Korea slams door on Team Philippines

Its weapons: Zone defense, outside shooting, Ratliffe

JAKARTA – The Korean curse lived on – from Busan to here yesterday.

The Koreans dealt the Filipinos horrific losses in the Asiad, this time an 82-91 decision in the Asian Games at the GBK Basketball as they unloaded weapons of destruction through naturalized player Ricardo Ratliffe, an explosive outside shooting and a zone defense that sent the Pinoys’ offensive out of sync in the decisive fourth period.

Thus the Koreans extended their domination of the Filipinos to 14 Asian Games over a long period of 56 years, including a shocking defeat in 2002 in Busan courtesy of Lee San Ming’s dagger of a trey at the buzzer.

The Filipinos also suffered yet another heartbreak and this one proved galling following their tough stand against China.

Team Philippines actually set the pace for most of the middle quarters before floundering in the fourth as the Nationals dropped out of the medal race in this event closer to the nation’s heart back home.

The Koreans were a gritty and gutsy bunch as ever, bucking Jordan Clarkson’s 15-point explosion in the third quarter to beat the Filipinos in their duel for a place in the medal round.

Ratliffe, who had carved a niche in the PBA as Magnolia’s imposing import, powered his way to 30 points and 14 rebounds, and the dreaded Korean gunners struck with their outside bombs just at the right time to relegate the Filipinos to the consolation round.

The Phl quintet faces another old rival Japan in a fight for a spot in the battle for fifth a 4 p.m. (5 p.m. in Manila) today.

National coach Yeng Guiao took full responsibility for the loss, saying he was not able to prepare the team for the zone defense that the Korean employed throughout the match obviously to minimize the advantage of Clarkson and the other Filipino slashers in open-court basketball.

It’s a given that Ratliffe would pile up big numbers especially as the Philippines stuck with him with a single coverage on defense, and it’s much expected that the Korean outside shots would come.

For Guiao, what made it really hard for them was the zone that stymied their offense.

“We’re not just comfortable with the zone. Even Jordan Clarkson had some problems with the zone. They just zoned us all game long. They stuck with the zone. They lived and died with the zone, and we couldn’t adjust in time,” said Guiao.

Beating the Koreans on their own game – three-point shooting – in the first half, the Nationals led by six at one instance before settling for a 44-42 edge at halftime.

Paul Lee, Stanley Pringle and Chris Tiu combined for seven triples against five by the Koreans in the first 20 minutes of play.

Then Clarkson took over as the Nationals hung on through the third period before losing handle of the game as the Koreans found their range at the start of the payoff period.

Jeon Junbeom, Heo Ilyoung and Kim Sunhyung combined for five three-pointers in a telling 16-7 run that the Koreans unleashed to seize control at 80-72 entering the last four minutes of the game.

“They got rhythm with their three-point shots in the last quarter. Before that we’re playing a very decent defense against them. Our strategy to stay close to them and sacrifice the single coverage on Ratlife worked for three and a half quarters until last five minutes,” Guiao said.

The Filipinos actually started to slow down curiously on the exit of Poy Erram after crashing down hard on the floor where he ended up with two broken teeth. Team Phl was up 54-46 before the incident.

At the resumption of play, the Koreans quickly unloaded seven unanswered points, and stuck just within a point at 64-65 at the end of the third.

And appearing to have saved their best for last, the Koreans pounded the Filipinos, 27-17, in the final canto to win the game, leaving Team Phl to the consolation round where the best finish it could have is fifth.

“We’ll go for fifth. We’ll try to keep winning. We’ll try to better our last finish in the last Asian Games,” said Guiao, referring to the country’s seventh-place finish in Incheon in 2014.

Clarkson top scored with 25 points for the Filipinos, including 15 in the third period. Christian Standhardinger came through with 16 points and nine rebounds while Pringle and Lee added 14 and 11 markers.

The Fil-Am NBA player took a while to get into the offensive groove.

“The zone was a new environment for him. Even in the NBA, they don’t see the zone. It’s a function of a long preparation for you to understand what to do against the zone,” said Guiao.

The scores:

Korea 91 – Ratliffe 30, Heo I. 17, Kim 17, Lee S. 11, Jeon 9, Heo U. 6, Lee J. 1, Park 0, Choi 0.

Philippines 82 – Clarkson 25, Standhardinger 16, Pringle 14, Lee 11, Norwood 5, Almazan 5, Tiu 3, Belga 3, Erram 0, Taulava 0.

Quarterscores: 22-18, 42-44, 64-65, 91-82