China and Korea off to Nantes with high expectations

MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - China and Korea have both been impressive in their build-up to the 2016 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT) and will certainly be among the strong contenders to book tickets the 2016 Rio Olympics.

China and Korea both fell short of an outright Olympic berth when Japan ruled the 2015 FIBA Asia Women’s Championship, but with deep rosters and great momentum, both teams have a good chance to gain one of five tickets up for grabs in the 12-team WOQT taking place in Nantes, France from 13-19 June.

I will look at their chances in the WOQT by detailing a couple of key players and focusing on their tournament outlook.

Key players: Nan Chen for China and Kim Danbi for Korea.

Thirty-three-year-old Nan Chen should be watching the WOQT, especially after she seemingly retired from international basketball prior to the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship, but, instead, she has suited up again to step foot on the world stage in Rio and play for flag and country. This is surely beneficial for China, which is bursting with talent but still a little inexperienced. Along with the trio of Shao Ting, Gao Song and Sun Mengran, Nan will lead China's charge to the Olympics. Coach Tom Maher would do well to bank on her many years of international exposure to be among this squad’s leaders on and off the floor.

Aside from the intangibles, of course, Nan, who stands 1.95m (6ft 5in) tall is expected to add a lot of depth to China. Nan hurts opponents with her slashing, cutting and midrange game while also being a very capable defender and rebounder. Her presence will be very important as they face dangerous Venezuela and heavily-favored Spain in their preliminary group.

Kim Danbi, for her part, is expected to spearhead Korea’s WOQT hopes, though she hasn't had much experience playing outside Asia apart from the 2010 FIBA Women’s World Championship. Waiting for Korea in Nantes are Nigeria and Belarus in Group C, and both of those squads can spell big trouble for coach We Sung-Woo.

The Koreans have played both teams before. They lost to Nigeria at the 2004 Athens Olympics and also fell to Belarus at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, so the East Asian side cannot be expected to look past these dangerous assignments. Still, if Kim can get things going, Korea should be a favorite to move into the next round. The forward who stands 1.80m (5ft 11in) led Korea in scoring at the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship with 11.1 points per game while also drilling in 32.4 percent of her threes. If she can do that in Nantes, Korea should be in very good shape to break into the top five.

China's outlook: China have been near invincible in the run-up to the WOQT, and they will need all the momentum they have gathered to make a dent in Nantes and qualify for Rio. Eight players from last year’s FIBA Asia Women’s Championship are here for the Chinese, and that is a good indication of the kind of team chemistry we can expect. Shao Ting, Sun Mengran and Nan Chen will be the bulwarks of China’s frontline, while Gao Song and Chen Xiaojia should give them the boost in the backcourt. Spain’s size and depth will give China a ton of headaches, for sure, but they should be able to get past relative lightweight Venezuela. Once in the next round, coach Maher’s wards have to double down and play like there’s no tomorrow, especially with Belarus likely topping Group C.

Korea's outlook: As for Korea, Kim Danbi will need a lot of help from the likes of Park Ji-Su, Kang A-Jeong, Yang Ji-Hee and Kwak Joo-Yeong. Park, Yang and Kwak will be expected to anchor the Koreans’ interior, while Kang and Kim will be counted on to score from the wings. Nigeria and Belarus are expected to be bigger than Korea, but the East Asians should have a bit of an edge in speed and shooting. If the Koreans can leverage that, and get a little bit of good fortune, they may just power through to the Quarter-Finals, where, ironically, continental rival China may be the ones lying in wait.

Good luck to both teams!

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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