South Korea losses their opening day match against the hosts, Greece 83-55. Korea opened the match with a fast-paced attacked in hopes of offsetting the height of the Greek squad. Song Kyo-Chang and Park Jun-Young lead the attack with their perimeter shooting. Korea was able to be competitive with Greece, trailing only by three, 19-16 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Greece limited Korea to a 29% shooting and used a physical zone game plan to ground Korea’s speed. In hopes of matching height per height, Lee Yoon-Su and Kim Kyong-Won were inserted. Greece was pulling away at the half.
Greece continued their rope tight defense and inside scoring lead by Papagiannis who would finish with 16 points and 16 rebounds. In the fourth quarter, Greece would coast to a victory and would let their guard down as there was no hope for a comeback for team Korea. Result was a 83-55 victory by Greece to open their campaign.
Jeon Hyun-Woo lead Korea with 20 points. Song Kyo-Chang, despite having the disadvantage with height against the Greek front-court managed a double double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Greece out-rebounded Korea 57-30 for the game. Yoo Hyeon-Jun finished with 8 assists in running the offense.
Next opponent of Korea is the strong Serbian squad.
image courtesy of FIBA
Sakerland 