Two-point loss to Korea reminiscent of '02 Asiad debacle

TIANJIN – The Busan nightmare haunted Powerade Team Pilipinas again as it dropped a heart-breaking 80-82 setback to South Korea at the close of the 25th FIBA Asia Championship here yesterday.

The Filipinos missed three field-goal attempts in the last 11 seconds then Yang Donggeun attacked the RP defense for the game-winning shot as the Koreans salvaged seventh place in the 11-day competition among 16 Asian nations.

The Nationals dominated the Koreans and had a chance to wrap up the win but Kerby Raymundo missed a floating shot off Kim Joo Sung, Jared Dillinger muffed a follow-up then Sonny Thoss had another missed shot from just underneath the basket.

Gaining the loose ball, Yang didn’t hesitate to attack the basket, converting on a lay-up to shatter the 80-all deadlock with only 1.7 seconds left.

James Yap missed a make-or-break three-point shot at the buzzer as the Nationals suffered another frustrating defeat at the hands of the Koreans.

It was a virtual repeat of the Korea-RP game in the 2002 Busan Asian Games. The Nationals were a few seconds away from victory when Olsen Racela muffed two free throws and the Koreans stole the game on a three-pointer by Lee Sang Min just before the final buzzer sounded.

The Koreans beat the Nationals twice in this tourney and Korea kept a perfect slate versus the Philippines in their head-to-head duel in the Asian meet since the 1986 Malaysia championship ruled by the Filipinos.

Beaten by Jordan in the quarterfinals then denied by Qatar a shot at fifth place, the Philippines was looking to get back at Korea to at least end its stint here on a winning note.

But things didn’t fall into place.

The Nationals blew a nine-point spread in the last six minutes and settled for eighth place in the tourney with wins over Sri Lanka, Japan, Chinese-Taipei and Kuwait and losses to the Koreans twice and once to Middle Eastern powers Iran, Jordan and Qatar.

Willie Miller sat out the game with a groin injury but Korean stars Kim Min Soo and Lee Kyu Sup themselves were also sidelined by injuries. Seven-foot-6 behemoth Ha Seung Jin only played the final 1.7 seconds to defend against the inbounding Jayjay Helterbrand.

Minus Kim and Lee, forward Oh Sekeun carried much of the fight for the Koreans, putting in 31 points and 10 rebounds.

Oh tipped in a missed jumper by Kim Joo Sung to tie the count for the last time at 80, then the Koreans watched the Filipinos self-destruct in the closing seconds.

The Philippines, once the most dominant basketball team in the region, has to wait another four years to get another shot at a return stint in the world championship. The last time the Philippines played in the quadrennial meet was when the country hosted the event in Manila in 1978.

China and Iran booked slots in the 2010 World Championship by winning their semifinal matches with Lebanon and Jordan, respectively, Saturday night.

China and Iran were battling for the championship late last night.

Jordan defeated Lebanon, 80-66, to gain the third and last “WC” slot allotted for the region.

Chinese-Taipei upended Qatar, 87-79, in their battle for fifth place.

Kazakhstan topped the consolation round, beating Japan, 77-73, for ninth place Saturday. Kuwait finished 11th, followed by UAE, India, Uzkekistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

The Philippines is bidding for the hosting of the next FIBA-Asia championship serving as the qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics. The Smart Gilas team is being prepared to play in that tourney.

Notes: Aside from the three Asian qualifiers, seven other teams have booked seats in the 2010 World Championship in Turkey. Host Turkey and Olympic champion United States are direct qualifiers while Australia and New Zealand are qualifiers from Fiba-Oceania and Angola, Cote D’Ivoire and Tunisia are qualifiers from Fiba-Africa. Angola won the Fiba-Asia championship over Cote D’Ivoire, 82-72, Saturday. Next up is the Fiba-Americas elimination in Puerto Rico on Aug. 26-Sept. 6 then the Eurobasket eliminator in Poland from Sept. 7-20. Six slots are to be disputed in Europe, four in the Americas and four in a wildcard qualifier in December to complete a 24-team cast in the World Championship.