Gilas Pilipinas may view Korea as a rival but not the other way around.

Korea head coach Cho Sang-hyun said he does not see the Philippines as a rival after the Filipinos reasserted their mastery over the Koreans with an 82-77 win to wrap up the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Sunday, June 20.

“I personally did not really think of the Philippines as a rival. But I always find very useful things after playing against the Philippines,” Cho said through a translator.

“That was what I was thinking of my perspective on this game as well,” added Cho, a member of the Korean team that beat the Philippines in the semifinals of the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.

The all-cadet Filipino crew made up for years worth of heartbreaks from the Koreans by sweeping their series in the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Gilas Pilipinas hacked out an 81-78 triumph in their first encounter through an SJ Belangel buzzer-beater and held on to a slim lead to win the rematch.

Prior to the qualifiers, the Philippines’ last win over Korea came in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

Known for their vaunted outside shooting, the Koreans saw the Filipinos beat them at their own game on Sunday.

Gilas Pilipinas shot 14-of-37 (38%) from three-point distance, while Korea failed to find its mark with a 10-of-35 clip (29%).

“There are some areas that we need to work on,” Cho said, noting their rebounding as one of the departments which needs improvement.

“Overall, we took a really good lesson [here] in Clark, Philippines by figuring out those kind of weaknesses of our team.”

Like the Philippines, Korea will fight for a Tokyo Games berth in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Lithuania later this June. – Rappler.com