WILL less than three weeks be enough for NBA standout Jordan Clarkson to learn to play beautiful jazz with his Gilas Pilipinas teammates?
That’s the question nagging at the Nationals and coach Chot Reyes after Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio announced last Tuesday the 6-foot-5 Clarkson has officially confirmed he will play as a naturalized player in the FIBA World Cup.
A former Sixth Man of the Year awardee with the Utah Jazz, Clarkson is set to rejoin the national team training pool on Aug. 6.
The Philippine five is set to see action in a pocket tournament in China where it will collide with Lebanon, Iran, and Senegal from Aug. 2 to 6.
A pair of tune-up tiffs against Mexico and Montenegro are also in the offing for the Filipino cagers as they toughen up for the blue-ribbon world cage spectacle the country is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia.
With Clarkson taking the naturalized player slot in the World Cup, Ginebra resident import and naturalized forward Justin Brownlee will beef up Gilas in the Asian Games in Hangzhou from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8.
Clarkson, 31, suited up for Gilas in the fourth window of the Asian qualifiers last year where he averaged 25.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in two games against Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Gilas dropped its first two tune-up games against Estonia and Finland before traveling to Kaunas, where it won back-to-back matches against the Ukraine Under-20 squad and fell to a Lithuanian selection team.
