Now that its biggest star — Jordan Clarkson — is finally on board, Gilas Pilipinas beams with confidence as it enters the final stretch of its preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup that will be held in the country
from 25 August to 10 September.
The 31-year-old Clarkson landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 5:30 a.m. via Philippine Airlines Flight 103 on Tuesday and was welcomed by ranking Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas executives,
including World Cup deputy event director Erika Dy.
Clarkson said he is thrilled to be reunited with his Gilas Pilipinas teammates and “to win some games” in the world’s biggest and most prestigious basketball event.
“I think we got a good chance to do some things, to win some games. I don’t know, we’ll see but I’m just excited to be with the team again,” said Clarkson, who is returning to Manila for the first time since powering Gilas in the
FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Window 4 last year.
Gilas just successfully wrapped up their campaign in the 2023 Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament in China, where they won three in their four matches. They showed traces of promise as they beat Iran B twice while splitting their matches against a formidable
Senegal national squad.
But with Clarkson now on board, Gilas will be marching to the final two weeks of their training with high morale despite questions surrounding the participation of 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto.
Sotto is already in the country for the past three weeks but has yet to actively participate in workouts and scrimmages after suffering a back spasm in his final game in the National Basketball Association Summer League.
The federation is still waiting for a medical clearance before it allows Sotto to see action.
Gilas assistant coach Tim Cone stressed that he admires Clarkson’s commitment to represent the country of his maternal grandmother in the World Cup.
“We’ll see how seamlessly we can add Jordan and, hopefully, Kai to what we do and that will be the key,” Cone said in a Viber message to Daily Tribune. “But we’re all excited that Jordan is in town and we can get going. No doubt,
Jordan is special, special talent and we feel blessed.”
Cone added that with some NBA players declining to play for their respective countries in the World Cup, they are fortunate to secure the commitment of a legitimate star in Clarkson.
“He chose to join us when many NBA players are dropping off from their country’s rosters for the World Cup. The players see that and are excited by Jordan’s commitment to the team and to the country.”
For SBP president Al Panlilio, the mere sight of Clarkson in town already boosts the Filipinos’ morale, giving them fresh hopes against heavyweights like Angola, Italy and Dominican Republic in the preliminaries.
After all, their goal is not to win the World Cup but to emerge as the best performing Asian team that will be given a ticket to the Paris Olympics next year.
“It’s great to see Jordan back in the country and reaffirming his commitment for the national team,” Panlilio said in a telephone conversation. “On top of that, I like seeing how we’ve developed more as a team. We’re defending well
in the four games that we played in China and there were several revelations, one of them is AJ Edu. We’re playing much better now.”
“Remember, our goal is not just to perform well and surpass the previous two editions of the World Cup, but to become the top Asian team, which will guarantee us a spot in the 2024 Olympics.”
