BY ABBY TORALBA
ALTHOUGH he’s already 31 years old and the next FIBA World Cup will be four years from now, Gilas Pilipinas naturalized star Jordan Clarkson is convinced he can still hack it by that time.
“I thought 30 is the new 20, right? I still feel young. I’m still out here competing. I don’t think this is my last performance in this jersey, I think,” Clarkson said. “I have more time, and I can still hoop.
“But, yeah, hopefully, down the line when that time comes, I’m around again, I may put this jersey on and represent the country,” he added.
The 6-foot-5 Clarkson exploded during the third quarter of Gilas’ 96-75 dumping of China at the end of their Group M stint in the classification round of the 19th FIBA World Cup last Saturday night, scoring 20 points on five straight three-pointers.
“It feels good (to win). Like you said, it’s been a tough tournament, but we kept fighting, kept competing, kept playing. We really want to end this on the right note,” the Utah Jazz standout said.
“We might not see the same guys in the locker room after this but at the same time, you know, we want to show heart, fight and continue resilience.”
Clarkson finished with 34 points, to go with two rebounds and three assists.
“I mean the basket just felt, like, bigger (at) that point (in 3rd quarter). We got a good flow. I think all (World Cup), you know guys have been hounding me, been aggressive and you know, not able to get free, get the shots in that rhythm. You know, I’m used to (be) taken but in that 3rd quarter, you know my teammates (are) just finding me,” Clarkson said.
“(I) start getting good screens, good looks, just able to, you know, knock them down and just the energy from the crowd, honestly. When you start hearing that, the loudest it was, you know, it’s kinda hard to count me down at that time, I mean, I stayed hot so. The crowd was amazing. The fans were amazing. There was just so much energy in there and we really just wanted to win and give them that.”
Clarkson will sit out the national team in the Asian Games later this month as he returns to the Jazz heading into the coming NBA season.
