2024-05-06 20:02:37
Even with a great lineup, the team is hovering around the bottom of the season at the beginning of the season.
Rebounded from the end of the season to become the first team in history to finish in 5th place
Busan KCC, a ‘super team’ that started late, created a ‘miracle’. As the 5th place team in the regular league, it was the first team in history to advance to the championship game and even lift the championship trophy.
KCC defeated Suwon KT 88-70 in the 5th game of the 2023-2024 CheongKwanJang Professional Basketball Championship (best of 7 games) held at Suwon KT Arena on the 5th.
KCC, who won 1 win and 1 loss in the enemy field and returned home to win the 3rd and 4th games, moved to the enemy field again and won the 5th game, confirming the championship with a series record of 4 wins and 1 loss.
This is the first time that the 5th place team in the regular league advanced to the championship game and won the championship.
KCC, who finished the regular league in 5th place, defeated Seoul SK with 3 consecutive wins in the semifinal playoffs (PO, best of 5), and defeated Wonju DB, the first place team in the regular league, with 3 wins and 1 loss in the semifinal PO. In the championship game, they enjoyed the joy of winning by defeating KT, the 3rd place team in the regular league.
Ahead of the opening of this season, KCC was evaluated as a strong candidate for the championship. At the regular season opening media day in October last year, most coaches selected KCC as a candidate for the championship, saying that they had formed a super team.
Ahead of the 2022-2023 season, KCC recruited Heo Woong and Lee Seung-hyun as free agents and added Laguna to form the national team lineup.
Ahead of the opening of this season, Choi Jun-yong, the best player (MVP) of the regular league in the 2021-2022 season, who was released as a free agent, was brought in.
Song Kyo-chang, a leading forward and former regular league MVP in the 2020-2021 season, was joining at the beginning of the season after completing his military service at Sangmu.
However, when I opened the lid, the majesty of the ‘super team’ was nowhere to be seen.
Starting with Choi Jun-yong being injured in the KBL Cup tournament held ahead of the season and unable to play in the first five games of the season, players have been missing due to injuries.
At the beginning of the season, the slump deepened as existing aces Heo Woong and Lee Seung-hyun suffered from poor physical condition.
Even after the injured players returned, there was not enough time to coordinate with each other, exposing loopholes in organizational skills.
KCC, with only 2 wins and 5 losses in 7 games in the first round, hovered at the bottom until the second round.
However, KCC began to show the power of a super team little by little from the end of the regular season.
The players who made up the brilliant lineup began to work together little by little, and coach Jeon Chang-jin accepted the players’ request for ‘early offense’ (quick development of offense) and began to show off their fierce offensive ability.
The exertion of players whose pride was cracked due to poor performance also ignited KCC’s upward trend at the end of the regular season.
KCC ended up finishing the regular league in 5th place, but in the short-term match, the majesty of the ‘super team’ shined even brighter. The opposing teams were helpless against the early offense that used unique quick transitions.
La Gun-ah, Heo Woong, Choi Jun-yong, and Song Kyo-chang all showed off their scoring ability.
Laguna, who entered the spring basketball stage (playoffs) with gritted teeth after her contract with KCC ended at the end of this season, dominated the scoring with an average of 22 points and 12.3 rebounds.
Heo Woong also showed off his ace skills by averaging 17.3 points and 4.2 assists, and led KCC’s fast basketball by making 1.1 steals per game.
Choi Jun-yong and Song Kyo-chang also played an active role with an average of 13.4 points and 11.5 points, respectively, helping KCC show off its status as a super team.
Before the PO, Director Jeon said, “A fan gave me a flower and asked me if I knew the language of the flower. He said it was a ‘miracle’. “My heart was heavy because I thought, ‘KCC will only achieve something if a miracle happens,’” he said. “It is highly unlikely that we will come in 5th and even win the championship.”
However, super team KCC made what even the head coach said was unlikely a reality. A new page in professional basketball history was rewritten.
[서울=뉴시스]
2024-05-06 20:02:37