Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson was around when the Philippine national team came off with a strong start and swamped Kazakhstan, 96-59, in their first game in the 2018 Asian Games men’s basketball tournament at the GBK Basketball Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ guard came straight from the airport and was around in the second half when the Filipinos were already in full control of the game.
Living up to the praises heaped on him by coaches Tab Baldwin and Tim Cone, Stanley Pringle scored a team-high 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists as the Filipinos went to work early and led, 22-2, from where the Kazakhs never recovered from.
Christian Standhardinger added 15 markers and five boards, while James Yap made 12 points and six rebounds. Paul Lee had 10 points.
The Filipinos struck hard from the outside in the second period, with Yap, JP Erram and Pringle unloading treys which moved the Filipinos out of range, 41-20, before the first half was over.
They coasted to a 64-43 spread in the last 9:07 of the third behind another three-pointer from Pringle.
By the time Clarkson had entered the venue, two triples from Lee found their mark as the Filipinos grabbed a 29-point edge, 81-52.
“We were able to disrupt their (Kazakhs’) offense. We were able to challenge their shots. Our anticipation was good and that’s because of the scouting that we did and the implementation and the execution of our game plan,” said coach Yeng Guiao, praising his coaching staff, led by Caloy Garcia.
True enough, Kazakhstan proved barely a threat to the Filipinos. They shot only 13 of their 32 two-point attempts (41 percent) and bricked most of their treys, sinking only five of 28 attempts (18 percent).
The win gave the Filipinos a chance at surpassing their seventh-place finish four years ago.
The Philippines can enter the quarterfinals with another Kazakhstan loss in their game China.
Clarkson will be suiting up for the Philippines when it takes on powerhouse and gold-medal favorite China on Tuesday.
Anton Bykov hit 13 points for Kazakhstan.
In Group A, Patiphan Kiahan led with 18 points as Thailand won over Mongolia, 87-86.
They share the lead with South Korea, which trounced Indonesia, 104-65, with Ricardo Ratcliffe scoring 30.
The Scores:
Philippines 96—Pringle 18, Standhardinger 15, Yap 12, Lee 10, Tiu 9, Norwood 7, Almazan 6, Erram 5, Belga 5, Taulava 5, Ahanmisi 4.
Kazakhstan 59 – Bykov 13, Gavrilov 9, Yergali 8, Zhigulin 7, Kuanov 6, Bazhin 6, Chsherbak 6, Maidekin 2, Marchuk 2, Yagodkin 0, Murzagaliyev 0, Satkeyev 0.
Quarters: 16-9, 41-20, 61-43, 96-59.
