Gilas coach excited over Clarkson
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin sees some problems should Jordan Clarkson, the Los Angeles Lakers guard being recruited to join the national team, gets approval from FIBA to play for the Philippines. But they are problems he was willing to have.
First, according to Baldwin, is the matter of Clarkson getting used to the system since Gilas has been practicing and playing the past three weeks. He, however, is optimistic that a player of Clarkson’s caliber would have no problem adjusting to the playbook.
“Jordan is a young player, but he is very experienced having been in the NBA,” Baldwin said. “Obviously we would never snub that opportunity. But it won’t be clear sailing and smooth sailing either. There are some barbs that we have to work through.”
“Anybody that met Jordan Clarkson knows that he’s a very humble, very hard working kid. He has obviously a passion to be part of Gilas and we’re thrilled about that. He’s an all-purpose guard.”
“He’s adaptable to any offense, it’s just how quickly he picks it up, and then how cohesive he can be within our defensive scheme,” added Baldwin, who sees Clarkson more of a facilitator where “you can out the ball in his hands” rather than a role player.
Clarkson has been included to the 24-man lineup submitted to FIBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) already wrote a communication to the world governing body for basketball seeking clarification on the status of the 6-foot-5 Fil-American who holds a Philippine passport.
“It’s going to be a process,” said Baldwin, referring to the case of Clarkson, after yesterday’s morning practice session of the national team at Gatorade Hoops Gym in Mandaluyong City.
“There are (SBP) people up the chain that are working on it…. I’m not working on it. I’m just as excited as all other Philippine basketball fans about the possibility,” said Baldwin.
Gilas Pilipinas was scheduled to have another practice session last night at the Meralco gym in Ortigas, Pasig City, and Clarkson was expected to join the team as an observer and will not participate in the scrimmage.
Yesterday’s morning session was also intended for the returning Marc Pingris, a late addition after he changed his earlier decision to skip the Gilas pool.
“We talked about the fact that he has missed a lot. So there’s a big burden on his shoulders to catch up as fast as he can. Because the reality is, we now have to stop on our progress, and wait for Marc to catch up,” said Baldwin.
“That’s never an ideal situation… ever. He understands that because of the kind of person that he is and his character. He welcomes that challenge and I can see that he wants to focus in practice. He wants to accelerate his learning curve, and we need that,” added Baldwin.
As for the 6-foot-5 Pingris, he is confident in learning quickly the system run by Baldwin, saying: “Hindi mo masasabing madali, pero kailangan tanggapin. Alam ko late na ako, pero ang maganda suportado ako ng teammates ko like sila Jimmy (Alapag), Ranidel (de Ocampo), Gary (David)… tinuturo nila sa akin.”