MANILA – Jordan Clarkson is optimistic that Gilas Pilipinas will win some of their matches in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the country beginning on Aug. 25.
According to the Filipino-American guard, the national men’s basketball team had a good chance especially since he has already played with some of the current members of the squad.
Gilas Pilipinas is in Group A and are bracketed with Dominican Republic, Angola and Italy with their matches to be played at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan and Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“I think we got a good chance to do some things. Hopefully, we’d win some games,” the Utah Jazz guard said in an interview upon his arrival in the Philippines on Tuesday morning.
Having a decent performance in the tournament is vital for Gilas Pilipinas as the best Asian team after the World Cup will earn an outright seat to the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes, for his part, said that the arrival of the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee is a huge boost especially in the offense of his squad.
“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,” said Reyes in an interview with One Sports’ Carlo Pamintuan.
“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,” he added.
This will be Clarkson’s third time to play for the country after suiting up for the Rain or Shine-Philippines in the 2019 Asian Games and in the recent 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The 31-year-old Clarkson is expected to join the Gilas Pilipinas practice on Wednesday and in their scheduled friendly matches against some fellow FIBA World Cup competitors./PN
