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    Clarkson likes Gilas effort, heaps praise on Ramos and Sotto

    Despite loss, JC likes 'all-around good effort'
    Aug 26, 2022
    Jordan Clarkson Lebanon Gilas
    PHOTO: fiba.basketball

    JORDAN Clarkson took responsibility for his missed shots in Gilas Pilipinas' 85-81 defeat to Lebanon on Friday morning but at the same time expressed optimism on his team moving forward in the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.

    "We had a chance to win the game. I missed some shots towards the end of the game and I feel like I usually make as well, so just a tough one tonight," said the former NBA Sixth Man awardee of the Utah Jazz.

    [READ: Arakji delivers late as Lebanon denies Gilas]

    Clarkson failed to find the bottom of the net in his last three shots in the final 2:30 of the tie, including the floater that would have given the Philippines the lead as the game entered the last 80 seconds with the score tied at 78-all.

    Those misses were a dampener to his debut as the country's naturalized player even as he finished with a superb statline of 27 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. He shot 2-of-9 from deep and 6-of-17 from the field.

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      The Jazz guard acknowledged that it's tough to pull off a win with the wasteful ways that the Pinoys went at Zouk Mikael, committing 21 turnovers which led to 22 points in favor of the Cedars.

      "It's hard to win when you have 20-plus turnovers in a game like this especially with the home crowd behind them," he lamented.

      Jordan Clarkson Gilas Lebanon

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      Still, Clarkson was happy with how Gilas performed to open the second round of the Asian qualifiers, seeing positives with the way Dwight Ramos and Kai Sotto showed up in their first game together.

      "I think we did a good job of competing. Coach prepared us really well, trying to scout this team now. We had a great game plan coming in," he said.

      "For us, this is bright. We're just getting this team together. We got some good young stars on the team. Dwight played really well tonight as well, Kai played well. I think it was all around a really good effort."

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      The job, however, still ain't over as Clarkson gets one more chance to get a win with Saudi Arabia next on Gilas' schedule this Monday before returning to the US.

      "We just got to take it on the head and get back to the drawing board," said the 30-year old Fil-American. "We're going back to Manila and we got Saudi Arabia, so I'll be prepared for that. We'll try to get a win at home."

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      PHOTO: fiba.basketball
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