'I'm breaking the 2nd composition' to reinforce the lower team's power... Court Perception Change [S Story - 'Professional Basketball Outpost' KBL Cup opens on the 5th]
'I'm breaking the 2nd composition' to reinforce the lower team's power... Court Perception Change [S Story - 'Professional Basketball Outpost' KBL Cup opens on the 5th]
Blog Article
After a much hotter and longer summer than usual, the season of professional basketball has come back with cool winds. This year's ballgame is more popular than ever. Professional baseball has ushered in the era of 10 million spectators for the first time in its history, and professional soccer is also aiming for the largest number of spectators ever, surpassing 3 million for the second consecutive year.
Basketball, "the flower of winter sports," is also on the list of box office hits. The much-awaited KBL Cup will kick off as the off-season has changed. The KBL Cup, which will be a prelude to this season's prelude to the competition, will kick off with the first game between the Sangmu Basketball Team and the Seoul Samsung Lions at Jecheon Gymnasium in North Chungcheong Province on Wednesday. The finals will take place on Wednesday. Group A includes Sangmu, Samsung, Daegu Korea Gas Corporation, Group B is Suwon KT, Busan KCC, Changwon LG, Group C is Goyang Sono, Ulsan Hyundai Mobis, Anyang Jeonggwanjang, and Group D are Seoul SK and Wonju DB. With the regular season league scheduled to open on Wednesday, the team will showcase its capabilities, which will bring more fun. KT and KCC, the return match for last season's championship game, will also be held on the opening day of the league including the cup competition.
◆"Season that won't be obvious"… an unpredictable game
In professional basketball last season, obvious strong players were noticed. Busan KCC, which formed a "super team" that led to Heo Woong, Ra Gun-ah, Lee Seung-hyun and Song Kyo-chang in their arms, was selected as a strong candidate for the championship. In the regular league, Wonju DB, led by head coach Kim Joo-sung, rose to the top with a stable lineup, but in the championship match, KCC rose to the top with overwhelming momentum, establishing "the championship anyway."
However, the upcoming 2024-2025 season may not be such a prediction. Unlike the previous season, when the predictions of the top and bottom teams were clear, the situation is uncertain this time. Analysts say that the upward leveling has generally been achieved through reinforcement of power and replacement of members of the middle and bottom teams. Moreover, as the performance of foreign players and Asian quarter players also affects the competition for rankings, prevailing watchers say that the new season will only be able to predict rankings by opening the lid.
◆KCC·DB Still Powerful
The off-season task of KCC and DB, the "two strongest teams" that divided the championship and the regular league trophy of last season, was to prevent internal bleeding. Fortunately, the two teams remained strong candidates for the next season while maintaining their full capacity. Notably, KCC will continue its national team lineup this year, including Choi Jun-yong, Heo Woong, Song Kyo-chang, and Lee Seung-hyun. However, Ra Gun-ah, who showed strong performance in PO through "The Last Dance," left the team. Nevertheless, KCC formed a strong lineup of foreign players by recruiting Dionte Burton, who led Tyler Davis to the top of the regular league in the 2017-2018 DB and won the Most Valuable Player award.
DB, which won the "Wire to Wire" title in the regular season league last season, is still maintaining its elite fighting power. Keeping Lee Sun-bin, the MVP of Korea, DB re-signed with highly mobile resources leading to Kang Sang-jae and Kim Jong-kyu to keep the mainstay. However, it was fatal that "foreign MVP" Didrick Lawson, who was evaluated as an all-weather resource, left the team. Lawson used to be an offensive resource that went beyond the inside and outside to bomb the opponent's rim. Lawson chose Chinanu Onuaku, who used to play for Sonos in Goyang, as the substitute. He is weak in outer play, but he boasts league-class dominance. Through off-season training, Onuaku is creating more synergy than expected. League-class guards Albano and Onuaku are expected to form the best one-two punch in the league.
◆ LG Upside Down Line-Up, Power Enhancement Sono
In addition to KCC and DB's challenge to win the championship, several blockers are expected to appear this season. Notably, LG, which ranked second in the regular league last season but lost to KT in the semifinal PO, transformed its team by recruiting a whopping eight players ahead of this season. It was a bold decision made solely based on the team's victory in the championship. Lee Jae-do and Lee Kwan-hee have both been let go. Lee has changed to DB and Lee Jae-do has changed to Sono jerseys. The players LG has recruited are Du Kyung-min, an MVP, and Jeon Sung-hyun, a three-point shooter. These are the best resources in the league in terms of their name value. However, they also have clear risks. In addition to the risk that the team might be in harmony due to discord in the DB, there are questions over whether the team will be able to play the entire season in full condition due to consecutive injuries to the knee and waist. Jeon is also not free from injury. If they completely play the entire season, LG, which also recruited Heo Il-young, the master of three-point shooting, is expected to have the so-called "Archery Basketball."
Sono clearly has MVP candidate Lee Jung-hyun, who boasted the best performance ever last season. Lee Jung-hyun has grown into a player that cannot be stopped by posting an average of 22.8 points and 6.6 assists last season. Also, Sono has "Veteran Guard" Lee Jae-do, who used to play for LG 스포츠토토. The recruitment will help ease the burden that Lee has to bear. By bringing his team with skill, Sono has emerged from the bottom ranks to overcome the PO competition. Samsung, which humiliatingly placed last for the past three consecutive seasons, also sought to make changes by appointing Kim Hyo-beom, its first coach born in the 1980s. Samsung, which also recruited Lee Dae-sung, a "scoring machine" who played in the Japanese B League, dreamed of a drama that turned around. However, as Lee Dae-sung seriously injured his cruciate ligament during training, Kim's concerns deepened. Hyundai Mobis is joined by Sean Long, a big man who commanded the league with 21.3 points and 10.8 rebounds on average during the 2020-2021 season. Long, who played for three years in Japan, will make a comeback to assist Hyundai Mobis.