Losing Jordan Clarkson, the Philippines team suffered a serious loss in the tour before the FIBA World Cup
Another unfavorable news comes to the preparation of the Philippine basketball team before the FIBA World Cup: Jordan Clarkson will continue to be absent from the tour in China.
This NBA defender, who did not attend Gilas Pilipinas' pre-tournament training, will now continue to be absent from the Heyuan WUS International friendly tournament.
"Jordan Clarkson will definitely not join the squad in China. Maybe he will fly directly from the US to Manila", Philippines coach Chot Reyes vaguely about the time of the player's reunion playing for Utah Jazz.
Before that, Clarkson was also absent from Gilas' first training period, which means he only had very little time to get to know his teammates ahead of the FIBA World Cup, like what happened at ASIAD 18. .
The 31-year-old defender is the next face to withdraw from the tournament taking place in Ha Nguyen. Kai Sotto and Scottie Thompson respectively announced not to travel due to different reasons.
More ominous for coach Chot Reyes is that neither Justin Brownlee nor Ange Kouame went to China. They will compete for a naturalized player position with Jordan Clarkson, but Chot will not have the opportunity to "check" these names one last time before making a choice.
The preparation of the Philippines team is facing big problems when the Basketball Federation of the Philippines (SBP) is said to not guarantee the benefits for players like Kai Sotto or Justin Brownlee.
In recent days, teachers and coaches Chot Reyes are training in Manila and playing friendly matches with a few local clubs. In these friendlies, Justin Brownlee was present but did not participate - a move that showed protest against the behavior of SBP.
