Bohol Tribune
Sports

Hoop Insider

by Dave Albarado

JC is  the Jazz’s secret weapon

The Utah Jazz is surprising the league today not because of the stellar performance of Donovan Mitchell or the defensive presence of Rudy Gobert, but the surprisingly unexpected performance of the only Filipino currently in the National Basketball Association (NBA), no other than Jordan Clarkson.
As of this writing, Clarkson is averaging 17. 3 points a game coming off the bench for the Jazz. He is having the best season of his career and finally found a home in Utah.
After having been traded to Utah, Jordan finally found a team that could capitalize on his talents. In a team filled with quality guards, JC found his niche as the ultimate role player complementing Mitchell by providing quality minutes for the Jazz which currently sits among the leaders of the Western Conference with a 36-11 win-loss card as of this writing following a narrow win over the Memphis Grizzlies, 111-107 on Thursday, Apr. 1, 2021, Manila time.

We all know JC’s career is not a bed of roses. He struggled during his time in Los Angeles playing along side the late Kobe Bryant and he struggled more in his time in Cleveland as he had to scrape the barrel for some playing time behind players like JR Smith during the run where the team succumbed to the Golden State Warriors.
Clarkson’s career blossomed under coach Quin Synder as he was able to embrace his role in the system playing mostly as the second or third option on offense over Mike Conley or even Gobert.
His contribution to the Jazz is tremendous that he is being eyed as a prime candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
His performance this year is stellar that nobody expected that a second rounder and picked 42nd by the Washington Wizards could stay for 6 years and now blossoming into a quality player.
No one gave him a chance to really get drafted early considering his struggles while he was playing in Missouri. He struggled in his last years in Mizzou owing to his personal problems dealing with his father’s bout with cancer.
Now, Jordan is a changed man and he is on a mission to grab a huge payday as he approaches this summer as a free agent. Surely, Utah will find ways to keep him on the roster seeing how he is playing good basketball for the franchise.
The next big story for Jordan is will he be able to play for the Philippines in the FIBA World Cup in 2023, considering his status as he was not able to secure a Philippine passport before the age of 16.
Gilas would have a formidable line-up come 2023 if JC can play for the Philippines.
Surely, the country will have a solid frontcourt composed of 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto, 6-foot-10 AJ Edu and 6-foot-9 Justin Baltazar with the backcourt consisting of Clarkson and 6-foot-5 Dwight Ramos or 6-footer Dalph Panopio.

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