Jakarta—The Philippine national basketball team may just be three weeks’ old, but coach Yeng Guiao believes they are close to achieving the chemistry he wants to see in his wards in these 18th Asian Games.
And NBA star Jordan Clarkson is big a reason why.
“I have a good feeling that with Jordan Clarkson, and of course the way the players are playing, the way they are developing and the way we are getting that cohesion, I think things are even this time going to the game against Korea,” said Guiao, whose wards take on the Koreans on Monday, 11 a.m. at the Gelora Bung Karno Basketball Hall.
“Historically, the Koreans… it’s always hard to win against them, and most of the time our national team ends up losing,” added Guiao.
In his debut for the Rain or Shine-led team, the 6’5” Clarkson collected 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the team’s heart-breaking 82-80 loss to the Chinese in the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games here.
Guiao also got solid performances from Stanley Pringle, who scored 18 points, and Christian Standhardinger, who had 16 points and Lee had 10 points off the bench.
The Nationals finished No. 2 in Group D with the mighty Chinese topping the group elims with a 2-0 card.
The Koreans, likewise, dominated their rivals, completing a 3-0 record, thanks to the solid effort of naturalized player Ricardo Ratliffe, who averaged 23.3 points and 13 rebounds.
Aside from the 6’10” Ratliffe, who played as import for the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok in the PBA last season, Korea will also have its deadly shooters like Lee Jung Hyun, Kim Sunhyung, Heo Ung, Heo Ilyoung, Jeon Junbeom and bigman Kang Sangjae.
Guiao, however, is confident the national team is ready for the challenge in their make-or-break encounter as the winner meets either Iran or Syria in the semifinal round of the Asian Games.
That confidence of Guiao emanates from the team’s gutsy stand against the Chinese.
“In our game against China, we were not as efficient,” said Guiao. “It was actually Jordan’s first game after the NBA Finals with the Cavs. So we’re expecting a little bit more efficiency with the Korea game.”
“The players are really motivated. As I have mentioned, we will prepare as hard as we can, and we’ll play as hard as we can just like we did in our game against China,” added Guiao.
