PHMANILA, Philippines -- WITH Gilas Pilipinas players returning to their respective mother teams in the PBA, training for the national squad takes a halt before returning to practice some time in February in time for the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.
The Philippines stayed perfect in the Qualifiers with a 4-0 record, having swept the first two windows.
Naturalized Filipino Justin Brownlee averaged 20.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists through the first two windows.
The 6-foot-4 Brownlee has been doing well under coach Tim Cone's system. But given that Father Time will soon be catching up on the three-time PBA Best Import winner and the uncertainty of when Bennie Boatwright will get his Philippine naturalization, the question that begs to be answered is where will Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson fit in under Cone's system?
Cone, in a recent guest appearance with former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala's program, shared his thoughts on the 2021 NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
"Jordan's availability is always extremely, extremely limited by the NBA. It's not something he can't come to the window or play in windows," Cone said. "He might be able to show up in a few weeks before the (2023 FIBA) World Cup, but that's gonna defeat all the continuity you develop overtime with the team that you have."
Clarkson, the 46th pick of the Washington Wizards in the 2014 NBA Draft, is top-caliber talent, said Cone. But it was also evident during his recent Gilas Pilipinas stints that having Clarkson on the floor leaves other local national players guessing on their specific roles.
"Again, when you bring in a naturalized player with the caliber of a Jordan Clarkson, he impacts the team in so many various ways," Cone said.
"All of a sudden, all the attention, all the touches, everything goes to him, and players are kind of left (with) 'what am I supposed to do since I'm not used to it.'
That's kind of hat happened to us in the World Cup," added the 66-year-old Cone, who during the World Cup hosted by the Philippines, served as one of the assistants of then head coach Chot Reyes.
Cone felt Clarkson's arrival with less than two weeks to go before the World Cup, somehow changed the dynamics of the supposed continuity of the program under Reyes since the national squad at that time, had been training for nearly three months already.
"He came in at the last moment, maybe 8, 9 days before the start of the tournament. He had a practice game with us, but there had been three months of preparation prior to that, so it was hard to make that quick adjustment," explained Cone.
The national coach shared his own philosophy with the national squad, which involves familiarity with his system that he believes, impacts the Philippines' chances for the better long term.
"That's the whole purpose of the whole program, that we don't have to adjust. That we have continuity," he said.
"We feel the continuity, the system, familiarity, those things are higher priority than just purely talent level; (and) just getting the best players and showing that and playing."
The 6-foot-5 Clarkson averaged 26 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists during his five-game stint with Gilas where it placed 24th out of 32 nations in the World Cup.
The Philippines managed to close the consolation round with a 96-75 demolition of China.
"We feel over time, those things, familiarity, system are more important to long-term success than just showing up with great players every chance you get," Cone said. "That's the philosophy this program is taking at this point. We just try to stay and grow in this group that we have."