Qatar recruit leads FIBA-Asia imports

MANILA, Philippines - There are six imports or naturalized players in rosters for the 27th FIBA-Asia Championships here starting Thursday and no doubt, Qatar’s Jarvis Hayes is on top of the list in terms of credentials. Hayes, who turns 32 on Aug. 9, was the Washington Wizards’ first pick and 10th overall in the 2003 NBA draft and earned an estimated $13.4 million in a seven-year major league career.

Qatar coach Tom Wisman could’ve chosen another NBA veteran Trey Johnson or long-time Qatar league mainstay Boney Watson to reinforce the national team but in the end, picked Hayes in a no-brainer. Watson, a six-foot guard, led Qatar to the FIBA-Asia 3x3 championship recently.  Johnson played for Qatar at the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo last year. Hayes is a 6-7 versatile forward who averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Wizards in 2004-05.  An excellent free throw shooter, he hit .798 from the line in seven NBA seasons with the Wizards, Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets.

Hayes, who has an identical twin brother Jonas, averaged 17.1 points as a freshman with the Western Carolina varsity then transferred to the University of Georgia where he became the first Bulldog to be named to the All-Southeastern Conference first team back-to-back since Dominique Wilkins in 1981-82.  In 2002, he averaged 28.5 points in the NCAA Tournament.

“Jarvis is quick and athletic, you just don’t see that many guys like that,” said Georgia coach Jim Harrick.  â€œHe’s a very, very talented guy.  I really like his medium-range game more than anything. Around the basket and inside the line, he’s really tremendous.  He can beat you off one bounce or pull up.  And he’s working hard on taking it to the basket.”  Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook editor Chris Dortch said Hayes’ biggest asset is his wide arsenal.  â€œHe has so many offensive weapons,” wrote Dortch.  â€œHayes is as adept at shooting from three-point range as he is dunking on the fastbreak.  He can also take defenders to the basket, score tons of garbage points by jumping over people for rebounds and tips and has a great medium-range jump shot, usually taken when he beats a defender and pulls up in the lane.”

Hayes was chosen in the same draft where LeBron James was the top overall pick.  He was selected ahead of still active NBA campaigners like David West, Boris Diaw, Carlos Delfino, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, Luke Walton, Steve Blake, Matt Bonner and Kyle Korver.  Hayes is expected to lead Qatar’s charge back from oblivion as the national team finished last in the previous FIBA-Asia Championships because of eligibility issues that disqualified several key stalwarts.

The other imports in FIBA-Asia are the Philippines’ 6-10 Marcus Douthit of Providence College, Kazakhstan’s 6-0 Jerry Johnson of Rider University, Jordan’s 6-6 Jimmy Baxter of the University of South Florida, Bahrain’s 6-11 C. J. Giles of Kansas and Oregon State and Chinese-Taipei’s 6-9 Quincy Davis of Tulane University.  

Douthit, 33, was the Los Angeles Lakers’ second round pick in the 2004 NBA draft.  He will perform in his second FIBA-Asia Championships after averaging 21.9 points and 12.2 rebounds with Gilas in the previous edition in Wuhan two years ago. Douthit led Gilas to the Jones Cup title in Taipei last year, averaging 16.1 points and 10.9 rebounds.  Before settling in Manila, Douthit played as an import in Belgium, Turkey, Russia and South Korea.  He has also seen action as an import with Air 21 in the PBA and in the Chinese league.

Johnson, 31, averaged in double figure points in four years at Rider, turning in norms of 15.0, 18.3, 18.7 and 18.4 with the New Jersey varsity.  As a senior in 2004-05, he shot .392 from the three-point arc.  Johnson played in Turkey, Cyprus, France, Belgium and Lithuania then found a home in Kazakhstan where he averaged 11.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists with the Astana club last season.

Baxter, 32, has traveled the world in playing in 14 different leagues.  This past season, he averaged 14.6 points in Germany and 15.2 points in Venezuela. Baxter takes over from Rasheim Wright as Jordan’s import.  Jordan’s new Greek coach Vangelis Alexandris, 62, has a tough act to follow as predecessor Tab Baldwin led the national team to second place in the previous FIBA-Asia Championships, losing by a point to China in the finals.

Giles, 27, averaged 12.5 points and 8.3 rebounds with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008-09 NBA preseason but never made it to the regular roster.  Known for arriving late for practice or missing out completely, Giles is out to show a positive attitude with Bahrain whose coach is 34-year-old Serbian Sasa Nikitovic.  Giles was once considered to be Gilas’ naturalized player and played as the Philippines’ candidate import in 2009-10.

Davis, 30, renounced his US citizenship to play for Chinese-Taipei after stints in Cyprus, Turkey, Venezuela and China.  He is reportedly being paid $20,000 a month to play with the Chinese-Taipei national squad.  The 245-pound Davis averaged in double figure points in three of his four years at Tulane and will definitely shore up the middle for Chinese-Taipei.