Benching of Douthit aids Korea cage gold

SEOUL, South Korea—Korea regained Asian supremacy in basketball, thanks in large part to a disciplinary action that kept Marcus Douthit out of the quarterfinal game between the hosts and Gilas Pilipinas in the 17th Asian Games last week.

This was the assessment of top Korean Basketball League officials in their meeting with PBA chair Patrick Gregorio, which happened on the day the Koreans nipped Iran, 79-77, for the cage gold medal.

“No one could’ve stopped Douthit. Our big men are young and inexperienced,” said Lee Jae-min, the KBL secretary general who was quoted by Gregorio.

The Filipinos played without Douthit against the Koreans and lost, 97-95, after blowing complete command. Coach Chot Reyes benched the naturalized player for disciplinary reasons after a loss to Qatar.

“We read from the papers that Douthit was suspended for disciplinary action. It’s a big break for us,” said Jae, who used to work with the Korean national cage federation.

Had the Filipinos beaten the Koreans, it would have sent the hosts to an earlier KO match against the Iranians.

Gilas Pilipinas’ stint in the Asiad was marred not only by losses, but by the accusation of Reyes that Douthit lacked effort against Qatar and then later on when he asked Douthit to shoot at Gilas’ own goal in a narrow win over Kazakhstan.