 spurt led by gunner Chris Lutz and power forward Japeth Aguilar, the Korean coaching staff asked the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas referees to switch basketballs to the ones they used back home.

Gilas coach Rajko Toroman vehemently protested insisting that there was no prior agreement to change the balls. After an additional 10-minute lull where both parties eventually agreed to use the Koreans’ basketballs, the hostilities literally continued when Gilas forward Mac Baracael fouled Beek on a rebound play. The two tumbled to the floor where the Korean kicked at the Filipino, an incident that sent both teams rushing to the floor. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed before things could get out of hand.

Upon resumption of play, it was the Filipinos who played better basketball (despite the change in basketballs) while the Koreans lost focus. Gilas threatened to blow the game wide open in the third quarter as Lutz hit two triples while Baracael contributed one as the Nationals raced to a 58-44 lead with 2:52 left in the third.

But the visitors regained their composure and their touch from the outside as Bang Sung Yoon, Byun Ki Hun, Kim Hyo Bun, and American import Michael Haynes waxed hot from three-point country with six trifectas to take the lead 76-75 with time down to 34 seconds in the game clock.

In Gilas’ next offensive, Lutz drove the right lane, pumped faked three Knights out of the way before letting loose a bank shot that missed. But Gilas import Marcus Douthit was there for the putback and the marginal points as the Koreans bungled their final offensive to give the home side a rollicking 77-76 win.

Douthit, the former Providence College Friar and Lutz, last year’s team captain for the Marshall University Thundering Herd led Gilas with 19 points each. Lutz was a perfect 5-5 from three-point range. Aguilar added 11 points and a pair of highlight reel slams including one off a spectacular bounce pass from Lutz as the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper drove towards the basket.

For the Koreans, Leather scored 19 points while Choi Seong Byun added 16 markers.

The visiting Korean team also had a pair of national players in Joo Hee Jung and Kim Min Soo. The Knights will play four PBA clubs – Ginebra San Miguel, Air21, Barako Bull, and Talk ‘N’ Text over the next few days as part of their preparation for the upcoming Korean Basketball League that will tip off this coming October.

Notes: Just as Gilas is sponsored by Smart Telecommunications, the Philippines biggest mobile phone network, so are the SK Knights who are sponsored by Korean counterpart SK Telecoms. The Knights two imports are former University of South Florida Bull Terrence Leather and Fordham University Ram Michael Haynes. Former Gilas player Rey Guevarra who signed with Air21 yesterday went to the San Juan Arena to watch his former teammates play.