WHEN Gilas Pilipinas faces South Sudan in the first game of the classification phase of the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup, Carlik Jones could be one of the players expected to make things hard for the home team on Thursday.
READ: IT'S SET: Gilas to face China, South Sudan in classification phase
Jones is fresh from winning the NBA G League MVP last April while playing for the Windy City Bulls, two years after he finished his college career with Louisville.
Due to his stellar play, the 25-year-old Cincinnati born player but with South Sudan descent is set to join the Chicago Bulls in the coming NBA season.
Jones said he is not thinking too far ahead, focusing instead on taking South Sudan to the highest finish possible in the World Cup.
He is currently averaging 19.7 points and 7.7 assists for South Sudan, whose federation president, by the way, is also a former Bulls player in Luol Deng.
With Jones in the team, South Sudan claimed its first-ever World Cup win after beating China, 89-69, last August 28.
“Honestly, I haven’t thought that far,” said Jones, when asked how his World Cup stint would help him with the Bulls. “I’m trying to handle business here.”
“We made hist
ory here. We came to do what we want to do. But we are not done. We have lots to play,” said Jones, whose team is still in search of the lone spot for Africa in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Also a name that should be familiar to most NBA fans is Wenyen Gabriel, who played alongside Austin Reaves with the Los Angeles Lakers last season. He remains a free agent though.
Nuni Omot has also been leading South Sudan in previous international tournaments, averaging 15.3 points in the World Cup qualifiers.
A name that is familiar to one Gilas Pilipinas player is Dech Sunday, who played with Kai Sotto with the Adelaide 36ers last year.
Khaman Maluach, of course, will be another player to watch with the 16-year-old, 7-foot-1 center being an NBA prospect.
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