At the tip-off between the Philippines and China, the dream of seeing Jordan Clarkson finally playing for Gilas Pilipinas also took off.

Once you get past the sting of losing, of course.

Before we get into the frustrating things, though, let’s focus on the good stuff — the stuff that got us dreaming not just of any Asian Games medal but THE Asian Games gold medal.

Jordan Clarkson — he of the Cleveland Cavaliers and formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers — was an offensive gem. He scored repeatedly through pull-up jumpers in the lane, three-pointers over defenders’ outstretched hands and even one-handed floaters.

China had their hands full and they nearly had more than they bargained for. The Koreans, the Taiwanese and everyone else watching/scouting the game from the stands were left in awe, wondering how’d they defend the bona fide National Basketball Association (NBA) talent when their turn to come up to the plate comes.

By game’s end and when the smoke cleared, the 6’5 product of Tulsa and Missouri notched a game-high 28 points to go along with his 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 5 three-pointers.

Now that’s a stat-line that’d make me say the whole stop-start process of getting him to play for the national team was worth it, wouldn’t you agree?

I feel fine saying that, at least individually and from a productivity standpoint, Clarkson was certainly as good as advertised.

The Philippines struggled all game long with China’s size, though that was to be expected.

7’2 Zhou Qi was shooting over his defenders with ease and was blocking shots left and right. 7’1 Wang Zhelin showcased his pirouette moves and was extremely tough to defend.

6’8 Abudushalamu Abudurexiti was also solid with his putbacks and inside stabs.

Our frontline definitely had a workout against the Chinese frontline and though we saw some flashes of brilliance, it was clear which team had the edge in the paint.

It also didn’t help that we sent the Chinese to the line too many times — 39 attempts to be exact. And sure, the Chinese converted only 59% of their free throws, but that was enough to make a big difference in such a close game.

Our boys deserved props, though, for limiting our turnovers (just 11), not getting beaten badly on the boards (47-49) and outshooting the Chinese from rainbow country (32% – 24%).

By all indications, Gilas Pilipinas pretty much checked all the boxes that needed to be checked except, perhaps, for holding down China’s indomitable frontline.

In all, despite the loss, I’d give Gilas Pilipinas a B in Tuesday’s game.

That’s why I cannot help but agree with coach Yeng when he said post-game that this defeat didn’t feel like a loss. In fact, he said, he viewed it still as a victory for Gilas Pilipinas.

I stand with him in that statement and I stand with this team as they face mighty Korea next Tuesday in the Quarter-Finals.