WE did our best but our best was not good enough and here we are where we were before.
The Philippines blew an eight-point lead (54-46) midway through the third quarter and struggled mightily in the payoff quarter as defending champion South Korea dominated the boards on both ends and made their much-dreaded three-point shots (five triples) at crunchtime to post a 91-82 victory over our gutsy boys in their men’s basketball quarterfinal duel in the 18th Jakarta/Palembang Asian Games to advance to the semifinals against the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between co-2014 finalist Iran and Japan.
The Koreans outscored their favorite nemesis, 27-17, in the fourth canto.
The Filipinos were Fil-American Jordan Clarkson, who knocked in 25 points on a 10-for-25 field clip, including 17 in the third frame when they erected an eight-point advantage. The Cleveland Cavaliers guard from the NBA also hauled down eight rebounds and dished out three assists in his second appearance with the PH national team.
High-energy Fil-German frontliner Christian Standhardinger, a revelation so far in the 13-team tournament (following the withdrawal of Palestine and the United Arab Emirates), contributed 16 points. Pesky and shifty playmaker Stanley Pringle added 14 markers for the Nats.
The Koreans, who beat the Islamic Republic of Iran, 79-77, in the finals of the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea, were bannered by naturalized player and former PBA import Ricardo Ratliffe, who tallied 30 points on 13-for-22 field shooting, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out four assists.
The Philippines now plays in the classification round for 5th-to-8th places against Japan, which lost to Iran, 93-67, in their quarterfinal duel, on Tuesday, August 28.
South Korea and Iran will face each other in the semifinals.
Win or lose, our boys will play on Friday, August 31, either for fifth place (with a win over Japan) or seventh place (with a defeat to Japan).
The other quarterfinal matchups to be played later Monday feature Chinese-Taipei against Syria and People’s Republic of China versus host Indonesia.
The Philippines seeks to improve its seventh-place finish four years ago in the Asian showcase in Incheon, South Korea.
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The Philippines last beat South Korea in the quadrennial Asian Games in 1970 (December 9-20) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Our boys lost to the Koreans, 77-75, in preliminary play, but exacted revenge with a 70-65 win over the latter in the final round. Losses in the final three assignments (Taiwan, 75-64; Israel, 83-78; and Japan, 76-72) relegated the Philippines to fifth place with a 4-4 overall record. Korea took the title in the end.
Members of the last PH team to defeat South Korea in the Asian Games were Orlando Bauzon, Danilo Florencio, Robert Jaworski, Manuel Jocson, Rudolf Kutch, Adrian Papa Jr., Jaime Mariano, Johnny Revilla, Renato Reyes, Alberto Reynoso, Rodolfo Soriano and Freddie Webb. The alternates were Manuel Paner and Rosalio Martirez. Head coach was Virgilio (Baby) Dalupan.
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The Philippines won the men’s basketball gold medal in the first four editions of the Asian Games.
The last time our boys emerged as titlist was in 1962 in Jakarta, Indonesia when we finished with a perfect 7-0 record behind big man Carlos (Caloy) Loyzaga, the GOAT in Philippine cage history.
Loyzaga was the skipper of the 14-member 1962 unit that also was composed of Engracio Arazas, Kurt Bachmann, Narciso Bernardo, Geronimo Cruz, Manuel Jocson, Alfonso Marquez, Roehl Nadurata, Eduardo Pacheco, Cristobal Ramas, Alberto Reynoso, Edgardo Roque, Joselino Roa and Jose Laganson.
Head coach was Enrique Crame.
The country also was Asiad champ in 1951 in New Delhi, India (4-0 record); 1954 in Manila
(6-0); and 1958 in Tokyo, Japan (6-1).
A common denominator in all four PH Asiad gold-winning squads was Loyzaga.