Clarkson as late Gilas addition will pose issues, admits Baldwin

Eligibility won’t be the only issue Jordan Clarkson will have to deal with if and when he joins Gilas Pilipinas. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

TAIPEI – No matter how good Jordan Clarkson is, there will still be a downside if and when he does join Gilas Pilipinas for the Fiba Asia Championship next month.

“If he comes in at the last moment, he’ll present some issues,” national coach Tab Baldwin said Saturday here. “There won’t be a smooth transition into a team if you come in late.

“I don’t care how talented you are.”

Clarkson’s availability for the Gilas Five is hanging in the balance, not only because Fiba wants him to prove his eligibility more, but because his father, Mike, has presented some issues concerning the Los Angeles Lakers for which the 6-foot-5 point guard plays for in the NBA.

Clarkson will be flying to watch the Philippines play three games in the Jones Cup starting with their match against Chinese Taipei-A on Sunday night, and will fly back to the US to sort out issues with his father and obtain additional documents that Fiba is asking for.

“We hope, we dream that someday he’ll play for Gilas,” Baldwin said. “But I am not the person to ask (if he will ever get to play for Gilas). I’m not the one who declares eligibility.”

Baldwin said that he will prune down the pool to his “Fighting 12” at the end of the Jones Cup, an announcement of which he will make on or before Sept. 8.

But that lineup will not be cast in stone, as he hinted that replacements can be made until before opening day on Sept. 23 if a player is injured.

The Fiba Asia, last held in Manila in 2013 where the Philippines finished second to Iran to qualify for the World Cup, will be held in Changsha, China where only the champion will be given a berth to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil.