Korea: Nothing to lose
On paper, Korea are probably one of the weakest teams at the tournament. The new coach has found it difficult to build a balanced roster due to several important absences. But this young squad, a mix of promising pros and college standouts, will have nothing to lose in Athens.
The Koreans lost their best chance of securing a spot at this year's Summer Games when they finished third at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship. With Olympic hosts China already guaranteed a place and playing with an experimental team in Japan, the conditions were optimal for Korea to earn a direct ticket to Beijing. It would have been their first Olympic berth since they competed in Atlanta back in 1996. But the Koreans failed to take advantage, losing in the semi-finals to Lebanon when Fadi El Khatib (32 points) and Joe Vogel (18 pts, 15 rbs) tore them apart. The result confirmed the recent decline of the Korea men's team. If for many years Korea had been the second best team in Asia behind a dominating China, that was no longer the case. Even before the event in Japan, the team had only managed fourth place at the 2005 FIBA Asia Championship and fifth at the 2006 Asian Games. One might attribute the weakening of the National Team on the retirements of Seo Jang-hoon, Korea's best center of the last decade, and point guard Lee Sang-min.
There have been many changes in the team since last summer and not because new coach Kim Nam-gi wanted them. Injuries have wreaked havoc. The Korean team has lost its best wings, Bang Sung-yoon (22.1 pts in 2007-08) and Lee Gyu-sub (15.0 pts), a couple of leading scorers in the Korean Basketball League. They were the country's only reliable perimeter scorers who also possessed the type of size (1.95 and 1.98) normally found at the highest level of the international game. Knowing that Kim Dong-woo (23 pts against Lebanon) is absent as well, coach Kim's next best options at the small forward spot are Yang Hee-jong (7.7 pts in KBL) and the two undersized Lee Gwang-jae (5.7 pts) and Jeon Jung-gyu (8.4 pts). They are both 1.88m in height. Consequently, what has traditionally been the strength of the Asian team - an open court style with multiple long-range shooters - is now a weakness. Add the absence of the playmaker Kim Seung-hyun, certainly the best at his position, and that of the American-based teenager and big prospect, Kim Jin-soo, and you have a weakened team. At the point guard spot, KT&G Kites' Joo Hee-jung will take most of the ball-handling duties, but he is not the scorer or distributor Seung-hyun is. The man who finished runner-up to Joo in the KBL assist rankings, Kim Tae-sool, will share the minutes at playmaker.
There is a sad touch of irony to this because the absences on the perimeter have come after Korea had improved their inside game, the area which has usually been a weakness. They will have plenty of bodies inside. The 2.23m Ha Seung-jin, a player so big that he once drew comparisons to Chinese giant and Houston Rockets all-star Yao Ming, will draw plenty of attention in Athens from opposing defences. Ha wasn't able to make an impact in the NBA, but he still could develop into a good player for Korea. Ha and the KBL'08 MVP Kim Joo-sung combined to averaged almost 33 points and 14 rebounds at the Asia Championship in Japan. Their back-ups, Kim Min-Soo and Oh See-guen, are impressive athletes, which is something new for Korean basketball. For Korea to have a chance of making it to the quarter-finals, the big men will have to excel against quality opposition in Group C in Greece. It will be interesting to see how the Korean big men fare against the likes of Philadelphia 76er Samuel Dalembert of Canada and Toronto Raptor Rasho Nesterovic of Slovenia.
How did they qualify?
2007 FIBA Asia Championship, Final Round
Bronze Medal (6 W - 2 L)
Results
Preliminary round
Jul-28th 2007
Korea b. Hong-Kong 107-67
Jul-29th 2007
Korea b. Chinese Taipei 85-70
Jul-30th 2007
Korea b. Syria 89-79
Quarter-Final round
Jul-31th 2007
Korea b. Jordan 70-65
Aug-1st 2007
Korea b. Japan 93-83
Aug-2nd 2007
Kazakhstan b. Korea 75-73
Semi-final
Aug-4th 2007
Lebanon b. Korea 76-74
Bronze Medal game
Aug-5th 2007
Korea b. Kazakhstan 80-76
