AFP file
Filipino basketball fans will once again have the opportunity to see Marcus Douthit, the naturalized player who helped push the Philippine national men’s basketball team back to the world level, in a Philippines jersey.
The 6-foot-10 center will once again wear the national colors, this time under the banner of Mighty Sports, which will represent the country in the upcoming Merlion Cup in Singapore.
Charles Tiu, the head coach for Mighty Sports in this tournament, confirmed this in an online interview with InterAksyon.com.
According to Tiu, the team also planned on pairing Douthit up with Gilas’ other naturalized player, Andray Blatche, although that failed to materialize.
“We considered getting both, but we decided to take just Marcus,” wrote Tiu
in a message. “We wanted more Filipino players this time for our team.”
The tournament will be a reunion for Douthit and Tiu, who was part of former national team coach Rajko Toroman’s staff in the SMART-Gilas team that finished fourth in the FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.
Douthit played for Gilas in several international tournaments, beginning with the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship to the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.
Last month, Mighty Sports won the William Jones Cup with seven imports on the roster.
This time, the apparel company owned by Cesar Wongchuking limited the number of imports, retaining the services of prolific scorer Al Thornton, big man Hamady N’Diaye and guard Dewarick Spencer, who was named the MVP of the Jones Cup.
Alongside Douthit, the local players that will suit up for Mighty Sports are Jason Brickman, TY Tang, ex-PBA players Jason Deutchman and Aaron Aban, Gelo Alolino, Edrick Ferrer and brothers Ael and Gab Banal.
