Jakarta — Zone. Shooting. Ratliffe.
A patient Korean team stuck to what they are good at even when the going got tough and were amply rewarded with a 91-82 victory over a hastily assembled Philippine Team that was trying to bite off more than what it could chew in the 2018 Asian Games here.
Playing zone defense, shooting the lights out in the fourth quarter and getting a monster game from naturalized player Ricardo Ratliffe, the Koreans advanced to the semifinals with the win that ended all of the Filipinos’ hopes of advancing to the medal round.
The Koreans hit 12 triples, five in the fourth quarter when they pulled away.
Ratliffe, a former import of the Star Hotshots in the Philippine Basketball Association, was a steadying force all game long for the Koreans, scoring a game-high 30 points, while hauling 14 boards.
He also had four of Korea’s 27 assists, proof of the team’s crisp ball movement that had Coach Yeng Guiao’s nationals scrambling on defense.
“It’s my fault, I take responsibility for this loss,” said Guiao, whose wards could not handle the Koreans’ long bombs, Ratliffe and their zone defense.
“We just weren’t comfortable with the zone. Even Jordan (Clarkson) had a lot of problems dealing with it. They just zoned us all game long. They stuck with the zone, lived and died with the zone, and we couldn’t adjust in time,” Guiao added.
Even when the Filipinos led comfortably, 54-46, the Koreans stuck to their zone and kept shooting the long bombs that were not falling.
When they finally did in the fourth quarter, the Koreans began pulling away at 72-68 on a three by Heo Ilyoung.
Stanley Pringle momentarily stopped the bleeding with a reverse layup, but Ratliffe’s dunk and another trey from Heo gave the Koreans firm control of the match at 77-70.
Clarkson finished with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Fil-German Christian Standhardinger backed him up with 16 points and nine boards.
The loss put the Philippines in classification phase where the highest finish it can achieve is fifth place, still better than the seventh its Gilas Pilipinas counterpart achieved in the 2014 Incheon Asiad. The setback also added to the nationals’ string of losses to the Koreans in these games.
“We’ll go for fifth. It’s the least we could do,” said Guiao.
The scores:
Korea (91) – Ratliffe 30, Kim Sunhyung 17, Heo Ilyoung 17, Lee Seounghyun 11, Jeo Junbeom 9, Heo Ung 6, Lee Junghyun 1, Park Chanhee 0, Choi Junyong 0.
Philippines (82) – Clarkson 25, Standhardinger 16, Pringle 14, Lee 11, Norwood 5, Almazan 5, Tiu 3, Belga 3, Erram 0, Taulava 0.
Quarter scores: 22-18; 42-44; 64-65; 91-82.