JAKARTA -- As Gilas Pilipinas went through practice at the Gor Lokasari gym somewhere in the heart of Jakarta a day before their opening game against Kazakhstan in the 18th Asian Games, a local high school basketball team watched intently from the sidelines while waiting for their turn to use the court.
When practice was over, the coach of the team approached coach Yeng Guiao and chatted briefly with him. Meanwhile, a few of the players approached just one Gilas player for the obligatory photo taking.
Four years after he last played professionally in Jakarta, Stanley Pringle is still popular here among local basketball fans. It was six years ago when he led the Indonesia Warriors to the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) crown, and apparently they still haven't forgotten that.
"Oh yeah. I did play with the Indonesia Warriors here for about two and a half years," he said. "I already caught up with a couple of them and I'm looking forward to meeting up with some more of them. It's going to be great.
"Definitely I got some fans here taking pictures here and there. I don't really feel like it's a homecourt advantage for me. I'm still away from home. But for sure it's great to feel the fans, the extra support. The Philippine fans are going to be everywhere in the world. I'll play hard for them. Like I said, the coaches' praise and the fans, I'm still focused on the court and hope to try and continue to win."
After his stint in the ABL, Pringle was taken first overall in the 2014 PBA Draft by the GlobalPort (now NorthPort) Batang Pier and was named Rookie of the Year the following year. His quickness and scoring ability quickly made him a fan favorite, and in the recent Commissioner's Cup he dropped a career-high 50 points.
All these on-court exploits didn't go unnoticed by some of the best basketball minds in the Philippines. Tab Baldwin, who has seen it all as an international coach at the Asian level, called him "the best point guard in Asia." Tim Cone, the PBA's winningest coach of all time, said he doesn't think anybody can stop Pringle in the Asian Games.
Pringle is flattered by the high praise, but he also knows it won't matter if the team doesn't perform in the men's basketball tournament.
"They're great coaches and they're all going to have high expectations for us," he replied when asked about Baldwin and Cone's statements. "I'm definitely looking to stay focused on the scouting report and what the coaches are going to have planned for us. I plan to execute and plan to play hard."
He also isn't quite ready to be called the continent's best point guard.
"That's (Jayson) Castro's title. Like I said, I'm just focused on Coach Yeng and the strategy and executing it."
While Pringle is certainly in the conversation as one of the top guards in the tournament, he will soon be teaming up with another guard who just might run away with that title when the Games are over. And like the rest of the team, he can't wait to start playing with Jordan Clarkson, who was finally given the green light by the NBA to suit up for Gilas.
"Oh, it's great news," he said of the development. "We've been hearing updates on him every other day. If he gets here for sure he's going to help us win. We're looking to play with him, run with him up the court and in transition and get a feel for him."
Even with limited practice time, Pringle believes it won't be difficult assimilating Clarkson into Guiao's system.
"We've been practicing for one week before this. Coach Yeng has kept everything simple for us, defense, offense. He kept it simple but everyday we've been adding a little bit more details. Jordan's been playing a long time at a high level so he's going to catch on really easy. I don't think jelling is going to be a problem."