July 28 ------ Coach Chot Reyes has always known that Jordan Clarkson will play for Gilas for this year’s FIBA World Cup. With the good news made official to hoops fans on Wednesday, there was really no change in the team’s mood. “The team has always known that naman eh. It’s just that we haven’t made it public until we find out when Jordan is coming. So everyone in the team there’s really no big change kasi alam naman naming lahat from the start na si Jordan is our guy for the World Cup," Reyes said.
Jordan will head straight to China but won’t make it to the first few days of the pocket tournament. “Maybe the Senegal game na siya maglalaro," noted the fiery coach. Things aren’t going to be easy for Reyes, even when compared to the 2014 edition. “Mas mahirap ngayon because in 2014 we had a full month with Andray Blatche and now we have 18 days. However, like I say they are very different players. So 2014 was our very first time ever; now we have a little more experience. But the kind of competition that we’re facing is so much more difficult this time because there’s fewer teams and we have very, very little margin now for error. So I would say mas mahirap 'yung preparation namin ngayon simply because we will only have 18 days with Jordan,” he said.
That being said, Gilas has a long way to go before the team becomes 100 percent ready for the World Cup. “Malayo pa tayo. We are less than 50 percent maybe in my mind because Jordan Clarkson is such a big part of our team as you can imagine. So him not yet being here obviously is a big factor in our preparation. However, ang ginagawa natin, the coaching staff, is we are preparing as best we can so that pagdating ni Jordan, we are able to ramp up and accelerate that preparation to be able to get to 100 percent in the 18 days he’s going to be with us,” said Reyes.
Kai Sotto was nowhere to be found again during Wednesday's practice, while Scottie Thompson has been watching practices albeit with an injured right hand. Sotto remains a big question mark for Gilas. “It’s a big puzzle, it’s a really big question for us now. I think Kai has some issues with his lower back again but our team doctor who checked him out doesn’t seem to find any functional or structural problem, although his people say that may MRI daw sila, that he has to do some therapy. We’re trying to get hold of the MRI results but up to now hindi pa namin makuha eh. So I really don’t know when Kai would come to practice. So we’re not worrying about it, hindi na namin masyado iniisip 'yun, just moving forward with the players who are here,” said Reyes. With Clarkson in tow, the Philippines will also have a legit NBA player in the World Cup after China naturalized Minnesota Timberwolves' Kyle “Slow Mo” Anderson, and Jordan got 6-year NBA veteran Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Reyes is aware that the Asian teams are serious about the lone coveted Asian spot in the Olympics through the World Cup.
The Asian team with the best finish in this year’s World Cup will automatically qualify for the Olympics. This was the case for Iran as it had the best Asian record in the 2019 World Cup, tying with China with two wins but had a higher point differential. “They’re taking it seriously, as well they should and that just makes our job that much more difficult. So it will take a superhuman on our part and I hope we can get that done in 18 days,” Reyes said.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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