One outburst and Chot cuts all good forged

CAN we afford it at this most perilous time when our backs are practically against the wall, so to speak?

I mean why the outburst from coach Chot Reyes after our 68-77 loss to Qatar on Friday? Was that really necessary at all? Chot telling Marcus Douthit he could go home to New York was totally uncalled for.

OK, Douthit might have played his ugliest game ever, accounting for our most dismal performance ever after such scintillating acts dished out earlier, starting in the Spain Fiba World Cup.

But was that reason enough for Chot to cream Douthit?

“Douthit just quit,” thundered Chot in describing Douthit’s game against Qatar. “Towards the end of the first half, he was at the dugout watching a music video. He was the last to leave the dugout. He had a very bad body language. And Qatar pounced on him.”

They may be valid. But did Chot need to do that? I mean, why must he express his anger in public, berate his No. 1 center in front of media men?

He might not have realized it yet but, by insulting Douthit, there was no doubt Chot was pinning our loss to Qatar solely on Douthit. Has Chot lost his mind? Has he forgotten that coaches lose games and players win games?

A coach that pins losses on his players ought not to coach. He belongs to DEADS (Dogs Eat All Dogs Society) and not to GOATS (Gentlemen Only Admit Trips Society).

You get tripped, be man enough to admit it was your fault.

What’s wrong with Douthit watching a music video at the half?

Phil Jackson would call a timeout and next, he would tell nothing to his players. And he is today the NBA’s best coach of all time.

Muhammad Ali allowed George Foreman to pummel him at will for nearly eight rounds while pinned on the ropes and next, he knocked out the unbeaten Foreman, en route to crowning himself the greatest boxer of all time.

In short, it is the coach’s duty to not only map out winning patterns but, more importantly, to also discern through even the eccentricities of his players. What is a “bad body language?” If there was “bad” at all in that game against Qatar, it was that Chot unleashed his baddest side yet during and, bizarrely, after the match. And for having done that, he owes Douthit a mountain of apology.