Gilas holds first practice with Clarkson

NBA star Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz had his first practice with the Philippine men's basketball team behind closed doors Wednesday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

The Utah Jazz shooting guard hit the ground running with the national squad, less than 48 hours after arriving in Manila.

Jordan Clarkson SBP PHOTO

Clarkson, the team's naturalized player for the FIBA World Cup, landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport early Tuesday morning.

Seven-foot-three big man Kai Sotto also joined the team's practice for the first time on Wednesday. He took part in the shooting drills despite nursing a back injury that he sustained several weeks ago during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.

National coach Chot Reyes, upon arriving in Manila after playing in a pocket tournament in China, said Sotto is scheduled to see his doctor on Thursday.

The Philippine team made the quick turnaround after finishing strong in the 2023 Heyuan WUS International Basketball tournament that saw Gilas Pilipinas win three of its four matches in Guangdong, China.

Meanwhile, Gilas Pilipinas assistant coach Tim Cone expressed confidence in Reyes' ability to fasttrack team chemistry considering that Clarkson and Sotto joined the training pool less than three weeks before the FIBA World Cup begins.

“Coach Chot is a really tremendous chemistry-building coach,” Cone told Martie Bautista of News5 on Thursday.

“He really knows how to build chemistry. He really knows how to do it quickly. He's one of the best I've seen doing it. I'm not really too worried about that.”

Joining Clarkson and Sotto in practice on Wednesday were Chris Newsome, Ray Parks Jr., Japeth Aguilar, AJ Edu, Kiefer Ravena, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Dwight Ramos, Thirdy Ravena, Calvin Oftana, Jamie Malonzo, Roger Pogoy and Rhenz Abando.

Scottie Thompson and Poy Erram were not present.

Thompson is still rehabbing his shooting hand after sustaining a metacarpal fracture in practice during training camp in Europe.

Erram, on the other hand, is still recovering from a knee injury.

Gilas Pilipinas is scheduled to play Cote d'Ivoire in a scrimmage game on August 16, Montenegro on August 21 and Mexico on August 22, all closed-door games.