Published November 29, 2018, 9:00 AM Marcio Lassiter (MB photo | Kevin Tristan Espiritu)

by Jonas Terrado

Marcio Lassiter is expected to regain his shooting touch for Gilas Pilipinas for the crucial fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers which starts on Friday.

Lassiter struggled in his World Cup Qualifiers debut last September when he averaged just 4.5 points on 13-percent shooting against Iran and Qatar.

But Lassiter has made most of his rainbow shots in the recent scrimmages against Jordan and Lebanon, prompting national team coach Yeng Guiao to believe that such scenario would be seen in the games opposite Kazakhstan and Iran at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“Marcio has been shooting well in these past few games,” Guiao said. “We hope it holds up until the window.”

“But I’m not worried about it. I feel that what happened during the Qatar game and the Iran game is more of an exception rather than a rule in Marcio’s case,” he added.

The San Miguel Beer sniper had just four points on a 1-of-9 clip in Gilas’ 81-73 defeat to Iran before making just 1-of-7 for five points in a 92-81 win over Qatar in a closed-door affair at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Tags: FIBA , Gilas Pilipinas , Marcio Lassiter , World Cup Qualifiers , Yeng Guiao