National coach Yeng Guiao took full accountability for Gilas Pilipinas' 92-81 loss to South Korea that extinguished the Philippines' medal hopes in the men's basketball competition of the 2018 Asian Games.
"I take responsibility for it," Guiao told reporters after the match. "We were in the game until the last five or six minutes when we committed some crucial turnovers."
Indeed, the Philippines' game plan allowed the team to stay within striking distance and even build an eight-point lead in the third period. But the Koreans managed to break away in the final canto with timely offensive boards and deadly 3-pointers.
Guiao admitted that the players were not prepared for the zone defense that their opponents employed all game long. "They stuck with the zone, they lived and died with the zone, and we couldn't adjust in time," he said.
Korea's naturalized player Ricardo Ratliffe punished the Philippine team with his double-double output of 30 points and 14 rebounds. Guiao thought their defensive gamble on the former PBA import paid off, but the Koreans turned to their shooters to pull away late in the contest.
"Korea just played a better game today," he said. "They got their rhythm with their 3-point shots in the last quarter. Before that, we were playing very decent defense against them."
"Our strategy was really to stay close to them and sacrifice the single coverage on Ratliffe," added Guiao. "It was working for three and a half quarters until the last five minutes."
Still, the 59-year-old mentor stressed that he's happy with the team's collective effort to fend off a strong team like Korea despite their limited preparation time.
"It's a function of our time together but I'll take that responsibility and I don't think the team is to blame for it," he said. "It's a good effort. The guys gave it their all and I couldn't ask anything more from them."
The Philippines looks to move on from this tough loss and shift its focus on the classification phase that can give the team a 5th place finish at best.
"Of course, we'll try to keep winning," vowed Guiao. "We'll try to better our last finish (7th place) in the last Asian Games."