DOHA, Qatar – Smart Gilas Pilipinas will try out American Marcus Douthit next week as the team continues its search for a naturalization candidate.
RP coach Rajko Toroman said Douthit will be coming from Russia, where he played as an import, on June 8 for a tryout with the national team.
“Playing in the Russian league is way better than here in the region that’s why I would like to see him play. One game in Moscow, he gets 16 points and 10 rebounds, we’ll try him out definitely,” said Toroman of the 6-10 Douthit.
The 30-year-old Douthit averaged 8.3 points on an impressive 52.1-percent clip, 4.9 rebounds for Krasnie Krilya Samara in the Russian League and 11.5 points and 7.6 caroms in the Euro Challenge.
A native of Syracuse, New York, Douthit played for Providence College and was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 rookie class that included the Magic’s Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, the Hawks’ Josh Smith, the Sixers’ Andrei Iguodala, the Pistons’ Ben Gordon, the Bulls’ Luol Deng and the Cavs’ Anderson Varejao.
Jackson Vroman, who helped Mahram of Iran clinch its fourth straight crown in the just concluded 21st FIBA-Asia Champions Cup here and is Lebanon’s naturalized player, and 7-3 Korean Ha Seung-Jin were also part of that star-studded rookie batch.
“I hope our search will end with him,” Toroman said.
Toroman said the agent of Douthit also handles Dwayne Jones and Earl Barron, his earlier choices for naturalization, who remain unsure of their spots with the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, respectively.
“I told the agent if you can give us Dwayne Jones or Earl Barron, why not?” he said.
Smart Gilas had earlier opted for Americans CJ Giles, who played for Al Riyadi of Lebanon here, and Jamal Sampson but both failed to make it to the team for different reasons.
A third one, Serbian Milan Vucicevic, made quite a good impression in Doha but Smart Gilas said it needs a bigger, stronger reinforcement.
“Milan is a great guy, good player because he helped us a lot by playing in double-double. We have to be satisfied with how he played here,” said Toroman of Vucicevic, who is going to Turkey after his stint with RP.