WATCH: Gilas cadet team coach Jong Uichico on Korean hoops

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has long regarded its series of basketball defeats to the Koreans as a curse.

And one who actually experienced it firsthand is the current head coach of the Gilas Pilipinas crew bound for the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Malaysia, which opens this Saturday.

Have the South Koreans been this good? Or are they simply catching up with the global tide in the game that is putting premium on long-distance shooting?

Watch Jong Uichico, mentor of the Philippine delegation that crashed out of the 2002 Asian Games in heartbreaking fashion, give his take: