JAKARTA—Yeng Guiao said everything has been taken cared of as far as preparing for South Korea is concerned.
“This is the big game, and we won’t really know what will happen until we play it,” Guiao said after overseeing the Philippine team practice on Sunday for the big game against Korea.
The match will determine whether the Filipinos will be playing for a medal in the men’s basketball competition of the 18th Asian Games here.
“Practice went well and we are ready as we can be,” Guiao added. “They are ready mentally.”
The team will tangle with the nation that has dealt some of its most painful losses internationally at 11 a.m. (PH time) at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium’s Basketball Hall.
National team head coach Yeng Guiao and guard Jordan Clarkson during practice. Musong R. Castillo/INQUIRER
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The Philippines hasn’t beaten Korea in the Asiad since 1962 when the late great Caloy “The Big Difference” Loyzaga bannered the team.
There’s a different spearhead for Gilas this time, a 26-year-old National Basketball Association player named Jordan Clarkson, who has transformed the ragtag bunch assembled hastily just over three weeks ago into one of the crowd darlings of the tournament.
And certainly, one of the favorites now.
Clarkson has fully recovered from the cramps that took him out of the fourth quarter of an 80-82 loss to China on Tuesday.
A better Clarkson
Guiao believes that the basketball community will see something better from the Cleveland Cavalier—as if the 26-point effort in just three quarters against the Chinese was not impressive enough.
“I feel he is better. I feel he is more comfortable with his teammates and his teammates are more comfortable with him,” Guiao said.
“He is also more comfortable with the international brand of play and like I said, he picks up very well which makes me believe that he’ll raise his level of efficiency.”
“We’ll see a better Clarkson in this game, not necessarily points wise, but in overall performance.”
Guiao said odds in the game are even because the Filipinos don’t give too much away in terms of size.
“Our two problems basically are how to neutralize their outside shooters and how to defend (Ricardo) Ratliffe,” Guiao said. “But all of these will boil down to adjustments during game time.”