Gilas Pilipinas face the dangerous Kazakhstan in the FIBA Asia Championship quarterfinals tonight at the Malls of Asia Arena.
Naturalized center Marcus Douthit, who bruised his right calf in the 80-70 win over Qatar, is expected to play after he and the other Gilas’ players recuperated on their day off yesterday.
The Nationals beat the Kazakhs 92-89 in a tune-up match last month but Douthit stressed “we beat them in a game that doesn’t count.”
Gilas will go into the match as favorites following wins in their last three games and the win over Kazakhstan in the tuneup match.
But the team will need to up their game after struggling to beat the unfavored Hong Kong on Wednesday after impressive wins over Japan and Qatar.
Marcus Douthit is well aware of the threat the Kazakhs pose.
“We need to beat them now when there is more at stake. I think our chances are good. We also need to contain their big guys because they can shoot from the outside and crash the boards well. They also have a great point guard” he said.
If Gilas beat Kazakhstan they will face the winner of the Qatar versus South Korea game in the semifinal.
The match tips off at 8.30pm.
Photo: FIBA Asia
