Cameron Clark will surely have big shoes to fill. As in big.
The pressure is now on for NLEX’s new import as head coach Yeng Guiao hopes that he will simply be as good as KJ McDaniels, undoubtedly the reason why the team is in such a great position in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup.
“I hope Cameron Clark does as well a job as KJ did,” he said.
The 30-year-old arrived in the country on Friday and wasted no time joining his new team. Even with little rest, he made it a point to watch his Road Warriors take on Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
There, he saw the NBA veteran buckle down to work on his way to 26 points and 10 rebounds, helping his side take down the defending champions, 115-103, for a victorious ending to his second stint in the league.
The win is of utmost significance. Besides finishing the eliminations with an 8-3 card that tied a franchise-best record, NLEX is also assured of a Top Four finish, equipping itself with a coveted twice-to-beat advantage.
And whatever the ball club had achieved in the conference thus far is huge because of McDaniels, who averaged 30.4 points on 49-percent shooting, 11.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.8 blocks, and 1.6 steals in 11 games.
Guiao wasn’t shy to admit how much he would want the Clemson product to stay, but he isn’t one to stand in the way of family — the 29-year-old is leaving for the States soon as he and his partner are expecting a baby.
(C) PBA Images
“I don’t know how to say it, but if there’s anything that can convince KJ to stay, we would do it,” he said. “But his family is really first priority. He wants to be at bedside when his girlfriend gives birth so we cannot take that away from him.
“But we’ll be missing a lot. We don’t know how we will play without him because we’ve gotten so used to him, not just the way he plays the game but he’s gotten close to a lot of the players,” he furthered.
“He’s really been settling down and then now he needs to go. Sayang no. Laking panghihinayang namin. But we have to move on after KJ and hope that we’re still able to play well. Ganoon talaga ang buhay. Sayang.”
But now, NLEX indeed has to move forward. And the main objective now heading into the quarterfinals, according to the champion mentor, is getting their new reinforcement into their scheme of things as fast as possible.
Photo by PBA Images
“The one-week break that we have is going to get us the time to acclimatize Cameron Clark and also run the sets with him, know the guys, and adjust to the team and the team adjust to him,” he said.
“This is exactly what we will be missing kasi adjusted na lahat kami kay KJ at si KJ adjusted na rin sa sistema namin and that took a lot of time and effort. Now, parang back to square one with our import.
“But we have no choice so we just have to compress all of that in that one week that is our preparation time,” he added.
Guiao hopes, too, that Clark will be able to provide what the team felt could be his contribution based on the tapes of him playing in Europe, where he played in various parts of which including Germany, his latest stop.
“Tinignan namin ‘yung mga games niya sa Europe. He looks like a very dependable guy around the basket and medium range. Mayroon na kaming mga three-point shooters so we felt na kailangan namin yung inside presence,” he said.
“I hope that Clark provides us with that.”
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