Hasn’t this been discussed prior? The crux is in their patience, Yuta/Endo can get a lot of their shots back as well, but when Yuta/Endo manage to pull off a great defensive shot they are willing to start from square one again, unlike Kevin/Marcus who force the issue and in the process sacrifice their positioning because they’re not willing to “give up that opportunity when they were so close” (a bit of sunk cost fallacy).
I think steepness of shot makes Endo/Watanabe’s defensive work difficult, not really power. If you notice, Ahsan’s full power smashes don’t work very well at all if the Japanese are well positioned. Which is why he accepts that liability and is content to drop shot until he finds an opportunity. Hendra on the other hand has the natural height, his shots have natural steepness that give the Japanese some discomfort.
I think one of the key things is that both Ahsan/Setiawan are very skilled at the net, meaning that while drop shotting and conserving energy, they don’t give much opportunity for the Japanese to counter attack. Additionally, in this passage of play (where Ahsan/Setiawan drop shot, and the Japanese lift), there is greater pressure on the Japanese to produce the higher quality shot. Any slightly short lift will be punished by either Ahsan/Setiawan at the net, whereas it’s a relatively easy drop shot on the Indonesian’s end.
But it’s hard to fault Gideon/Sukamuljo for being this rushed in opportunities. Their lack of power is quite a problem, because even with 3/4 court lifts for them they’re unable to put it on the floor. This means that as compared to Ahsan/Setiawan they have to be even more alert on any opportunities given at the net. Gideon isn’t that sharp on the net, I have seen quite a couple of lifts that he could’ve intercepted but didn’t (although he’s making an effort on this front), and Kevin feels a lot of pressure to capitalise and in the process makes quite a few mistakes.