Clarkson and Gilas
With a team formed in less than two weeks, and a key player planing in midway through the first game, I think not too many Pinoy fans expected much of the basketball team in the Asian Games despite that emphatic rout of Kazakhstan in the first game.
China loomed large for the Philippines and I thought after the Great Wall of Chinese zoomed to a 20-12 lead, we should brace for a humbling defeat to the games’ gold medal favorite.
But Jordan Clarkson, who finally got to play for the Philippines after years of knocking, wasn’t going to stand there like Cayetano and let China impose its will. Hitting jumpers, drives and that three, the Cleveland Cavaliers guard got the team level at 55, and I swear the sound level from my basketball-manic neighbors went through the roof.
Clarkson, though, was foiled by cramps in the fourth quarter but still, with him in the team, we have a different kind of squad, vastly improved from previous editions despite the very, very short notice.
Two weeks, to be exact. And coach Yeng Guiao saw something very positive from that loss.
“I don’t see this as a loss. We formed this team only two weeks ago, and Jordan just flew in five days ago. He was able to get into the flow quickly. We’re a lot better with Jordan Clarkson.”
It’s a familiar foe next for the Philippines as South Korea is waiting in the quarterfinals and I’m sure guys like Asi Taulava, who was with the squad, remember when we lost that semifinal heartbreak in Busan, 2002.
I still remember that. Up by two with seconds left, Olsen Racela, who could sink a free throw with eyes closed, inexplicably missed two. South Korea got the rebound and hit a buzzer-beating three that broke the hearts of all Pinoy fans, a heartbreak that was only partly eased when we ended the curse of Korea in the MOA Arena during the Fiba Asia Championships in 2013.
Can we level the ledger come the quarterfinal? Well, after that China game, this basketball team that had a modest target of finishing above eighth place only has got the country believing again.
Even a gold isn’t farfetched for some. It’s amazing what happens when you stand up to China.