ADD this game to the Philippines’ litany of heartbreak and heartache as dished out by South Korea.
The South Koreans got their revenge on the Philippines by booting them out of medal contention in the Fiba Asia Cup with a clinical 118-86 thrashing at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Beirut, Lebanon.
Displaying impeccable shooting that they sustained all match long and their traditional ball movement, South Korea shredded the Philippines’s defense and offense. They rendered two of the team’s best defensive players in Japeth Aguilar and Gabe Norwood impotent and watching from the sidelines. Even worse, we lost our cool.
The numbers are certainly deceiving. The Philippines shot 45 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range (11-25). That’s good enough to win most games.
Unfortunately, the South Koreans shot 59 percent from two-point range and 76 percent from three-point land. 76 percent! That’s a blistering 16-21 from beyond. In most cases, a team can wax hot for a quarter or a half, but all game long?
Terrence Romeo nearly matched South Korea point for point in the second quarter. That was one man versus a team that was scoring in bunches. And when Romeo cooled off in the second half no one really picked up the slack. Whether it was because Romeo sat too long on the bench or because of better defense on him (double-teaming), he is just one man. South Korea played a team game with five players scoring double digits and three others bordering on that number, five nine points each. They were better in nearly every statistical category.
South Korea has shot well all tournament long. They outshot Lebanon by a shade and yet couldn’t find the bottom of the basket from three-point range. You can chalk that up to opening-game adjustments because in their next outing versus Kazakhstan, South Korea throttled them with 64 percent field-goal shooting, including a 55 percent accuracy from three-point range.
Against a young but tough New Zealand team, Korea once more emerged triumphant outshooting the Kiwis 48 percent -44 percent.
Heading into the second stage of the competition, only three squads were hitting more than 50 percent of their shots—South Korea (52 percent), Australia (51 percent) and Lebanon (51 percent). The first two were unbeaten. With Lebanon’s ouster in the quarterfinals, South Korea and Australia are still the only ones shooting at that clip.
It would be easy to say that South Korea’s best defense is a good offense. That’s true to a point. Lost in the shuffle of its blistering offensive game is their defense. South Korea is eighth in a field of 16 in rebounding, seventh in steals, fourth in blocks. Clearly, this team was getting better with each passing game.
Defense, something that the Philippine team placed a lot of credence in recent years, was wanting.
The Philippines’s 3-0 record in the group stage was impressive. However, it masked also some red flags, such as the propensity to give up huge leads (see the China and Qatar game); and the subpar game of some others such as Jayson Castro, Calvin Abueva, and Japeth Aguilar. Abueva is supposed to be the team’s x-factor. Instead, he was a nonfactor.
Castro did well in moments but overall wasn’t that effective. Even in the win against China, the Philippines came out winners, but Guo Ailun had better stats despite fouling out.
After this, it is certain Castro will be out of the Mythical Five, while Terrence Romeo will be in.
The team’s only other consistent standout was Christian Standhardinger, who was equal parts unorthodox yet amazing. Matthew Wright waxed hot and cold. Ditto with Roger Pogoy and Carl Cruz. Raymond Almazan had his moments. The desire, of course, is for everyone to be consistent.
Filipinos are shocked at the shellacking considering that recent games have been close. After the Philippines’s win in the 2013 continental cup, South Korea rattled off two wins against the nationals—in the 2014 Asian games and the recent 2017 William Jones Cup.
That one win doesn’t mean we’ve gotten over the hump. Even beating Iran last time doesn’t mean the Philippines own them. One has to win consistently to say we’re over it.
It is erroneous to also say that South Korea has been preparing its team for a while. They, too, have their own pro league back in Korea. The secret of their success is in their program that starts from grassroots all the way to the top.
It is obvious that the Philippines is trying to speed up a process by naturalizing players and waiting for Jordan Clarkson. It was a surprise that Tab Baldwin got the axe after the Olympic Qualifiers. At the start of that tournament, chances of advancing was close to nil—if people underestimated New Zealand that is because they do not follow anything outside the PBA and the NBA. If one talks to Filipinos in the Fiba committee, they also felt the same way that the country wasn’t going to advance.
‘Nothing wrong with being ambitious. Filipinos should also be realistic. It’s like hitting the jackpot in the casino…. Will you hit it all over again?
It is good to aim for things like the Olympics and the Fiba World Cup, but the country has to set its sights on winning Asia first consistently and decidedly. And oh, if possible, the PBA support the national team wholeheartedly instead of one player per team crap. Grand Slams are more important than the national cause?
Excuses like “oh, we didn’t have our best team” are a tired excuse. So why didn’t we have our best team out there?
Image credits: fiba.com