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Limping Gilas frontline braces for Kazakhstan

Manila, Philippines- Marcus Douthit of Philippines down after a bad foul during the Second Round of the 27th FIBA Asia Championship game between Philippines and Qatar held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, south of Manila, on 06 August 2013. Philippines won 80-70. (Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images)

The road to a podium finish in the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship just got became a little easier for Gilas Pilipinas, but it remains bumpy.

Naturalized center Marcus Douthit and forward Ranidel De Ocampo are both walking wounded, leaving the Nationals, with a shaky frontline as they brace for an intriguing clash with struggling but still dangerous Kazakhstan in the crossover quarterfinals on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The 6-foot-11 Douthit sustained a bruise right calf in the team’s 80-70 victory over Qatar two days ago and was playing hobbled in their ugly 67-55 win against surprisingly tough Hong Kong on Wednesday, finishing with just 13 markers on 6-of-14 shooting from the field on top of eight rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes.

“It affects his explosiveness and his quickness to the ball,” noted Gilas Pilipinas national team coach Chot Reyes. “We didn’t want to play Marcus that many minutes but a lot of our players were not ready. I have to do what I have to do to make sure we got the ‘W.’”

The former Providence standout also echoed Reyes’ statement, noting: “I wasn’t supposed to play a lot of minutes but the game was ugly so I played more than I expected. In the first half, it (right calf) was so bad and in the second half, it hurt a lot.”

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The 6-foot-6 De Ocampo was far from his usual form against Hong Kong, coming up with just two points and making just one of his attempts–no thanks to an MCL tear on his right knee he got following a collision during the Gilas’ emphatic 90-71 win against Japan last Monday.

“With injuries like that, the problem is the soreness. It’s pretty sore, same thing with Ranidel’s. We wanted to play them to get some sweat and get rid of the lactic acid build-up from (Tuesday) night,” said Reyes.

With a semifinals berth at stake against a young Kazakh crew that is also dealing with a spate of injuries, Douthit, 31, plans to take full use of a one-day breather on Thursday, saying: “I’ll just have to rest tomorrow.”

“It’s painful but hopefully a day of rest, I’ll heal up a lot better,” he added. “I think I will be okay.”

The Nationals beat the Kazakhs 92-89 in a tune-up match last July 26 but Douthit stressed “we beat them in a game that doesn’t count.”

“We need to beat them now when there is more at stake. I think our chances are good. I just need to be healthier than I am now,” he added. “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 (Jerry Johnson).”