Clarkson should not be the Go-to-Guy of Gilas



So, Jordan Clarkson will officially play for the Gilastopainters that will represent our country in the 2018 Asian Games.

That happened after our SBP officials did their due diligence and never say die in their push for him. And for that, we need to show our respect to them too. 

Never forget about their work if our team will be able to shock the world and get one of the three medals in the tournament.

Now that Clarkson is available, it is not wrong to assume that coach Yeng will now run their system through him.

But, I don't think he should be the guy that should get the highest usage rate for Gilas. 

I think, our ace player should still be Stanley Pringle.

Nope. Jordan Clarkson is a better player than Stanley Pringle. But if we want to maximize this mesmerizing duo, Stanley should be the one who holds the ball more and Clarkson should be working more, without the ball.

Why?

Stanley is a more willing playmaker
I do not think Stanley is a better playmaker than Clarkson. Clarkson has NBA-level athleticism, handles, moves and vision to create for others.

But Jordan looks more to shoot than to create good shots for others. I do not think we need that kind of go-to-guy. We should be looking to maximize our other players, especially our frontline. 

Christian Standhardinger, Raymond Almazan and JP Erram are capable scorers but they need the lead guard to set them up.

If we rely on a shoot-first guy, Gilas will be much easier to defend. Especially, if we consider the fact that Pringle, Ahanmisi and Clarkson could be the only guys who can consistently breakdown the defense for us.

Clarkson will still magnetize the defense without the ball
The name recognition alone will force the defenders to take note of Clarkson. He doesn't need the ball to pressure the defense. If they run him through a lot of screens, I can see the defense bending and provide good shots for his teammates.

By giving the ball more to Stanley, we can have two guys that our opponent will be alert for. We could breakdown the defense through the two of them. 

Also, he is actually a good catch-and-shoot shooter. In his run with Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017-2018 season, he shot 53.6% from the corner.

Add the fact that he is really an inefficient scorer. He is a 44.3% shooter in the field. He loves to take the inefficient shots like pull-up midrangers and pull-up three-pointers.

If we can minimize that and maximize his underrated catch-and-shoot ability and provide more decision-making responsibility to Stanley, we could be having a better working duo.

Overall
I trust coach Yeng Guiao that he will not fall-in-love in relying too much on Jordan Clarkson. He is the right coach for this team because he wants to get the best out of all his players. 


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