MANILA, Philippines – Jordan Clarkson or Justin Brownlee?

It will be a hard decision for Chot Reyes and his coaching staff as they choose between the two stars who will occupy Gilas Pilipinas’ lone naturalized player spot for the FIBA World Cup.

Reyes said Clarkson and Brownlee give the national team different looks as they thrive in varying play styles, with the Barangay Ginebra import more involved on defense and the Utah Jazz ace being a more prolific scorer.

“Obviously Justin has a better chemistry with the locals, he’s played here longer. I think in terms of being able to do other things, Justin has a slight edge,” Reyes told the Power and Play with Noli Eala program of Radyo Singko.

Brownlee has been a consistent offensive threat in the PBA as he averaged at least 25 points in 9 of the 10 conferences he reinforced the Gin Kings.

Reyes, however, noted that Brownlee has yet to show he can put up the same numbers against top-caliber defensive opponents, who await Gilas Pilipinas in the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Clarkson is a bona fide scorer as he normed a career-high 20.8 points on top of 4.4 assists and 4 rebounds in the 2022-23 NBA season.

“We haven’t seen Justin’s ability to score against top-flight, tall, defensive teams and defensive oppositions, which we know Jordan can. He scores 30, 40 points in the NBA,” said Reyes.

“We know that Jordan will get us points, will get us buckets. We’ve seen also that when we asked Jordan when we had him here, he was very comfortable with our defensive schemes.”

“He showed a great willingness to play defense. Maybe not in the mold of a Justin Brownlee, but I think defensively, there’s very little difference.”

The choice will come down to what the national team needs the most.

“I think the bigger thing is Justin just allows us to be more versatile because he can play the four spot,” Reyes said.

“Jordan, on the other hand, can play not only the two and three spots, but he can also be our backup point guard. That also gives us a different look, a different dimension.”

Reyes said Brownlee is set to join Gilas Pilipinas at the start of its World Cup training on June 7, while Clarkson is expected to be available in July as his camp remains in talks with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. – Rappler.com