Oppas push Gilas off track

The (Filipinos’) style of play is very similar to how we play in the States. I think we surprised (Clarkson) with our zone a little bit. He’s playing in the NBA. There’s a defensive three seconds there. So, it takes a little bit of adjustment for him

THE Philippines’ Jordan Clarkson swings for a shot against Korea during Monday’s men’s basketball match in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Game Tuesday

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Korea, the team that has been breaking the hearts of Filipinos for more than five decades now, asserted its mastery of the Philippines anew.

Only this time, the Koreans didn’t need any lucky trey or controversial call to get it done.

All they used were the same old weapons that made them successful in the past — zone defense and outside shooting.

The Koreans tightened up their defense and put on a shooting clinic in the final canto to boot the Filipinos out of contention via a 91-82 victory in the quarterfinals of the men’s basketball competition of the 18th Asian Games Monday at the GBK Basketball Hall here.

With Jeon Junbeom and Heo Ilyoung taking turns in piercing the defense from the rainbow area, the Koreans turned a 64-65 disadvantage into an 86-74 lead, leaving the Filipinos huffing and puffing to catch up entering the two-minute mark.

With the setback, the Filipinos bombed out of medal race.

They will now face Japan, who bowed down to Iran in the other quarterfinal battle, 93-67, in the classification battle for fifth to eighth places Tuesday also at the same venue.

Head coach Yeng Guiao of the Philippines humbly took the blame, saying that Korea was simply the better team in the fourth period.

“I take responsibility for it,” Guiao told Daily Tribune’s Asiad coverage supported by Primehomes. Guiao prepared the squad for just eight days before flying to this bustling Indonesian metropolis.

“I take responsibility because we just did not prepare that long. Again, it’s a function of our time together, but I’ll take that responsibility. And I don’t think the team is to blame for it.”

National Basketball Association (NBA) stalwart Jordan Clarkson was hot in the first half with 19 of his 25 points to go with eight rebounds. But he struggled in the fourth as the Koreans stepped on the gas and caught fire from deep.

Christian Standhardinger was also impressive with 16 points and nine rebounds while Stanley Pringle and Paul Lee finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively for the Filipinos, who failed to deliver when it mattered the most.

Ricardo Ratliffe enjoyed the single defensive coverage thrown at him, prompting him to erupt for 30 points and 14 rebounds while Kim Sunhyung and Heo chipped in 17 markers apiece for the Koreans, who have been training for this tourney since January.

“It was a good effort,” said Guiao, whose boys had five rebounds less than the Koreans, 40-45 and matched the number of their three-point bombs with 12.

“They gave their all and I couldn’t ask anything more from them.”

More than the Koreans’ blistering offense, Guiao credited their fourth-quarter collapse to the airtight defense by the Koreans, especially in the early stretch of the fourth where the Filipinos couldn’t buy a basket.

“They just zoned us all game long,” he said.

“They stuck with the zone, they lived and died with the zone and we couldn’t adjust in time with the zone.”

The Korean Basketball League employs FIBA rules with special emphasis on different variations of zone defense.

In the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the defense is patterned after its US counterpart — the NBA, as most of the coaches are comfortable with man-to-man defense to take away the athleticism and all-around individual talent of imports, most of them Americans.

It was also the biggest weakness of Clarkson, who is seeing action in the international arena for the first time ever.

“Even Jordan had some problems with the zone,” referring to Clarkson, who came from a league where playing man-to-man defense is strongly encouraged and a player is penalized for not staying on his man for three seconds.

“We were just not comfortable playing with the zone.”

Ratliffe admitted that his familiarity with the Filipinos greatly helped.

A former import in the PBA who knew Clarkson since college, Ratliffe surely knew how to make the faster, more athletic Filipinos go down on their knees in a match where the stakes were high.

“Their style of play is very similar to how we play in the States,” said the United States-born Ratliffe, who saw action for Star in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup in 2016 before getting his Korean citizenship via naturalization.

“I think we surprised him with our zone a little bit. He’s playing in the NBA. There’s a defensive three seconds there. So, it takes a little bit of adjustment for him.”

The last time the Filipinos prevailed over the Koreans in the Asian Games was in 1962, also in this city when Caloy Loyzaga, the most decorated Filipino basketball ever, was still playing.

I take responsibility because we just did not prepare that long. Again, it’s a function of our time together, but I’ll take that responsibility. And I don’t think the team is to blame for it.

Since then, the Koreans asserted their mastery over the Filipinos, a rivalry that was highlighted by controversial calls in the 1986 Seoul Asiad and that miraculous three-point bomb by Lee Sang Min that reduced Dondon Hontiveros into a huge mass of tears.

Although the Philippines crushed the Koreans in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in 2013 to march into the FIBA World Championships for the first time in four decades, winning over them in the Asian Games remained a tall order for the Filipinos.

“They got their rhythm with the three-point shots in the last quarter. Before that, we were playing very decent defense against them,” said Guiao, whose squad led by as many as eight points only to collapse in the deciding period.