Indonesia’s Johnson on facing Gilas: ‘We shouldn’t have fear’

Jamarr Johnson. PBA IMAGES

After missing the first four games due to clearance issues, naturalized forward Jamarr Johnson made up for lost time as he made his debut for Indonesia in the 2017 Seaba Championship on Wednesday.

“I’m happy about it. I’m just raring to get back on the floor,” Johnson said after leading his team’s 123-50 drubbing of Myanmar.

“Today was the first game in a long time so I’m just excited to be back and looking forward to tomorrow.”

The 6-foot-5 forward displayed an all-around game with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Johnson and Indonesian-American forward Arki Wisnu breathed a huge sigh of relief on Tuesday after they were finally cleared by Fiba play for the remainder of the tournament.

The go-signal also couldn’t have come at a better time for Indonesia, which faces Gilas Pilipinas on Thursday in a what would be the tournament’s championship game.

“It’s good for us to have them as we face the Philippines tomorrow. I hope they can give us more energy,” said Indonesia coach Wahyu Widayat Jati.

The Indonesians will be coming in as the underdogs but the 28-year-old Johnson said his team will do whatever it takes in hopes to pulling off a major upset against a rampaging Philippines side.

“We’re gonna play our hearts out. I’m gonna play my heart out and I’m gonna do what I can to help our team win, whether that’s sacrificing my body or rebounding or scoring or whatever I have to do. I’m gonna do what I have to do for the game,” he said.

“We shouldn’t have fear and play regardless what kind of reputation the Philippines have,” he said. “We just got to come in there and play basketball. Like what coach said, we’re gonna give our best from the beginning and then we’ll see the results of that.”