Lassiter keeps faith

Marcio Lassiter is Gilas Pilipinas’ No. 1 cheerer.

FOSHAN, China — Marcio Lassiter remains positive despite Gilas Pilipinas’ early struggle in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA)Basketball World Cup here.

Lassiter, the prized gunslinger of San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), said it hurts seeing the Nationals get clobbered by 46 points by Italy in their opening game in this prestigious 32-nation conclave.

“It hurts, just from the aspect of not being able to help your brothers out,” said the Filipino-American sniper who was part of the original Gilas squad under Serbian coach Rajko Toroman.

“They’re going to war and putting their bodies on the line. For me, those are the things I want to do for the team and the country. You feel helpless.”

Against the hot-shooting Italians, Lassiter could have provided a spark.

Gilas were in dire need of a shooter as they registered a terrible 3-of-23 from downtown en route to a nightmarish 62-108 loss.

With Lassiter and Matthew Wright in sickbay, Roger Pogoy served as the lone spot-up shooter while guards Paul Lee, Kiefer Ravena, Mark Barroca, CJ Perez and Robert Bolick all sputtered from the outside.

Even naturalized player Andray Blatche was inefficient, posting an ugly 1-of-5 from the rainbow country.

“Whatever transpired in the game just didn’t look fluid for them. It wasn’t really flowing as you would expect,” said Lassiter, who crashed with a knee injury in their quarterfinal battle in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

“I don’t know if it’s because of Italy’s defense or if they scouted us well — or maybe because we just couldn’t execute.”

“But I’m sure that if we were able to move it around a little more, probably we would get better looks.”

Still, Lassiter remains optimistic that his teammates can pick up the pieces and avoid being crushed and badly beaten by Serbians, the second-best team in the world and top squad in the FIBA Power Ranking, in their collision late Monday at the GBA International Sports and Cultural Arena.

“I feel that if they got one three-pointer, it will keep on falling,” he said.

“It’s kinda when you make a shot and see it go through the ring, it’s going to give you some confidence. So I’m sure when one goes in, then the whole team confidence will gather momentum and they’ll feel like the keep on shooting.”

“They have so much confidence. And that’s the reason why they’re on this team that is playing against the best in the world.”