Guiao takes it easy after loss to China, gives Clarkson, team a break

Philippines players wave to the crowd after their 82-80 loss to China in their men’s basketball game at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

JAKARTA—Gilas Pilipinas joined a large Filipino community for lunch on Wednesday, taking time out from the 18th Asian Games to recharge and get ready for what coach Yeng Guiao had said before will be the team’s defining game here.

The Nationals hardly looked like a group that was coming off a heartbreaker at the hands of mighty China. Instead, the 82-80 loss by this hastily assembled squad pumped its confidence and gave fanned hopes of a medal finish for the Philippines in the country’s favorite sport.

To do that, Guiao plans something different for a country that has inflicted some of the most painful basketball losses on the Philippines.

“Korea has a different system and they don’t rely too much on their big men,” Guiao said. “We have to prepare for their quickness and we need to be efficient. We saw some adjustments we need to make after the China game, and we will work on that.”

Guiao was all praises for Jordan Clarkson, the Cleveland Cavailers standout in the NBA, who gave it his all until he cramped up in the dying minutes of the game.

“What more can you ask of him? It shows he really wanted to win it for the country,” said Guiao, who gave Clarkson and the rest of the squad a break on Wednesday.

“We need this (rest). I told them that they can go out, do anything, except no women,” said Guiao in jest, an obvious reference to the four Japanese players sent home by their basketball federation a couple of days back for “paying women for sex.”