NBA star Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz will reinforce the Gilas Pilipinas squad in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers next month.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes, in an interview with PlayItRightTV, said they have received word that “Jordan Clarkson is coming, hoping to join the team… on the 25th and the 29th (of August).
Reyes spoke after the Philippines failed in its bid to reach the FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 15 years, the result of an 81-102 loss to Japan last Tuesday in Indonesia.
A former NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee, Clarkson saw action for Gilas in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Reyes was quick to apologize for the team’s failed bid in the continental tilt and insisted the setbacks they suffered will only toughen them up.
“Well, obviously, the result is not what we wanted. Again, we are very sorry that we’ve disappointed a lot of our countrymen, our fellow Filipinos. Like I said, we brought a very young team here and the experience is just going to make them better,” Reyes said in a post-game press conference on YouTube.
“To be able to be exposed to that kind of intensity and level of play here in the Asia Cup, there is not one player on our team in the 12 players that have been in the Asia Cup. This is all their first time. So, like I said, we wished to get at least into the top eight, but we weren’t able to get the job done,” he added.
The lopsided defeat, which came on the heels of Gilas’101-59 thumping of India last Friday, cut short the Filipino dribblers’ stint as they finished ninth and missed the quarterfinals for the first time since 2007.
An all-pro squad, also under Reyes, wound up ninth in the same tourney 15 years ago.
Yuki Togashi led the Japanese with 18 points and six assists, while naturalized player Luke Evans had 17 markers, seven rebounds, and two dimes.
NBA player Yuta Watanabe, who left the game for good with a left ankle injury with seven minutes to go in the third quarter, finished with 15 points and nine boards.
Yudai Nishida and Yutaroh Suda also added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Akatsuki Five, who beat the Philippines for the first time since the 2010 Asian Games in China and forged a quarterfinals tiff with powerhouse Australia. — Michael Jugado
