By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – Even though Manila for the past few days has been covered by rainy clouds, there are some Bright Stars shining in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, trying to reach the rest of the planet by shouting their presence.
What South Sudan has been able to accomplish to get to the most anticipated International tournament of the year is already known, with Luol Deng managing to bring together a core full of guys who never really grew up in Africa, bringing back basketball to the country and dragging it to the World Cup.
However, the black-and-white team has been doing even bigger things since playing in the Smart Araneta Coliseum. After going inches from a miraculous debut win against Puerto Rico, they finally won their first-ever game in the competition against China. On both occasions, one guy particularly stood out.
The 25-year-old Carlik Jones, who has South Sudanese origins, has had a historical run so far in the World Cup, being in his inaugural game the first player with 30+ points and 10+ assists game over the last 30 years in the competition, ending with 35 points and 11 assists in his losing effort against Puerto Rico; secondly, he had 21 points against China, becoming only the second-ever African player to score more than 20 points in his first two games after the Ivorian Drissa Die back in 1982.
When asked what he would have said if people told him one year ago that he would be here, he had a big smile on his face. “I probably would have just laughed and told them they were lying. It’s just a dream coming true, growing up I’ve always wanted to play in the FIBA World Cup to compete and qualify for the Olympics. Me being here it’s an extremely huge blessing, and I’m just trying to enjoy every minute of it”, he said in an exclusive interview with Eurohoops.
The 2022-23 G-League MVP, under contract with the Chicago Bulls, came back to the feelings spread in the locker room after beating Sasha Djordjevic’s team 89-69 on the second day of games in Group B. “I’m doing pretty good, it was a big win for us two days ago. It’s an unbelievable feeling. Having the fans there and back home supporting us, the emotion within the team and the coaches. It’s a blessing to be here, and an even bigger blessing to get that victory. Not only for us but for the country as well”, he proudly said.
Now, if they want to qualify for the next phase and continue dreaming about playing in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, they have to beat Serbia. “I think it’s a game we all have to wake up for”, he first said about the clash with such veteran and strong opponents. “We know what we’re up against and we know we have to show up because they are gonna show up. We just need to be ourselves and play our game. We have a unique respect for them, but at the end of the day we feel we belong here, and we’re gonna try our best to show everybody why”, he added.
“We’re excited and we can’t hold on to our first win. I want my teammates to think like “If I want that feeling again, let’s do it again”. We have to learn from the first two games because Serbia is a great team and they won’t make a lot of mistakes. We just have to capitalize on little details and stay focused throughout the whole game. They’re gonna play the right way for 40 minutes, so we have to master energy and do the same”, he went on saying about the Serbian squad.
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Playing as a naturalized player, Carlik Jones is loving every second of his new adventure with the Bright Stars. “I appreciate everybody on the staff and on the team. I feel like they didn’t have to accept me with open arms, but they did. It was just so welcoming. From the first time I got here, it was all good vibes, jokes, and stuff like that. It made it easier for me to get here”, he said.
Just like he did on the path to the competition during the 2023 FIBA World Cup African Qualifiers, the president of the South Sudanese basketball federation Luol Deng also contacted guys for the big appointment in the summer, recruiting and scouting in any way possible. “I met Luol around January, playing with the Bulls. He reached out to me a little before the training camp started, getting me the rundown of everything. I’m a firm believer in being the underdog, and understand what these guys have been through and what we’re all trying to accomplish. I’m a guy who likes to prove people wrong and shock the world, and this is the team to do it”, Carlik Jones commented on what was like joining the team.
To try to make the Olympic dream a reality, South Sudan is relying on the talents of coach Royal Ivey on the bench, and the relationship with Carlik Jones has been great so far. “Coach Ivey has so much passion behind him. He has so much trust love and confidence in us as a unit. He allows everyone to play freely and with the utmost confidence. Most people like to say point guards are the head of the snake, but in our case, he is that”, he commented on the current Houston Rockets assistant.
“He never gets too high, never gets too low. He’s the same guy every day, no matter the ups and downs he’s always positive and he’s trying to bring the best out of us. He’s overall a good dude. I’m more than thankful for him. It gets us going, even in games when teams make runs. It doesn’t allow us to get down on ourselves. It helps us a lot, and the relationship is only getting better and better”, Carlik Jones added about him.
In what has been looking like a historic event for African countries, since every participant from the continent got at least one victory in the 2023 FIBA World Cup so far, the conversation around problems they have to face constantly has been spreading around Manila, Okinawa, and Jakarta.
Talking about such a delicate matter, the 25-year-old point guard expressed his pride. “I think it’s big time, like I’ve kinda of said before. It’s just bigger than us and bigger than basketball. We’re out here fighting and competing, not for us. We have a country we’re fighting for. To put our country on the map, it’s huge”, he said.
“South Sudan is slept on, its people are slept on, and we as a unit are slept on. We just trying to put South Sudan on the map and just letting people know who we are”. Carlik Jones knows it, and he just wants to keep going for his people, for South Sudan, for Africa.
🇸🇸 A historic win for the Bright Stars and South Sudan.
TOGETHER! ❤️#WinForSouthSudan pic.twitter.com/PyOYPHEwGz
— South Sudan Basketball (@SSBFed) August 28, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: 2023 FIBA World Cup
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