Philippines bid farewell to FIBA World Cup 2023 with 3 defeats, Jordan Clarkson helpless
With 2 group stage losses against Angola and the Dominican Republic, the Philippine team was forced to win the final match in Group A with a difference of 12 points or more to maintain hope of advancing to the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Although playing at home, the difficulty of Jordan Clarkson and his teammates lies in the fact that their opponent is the Italian team, the team is ranked 10th on the FIBA world rankings.
Everything started well with the home team in front of the cheers of thousands of spectators. Coach Chot Reyes' teachers and students entered the game well and took the lead in the first half. However, the joy did not last long when the Italian team revived in the second half, overwhelming with the score 28-16.
Individual Jordan Clarkson played hard despite being closely marked, but the effort of this NBA player alone was not enough. Every time the Philippines narrowed the gap, the Italian team responded with a series of 3-pointers to bring the gap to over 10 points.
Completely helpless in defense and deadlocked in attack, the Philippines fell to the "Azzurri" with a final score of 90-83, ending the group stage with empty hands.
Jordan Clarkson leads the Southeast Asian representative with 23 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds. But everything became meaningless on the day the Italian team threw in 17 3-pointers in the whole match (17-40 3PT).
The same team as the co-host and were eliminated from the group stage, but Japan and the Philippines showed extremely different faces.
While the team from the land of the rising sun still captures the hearts of fans with its team play, solidarity and fighting spirit, the Southeast Asian representative plays quite weakly and lacks breakthroughs.
The focus of criticism is on head coach Chot Reyes, who was even booed by his own fans when he was introduced to the field before the match against Italy.
Although it is no longer able to compete for a high rank at the FIBA World Cup 2023, the Philippine team still has a goal in the tournament. They will enter the classification phase with the other teams also eliminated in the group stage.
Here, the teams will try to win as many victories as possible to improve the win-lose record, trying to compete for the Olympic Games next summer in Paris, France.
