Asian Games: Gilas Pilipinas and Jordan Clarkson hailed by fans and media after narrow loss to China
The country is unified in praising the team who have only been together for a few weeks yet stretched mighty China to the limit
Filipinos at home and abroad hailed NBA star Jordan Clarkson’s debut for the Gilas in their narrow defeat by China as the national team moved on from an unsavoury episode that almost stopped them from coming to the Asian Games.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Clarkson scored 28 points and went down with cramps late in the game as the Philippines lost 80-82 to China in Jakarta, having led 80-77 with less than a minute to go in their pool D encounter. It means they will likely finish second in their group if China beat Kazakhstan, as they are expected to do.
One of the Philippines’ most popular basketball journalists and TV personalities, TJ Manotoc, who is now based in Los Angeles, wrote on Twitter: “That was a blast to watch! Considering it was just [Clarkson’s] first game with a team that was scrambled together less than 2 weeks ago and almost beating China, WOW! Long way to go in the tournament. Should be fun!”
The Philippines initially withdrew from the Asian Games because 10 of their players, including Jakarta starters, were suspended by world governing body Fiba for their involvement in an ugly brawl with Australia during a World Cup qualifying game.
The country’s basketball governing body then decided to make a U-turn and play in the Asian Games, even though many of the players in the initial Filipino line-up were unavailable because of the ban. But they decided to field a core team and roped in Filipino-American Clarkson, who was first barred by the NBA from taking part before being given the green light days before the tournament started.
