Clarkson, Gilas itching for elusive win as Gilas heads to FIBA World Cup classifications

MANILA, Philippines – Ahead of the classification round in the FIBA World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas is “super motivated,” guard Jordan Clarkson said.

Following their loss to Italy, 90-83, Tuesday night which kicked them out of the FIBA World Cup, Clarkson said they are setting their sights on the classification round, where they will likely play China and either Puerto Rico or South Sudan.

“We are super motivated. From the beginning we’ve been motivated. Our team is strong, we fight and we ain’t giving up throughout the whole game,” Clarkson told reporters at a press conference.

“Basketball is a game of missed shots and ups and downs. What happens is we string together runs and we go out there, fight until the final horn,” he added.

He said that the team is able to fight back and try to rally in all three of their defeats in the group phase.

Gilas lost by six against the Dominican Republic, 87-81, and by 10, 80-70, against Angola before the Italy game.

“We haven’t really felt that we’ve been out of any games, and we fight,” the 6-foot-5 guard said.

“We are strong mentally and we're gonna put it together and try to get these two [games in the classification round.] We know what it means for the country and we’re gonna leave it all on the floor,” he added.

Gilas and Angola (1-2) are going to the classification round, where the bottom two teams of each group will play for seeds 17 to 32.

The Dominican Republic and Italy, meanwhile, advanced to the second round of the tournament.