NBA standout Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz has fired a warning to Gilas Pilipinas’ opponents in the FIBA World Cup– the Philippine five is out to win.
“Great, great. Amazing. . . I don’t know, we’ll see but I’m just excited to be with the team again,” Clarkson said yesterday, referring to Gilas’ chances in the world cage spectacle from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10, after arriving from the United States.
“I think we got a good chance to do some things. Hopefully, we’ll win some games,” he added.
The 6-foot-5 Clarkson will beef up the team as a naturalized player when it takes on Dominican Republic, Italy, and Angola in Group A.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes said Clarkson, a former Sixth Man of the Year winner, will be the focal point of the team’s offense.
“It’s no secret that our offense is not as smooth and polished as we want it to be. A lot of that is because we’re building the offense around Jordan,” Reyes said. “Just by having him here, hopefully, we can get the offense now to a better place, to a higher level, to a place which we were preparing these past months essentially.
“We were preparing so that it’s going to be an easy integration for us, for Jordan.”
Gilas saw action in the Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament in Guangdong as part of its build-up for the world meet.
The Filipino dribblers downed Iran 76-65 last Thursday but absorbed a 64-72 loss to Senegal last Friday. They got back at the Senegalese 75-63 three days ago and repeated over the Iranians with a 63-48 triumph last Monday night.
Despite missing the likes of Clarkson, big man Kai Sotto, and reigning PBA MVP Scottie Thompson in the China pocket tilt, Reyes’ charges wound up with a 3-1 mark in a development seen as a big boost to their preparations.
A pair of tune-up matches against Mexico and Montenegro are also in the offing for Gilas when it returns home.
The squad needs to finish at least in the top two at the end of the group stage to advance to the next round and fan its hopes of becoming the best placed Asian squad to directly qualify for the Paris Olympics next year.
