After a rather lengthy battle with the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Jordan Clarkson was finally granted permission to suit up for the Filipino National Team at this year’s Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Though he played well, the Cavs guard and Gilas Pilipinas were defeated by South Korea (defending champion) in the quarterfinal round, 91-82.
Clarkson was guarded closely by South Korea’s tricky zone defense for most of the game, but the 26-year-old still managed to lead the Philippines with 25 points in the loss.
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Ricardo Ratliffe, a forward who was born in the U.S., posted 30 points and 14 rebounds for South Korea, which will face Iran in the semifinal round.
“Everybody stepped up to guard Jordan Clarkson,” Ratliffe said. “I think we defended him really well in the first half.”
Philippines head coach Joseller Guiao lamented the fact that his team gave away an eight-point lead. Guiao also reminded reporters that his team has only been together for less than three weeks.
“It was very close until the last five minutes, but again it’s just the maturity of this team,” Guiao said. “We’ve been together for less than three weeks.”
Gilas swingman Gabe Norwood spoke with The South China Morning Post about Clarkson’s time with the team.
“I feel bad for Jordan,” Norwood said. “He came out and hasn’t gotten a win with us yet, and a lot of that goes on us.”
“He’s putting his heart out there on both ends of the court and it comes down to guys like myself to help us get wins down the stretch and we got to find a way to do that,” Norwood added.
In his two appearances with Gilas, Clarkson has racked up averages of 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Clearly, the blame cannot be placed on his shoulders alone.
“It was a bad loss, but I’ll take responsibility for it,” coach Guiao said after the game.
“We were in the game, I think till the last five or six minutes, until we committed some crucial turnovers. We were just not comfortable with the zone. Even Jordan had some problems with the zone, and they just zoned us all game long,” Guiao added.