Near-perfect game to win

Asian cage legend and South Korean head coach Hur Jae struck out one of his sons to bring back veteran Park Chan Hee on the national team for stability at the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon. Park’s the only player in the Lebanon lineup not in the cast that beat the Philippines, 83-72, at the recent Jones Cup in Taipei. Hur’s son Hoon Heo took a back seat but his brother Ung Heo kept his spot.

Gilas’ loss to South Korea in Taipei was nightmarish as coach Chot Reyes’ charges hit only 1-of-26 three pointers and were outscored from the foul line, 19-27. Tonight, the archrivals meet again as Philippines faces South Korea in a knockout quarterfinal match in Lebanon with the winner advancing to the semifinals, likely against Iran.

It’ll take a near-perfect game for Gilas to upend South Korea. But the mission isn’t impossible. In Lebanon, the Koreans have shown a weakness in transition defense. That’s because everyone crashes the boards so when the opponent grabs the defensive rebound, an outlet will find the open runner for an easy fastbreak layup. Against New Zealand, the Koreans were outscored in transition points, 4-10 and against Lebanon, it was the same story, 4-16.

There are two key players in Hur’s roster – 6-2 point guard Sunhyung Kim and 6-7 forward Sekeun Oh. They’re the only Koreans averaging in double figure points. Kim is averaging 12.8 points and 26.8 minutes, shooting 54.5 percent from beyond the arc. Oh is averaging 13.8 points and 25.7 minutes. The chink in Oh’s armor is his free throw shooting. Oh is hitting at a higher clip from the field 69.4 percent than from the line, 62.5 percent. He’s deadly from mid-range and he likes to use his wide body in positioning for put-backs. It’s possible that Reyes will assign Christian Standhardinger to barnacle Oh.

Because South Korea is loaded with deadly outside gunners, it’s not likely that Gilas will zone. The danger of playing man-to-man is if you’re not careful, you get into early foul trouble. The Koreans use the ball-screen a lot for Kim to get loose either for a shot or for a pass to an open shooter. Oh is a pick-and-pop threat so when he steps back, there must be a hand on his face to disrupt his vision. 

On the defensive end, Hur likes to play a man-zone where the Koreans aggressively chase down shooters. South Korea did a solid job of containing Japanese star Makoto Hiejima in Monday’s 81-68 win that sealed the showdown with Gilas. Hur will try to do the same to Matthew Wright. Gilas must be quick to react to the Korean defense. If the defenders are jumping on shooters, the release pass must be precise to find who’s open either in the perimeter or the interior. The challenge is to find the gaps in Korea’s defense and attack without hesitation.

The Koreans play physical. Oh, 6-8 Jonghyun Lee, 6-9 Jongkyu Kim and 6-6 Seonghyun Lee aren’t easily pushed out of position. They’re big, strong and bulky. But they’re slow. Standhardinger, Japeth Aguilar and Raymond Almazan are much more mobile and for sure, they’ll use their quickness to advantage.

The Korean’s win over Japan was hard-earned. Japan led by one at the half and South Korea, also by one entering the fourth period. It was Hur’s son Ung who broke the game open with 11 points in the payoff quarter. That’s how deep the Korean bench is. Gilas can’t be sure who’ll erupt. Six Koreans are hitting at a clip higher than 50 percent from the floor, seven are averaging at least 15 minutes and eight are scoring at least seven a game. As a team, South Korea is shooting 50.4 percent from the field to Gilas’ 44 percent and averaging 26.3 assists to Gilas’ 19.7. In turnovers, South Korea’s average is 12.8 to Gilas’ 14. In three-point shooting, Gilas has the edge, 42 percent to 36 percent with 12.3 connections a game.

Gabe Norwood must work extra hard to put the ball out of Sunghyun Kim’s control. Kim’s the facilitator. If he’s under the gun, the Koreans will miss a beat or two in execution. Gilas must focus on clearing the boards for the chance to set the pace so before the Koreans can align defensively, the Philippines is either breaking out for a layup or knocking down the open three.

At the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup in Manila, Gilas downed South Korea, 86-79. Only Jayson Castro, Aguilar, JuneMar Fajardo and Norwood are back with Gilas from that outing while South Korea still has Sunhyung Kim, Junyong Choi, Jongkyu Kim and Jonghyun Lee.  Korean coach Yoojae Hak has been replaced by Hur. In the 2015 edition, Gilas and South Korea didn’t cross paths as the Koreans lost to Iran in the quarters. The Philippines took out Lebanon in the quarters, Japan in the semis and lost to China in the final.