HANGZHOU, China — Chris Newsome admitted Friday that he “got hurt” being cut from the final Gilas Pilipinas roster that saw action in the FIBA World Cup last month.
Then he earned a second chance, leading all the way to Gilas' golden 70-60 victory over Jordan in the Asian Games finale.
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“It hurt to get cut because everybody knows I wanted to be on that team,” said Newsome, who played a key role in Gilas’ successful run here. “But if this isn’t my time (the World Cup) then it’s anybody else’s time. God had better plans for me and this is it," he said.
In the final game, he helped put the cuffs on Jordan’s top gun, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and it worked.
RHJ was bothered all night, shooting poorly from the field (8-of-29) and going 5-of-11 from the stripe.
Where RHJ went, Jordan went.
Thanks in large part to Newsome’s awesome work.