L. J. Herman Was Bullied to Tears

L. J. Herman Was Bullied to Tears

South Korea did have a height advantage in the frontcourt, and if China went small, that would magnify South Korea's advantage enormously.

But the tradeoff was that they'd be slower.

With Ha Seung-jin on the floor, their lack of speed would be magnified even further.

Ha Seung-jin was just too slow. Whenever China launched a fast break, it was basically five against four.

They couldn't beat China five on five in the first place. Five on four was even more hopeless.

For that matter, even when Wang Yi brought the ball up the floor on a fast break by himself, he could take on three defenders.

And China wasn't worried even if South Korea managed to set up its defense.

They could pass the ball around the perimeter and find Wang Yi an open look from three.

Ha Seung-jin was big and strong, and he could rebound, but he simply couldn't step out from under the basket to defend.

Even if he huffed and puffed his way out there, as soon as China passed the ball inside, he couldn't get back to the basket in time.

In that situation, Ha Seung-jin became South Korea's biggest weakness.

After so many years in the NBA, Wang Yi had become very good at reading the game.

He simply zeroed in on that weakness.

He led China in a relentless series of fast breaks.

If they had a chance, they ran. If they didn't, they made one.

As a result, China went into the second quarter with a 16-point lead.

But that clearly wasn't enough to meet the coach's expectations.

The coach wanted them to lead by at least 18 points per quarter on average, so they could eventually build a lead of more than 70.

It