Today is the first class in our new four-class set. We will begin class with a casual conversation. We will start unit 11 in our purple grammar book. Our reading is about chicken. I have included some listening material about basketball. I have included the transcript underneath the video if you need it.
Click HERE for the reading
A number of South Korean athletes crossed over and had successful careers in the MLB.
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But breaking into NBA has always seemed like an illusive goal so far.
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One young man, already turning heads in the U.S. at the college level seems set to change
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that notion and make a big splash. Han Seong-woo gets us better acquainted with
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the shooting star. For some, basketball's three point shot is
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a desperate attempt at a buzzer-beater. For Lee Hyun-jung, it's a shot he simply doesn't
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miss. That's a result of hours in the gym, shooting
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threes until he can barely raise his arms.
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Depends on my condition, but probably 700 to a thousand... I'm trying to be that guy
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who works on the unseen hours like Kobe Bryant. Taking like a thousand or two thousand, three
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thousand.
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In 22 games played during his sophomore season in NCAA Division 1 basketball, Lee scored
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44.2 percent of shots he took from three-point range.
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He also averaged 50.8 percent in field goal percentage and 90 percent from the free throw
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line. Had he played a few more games, that would
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have been good enough to become the eleventh member of the NCAA's exclusive 50-40-90 club.
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His marksmanship has landed him on the South Korean national team and insiders are wondering
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when the 20 year-old will enter the NBA draft.
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"It depends on what the NBA scouts or the team says. If I'm good enough to go out after
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my junior year, I will go. If not, I'm just gonna stay another year. We'll see."
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Mock drafts currently have Lee as a potential second round pick, a view shared by former
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Portland Trailblazer and Korea's first ever NBA player Ha Seung-jin.
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"Lee's still a sophomore so I'm aware his draft predictions are low at the moment. But
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in a few years, I expect them to rise. Even if things don't work out, I think he's at
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least a future second round pick."
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Rooting for him is not only his mother, 1984 Olympic basketball silver medalist Sung Jung-a,
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but also NBA superstar Stephen Curry, a fellow Davidson Wildcat who once gave him some tips
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on Zoom.
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"One thing he said was, 'Just enjoy it.' As I said, if you have haters, let them motivate
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you. Don't feel the pressure and just enjoy it. That's what he said."
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Lee Hyun-jung's hoop dream starts with playing in the NBA, but it doesn't end there.
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The end goal is to inspire other Korean athletes to aim high, just like him.
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"We got a lot of stereotypes that Asians can't play in the NBA. You know what I'm saying?...
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I just want to say if you're Asian and you can't jump high or something. Work on the
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other stuff. Ball-handling like Jeremy Lin or shooting like me? I don't know.
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Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.