JEREMY Lin made special mention of Cliff Hodge during the postgame press conference of their East Asia Super League game at the PhilSports Arena.
The 35-year-old Lin went one-on-one against Hodge, considered one of the peskiest defenders in the PBA, a couple of times on Wednesday. Lin, of course, got the last laugh as he finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in New Taipei Kings’ 89-77 win over Meralco.
Lin cites Hodge's defense
Lin said Hodge typified the Philippine kind of physicality.
“It’s physical,” said Lin on the Filipino style of basketball. “Cliff Hodge is a great example. He is a four-man position but he is 6-4. He is physical, smart, and does his job really, really well. He plays hard.”
Hodge admitted it was a difficult task to contain the former NBA player, who exploded in the second half to lift the Kings to victory.
“I give it a B because we lost. But he is a great player. He struggled a bit in the first half, and then he exploded in the second half. You know how we play defense, it’s usually five-man rotation so it’s not usually one guy because we got help.”
“We made some mistakes in the second half, and then he got off in the second half. It’s hard to contain that kind of player,” said Hodge.
Hodge says Lin a great player
When told that he was mentioned by Lin in the press conference, the two-time PBA All-Defensive Team member said: “He is a great player. We look forward to playing great players and seeing them man-to-man, mano a mano.”
“He is an NBA-caliber player. I just have to go out there and try to play as hard as I can and play good defense. I felt like that’s what we tried to do today,” said Hodge.
Hodge said there was an added motivation to play not only because they are playing against Lin under an electric atmosphere but also because the Bolts are playing for their lives in the EASL.
“Definitely an added motivation for us because we knew that if we lost today, we would probably be eliminated from the tournament. We came out here, gave our best, and tried to win to at least stay in it. But we ended up losing. It kinda sucks but it was a good experience for us. Hopefully, it gets better for us when we go to the PBA,” said Hodge.
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