Samsunglife Bichumi Got off to Good Start

"We are not over the hills yet!"

Samsung Bichumi, a team boasting of star players, opened the year of 2003 with an exciting victory.

Bichumi pulled out a 76-74 victory over Hyundai Hyperion in the opening game of the winter season of the 2003 WKBL. In the preceding season, or the 2002 summer season, Samsung ended up the season on top. Nonetheless, it lost the championship in the post-season. Now, Samsung regained the fame in 4 months.

Four of the Samsung`s best five players are on the national team. Thus, when it wins a game, everyone accepts it natural. On the other hand, if it loses, it works as a big stigma to Bichumi.

Prior to the game, most experts predicted, "Three star players of Samsung, Lee Mi-sun, Park Jung-eun and Byun Yon-hah are not in top conditions. It would be a tough season for Samsung."

During the off-season, however, Samsung players had good experience in big international games like the World Championship and Busan Asian Games. With these star players, Samsung stood out even in the face of the hardships.

Samsung was leading the game by one point in the 4th quarter. At 1`52", a jump ball took place in Samsung`s side of the court. Then, Lee, sending eye signals to her teammates, rushed into the end of the other part of the court. She counted on Crawly, whose jumping was renowned even in the WNBA. As expected, Crawly passed the ball accurately to Lee, and Lee, in turn, put the ball into the basket in a layup.

Once getting the initiative, Samsung, using a combination of various types of attacks, began to handle its opponent at its will. Instead of having a point guard, everyone shook Hyundai by taking up the role whenever opportunity came to her. Lee made another layup right after the first, and Park and Kim Gye-ryong put middle shots into the basket, widening the gap by 7 points (or 68-61) by the time it was 5 minutes and 19 seconds before the ending.

Park scored most (23 points with 3 three-point shots), Crawly 17 and Kim Gye-ryong 12. Hyundai hit on the gas and tried to catch up near the end of the game. But the time was too short.

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com