We met again. Representing KBL in the EASL (East Asian Super League), Anyang KGC and Seoul SK, who advanced to the finals side by side and played ‘K-Derby’, will face off in the championship match.
KGC and SK are the teams that played the championship match last season. In the regular league, KGC had an advantage of 5 wins and 1 loss, but in the championship match, SK succeeded in revenge with 4 wins and 1 loss, achieving the first integrated championship since its founding. Which team will win their 4th championship among KGC, where Seong-Hyun Jeon transferred, and Young-Jun Ahn, who enlisted, and even Choi Jun-Yong, whose chances of playing are low due to injury, SK.
1_SK advanced to the first championship match after passing the round of 6
This is the first time that SK has reached the championship match by playing the playoffs from the round of 6. Until last season, they had reached the championship match five times, all of which were tickets to the championship match after finishing the regular league in first or second place and going directly to the semifinals.
In the last two seasons, one place in the championship match was in third place, and KGC was the main character in all of them. In the 2020-2021 season, Jared Sullinger won the championship, and last season was runner-up. This is the second time that the third place has reached the championship game for three consecutive seasons. From the 2006-2007 season, the third place has played the championship match for five consecutive seasons.
Of the 25 championships held until last season, there were 12 championships that included third place. Of these, 5 teams won the championship, with a probability of 41.7%. Wonju TG (now DB) made history for the first time in history in the 2002-2003 season, and Jeonju KCC won the championship twice. In addition, KGC and Goyang Orion (now Carrot) also won the championship match, which reached 3rd place.
2_Return Match, and
It is the third time since the launch of KBL that the same teams face each other for two consecutive seasons in the repeat match. From the 1997-1998 season to the 1998-1999 season, Daejeon Hyundai (currently KCC) and Busan Kia (currently Ulsan Hyundai Mobis) faced each other, and Hyundai won both championships. In the 2003-2004 season, KCC defeated TG Sambo (now DB) and achieved its first victory after changing the signboard from Hyundai to KCC, and in the 2004-2005 season, TG Sambo succeeded in revenge.
In the previous two return matches, all of them had the same first place in the regular league. In the 1997-1998 season and the 1998-1999 season, Hyundai took first place, and in the 2003-2004 season and the 2004-2005 season, TG Sambo took first place in the regular league and went up to the championship match. The rankings of both teams have been reversed this season. Last season’s regular season 1st place SK was 3rd, and 3rd place KGC took 1st place and enjoys a home advantage in the championship match.
There is another number associated with 2. Only two teams have won the championship game in two consecutive seasons. Along with Hyundai mentioned above, Hyundai Mobis is the main character. Mobis (now Hyundai Mobis) achieved KBL’s first three-season championship in a row, starting with the 2012-2013 season and ending in the 2014-2015 season. If SK wins the championship, it will be the protagonist of the 3rd refit of all time.
3_ KGC, who has risen to the championship again, will it ease the regret of the runner-up?
Starting with the 2020-2021 season, KGC has risen to the championship match for three consecutive seasons. KGC is the sixth case of advancing to the championship game for three consecutive seasons, following Kia, Hyundai, TG Sambo, KCC, and Mobis. Among the teams mentioned above, only Kia finished runner-up for two consecutive seasons after winning the first season, while the other three teams won the championship twice or more during the period of reaching the championship match for three consecutive seasons.
For KGC, this is an opportunity to soothe the disappointment of last season’s runner-up. If you win, you will achieve V4 and become the 3rd place with the most wins. The only teams that finished runner-up for two consecutive seasons were Kia, Seoul Samsung in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons, and Dongbu (now DB) in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.
4_Foreign player MVP
There were a total of 4 foreign players who won the MVP in the championship match. Marcus Hicks, who led Daegu Dongyang (now Carrot) to a combined victory in the 2001-2002 season, was the first protagonist. In the 2002-2003 season, David Jackson (then TG), who showed off his explosive 3-point shooting ability against Dongyang, won the trophy.
The foreign player championship MVP, which has not been released for a while, has recently been awarded by SK and KGC. Terico White, who gave SK the championship in the 2017-2018 season, was selected as the MVP, and in the 2020-2021 season, Salinger, who led KGC to the first ever Perfect 10, was the main character. Jameel Warney and Omari Spellman are foreign players with enough skills to aim for the 5th case.
On the other hand, Oh Se-geun has won the 3rd championship MVP award twice. This is a record tied for second place with Kim Joo-seong (former DB). If he wins the MVP in this championship match, Oh Se-geun will be the main character of the 2nd championship MVP award three times, following Yang Dong-geun (former Hyundai Mobis).
10_Oh Se-geun, will he enter the TOP10?
Oh Se-geun played 21 championship games in his career. This is a record that corresponds to a tie for 17th place. A championship match is a series of at least four matches. If he does not miss a game, Oh Se-geun secures entry into the TOP 10 in the championship match. So far, the 10th place is Ham Ji-hoon (Hyundai Mobis) with 25 games.
Meanwhile, the record for the most appearances in the championship match is held by Choo Seung-gyun (former KCC). He played 47 matches. Kim Joo-seong (former DB, 46 games) and Lee Sang-min (former Samsung, 43 games) are following. In SK, Kim Seon-hyeong is first with 15 games, and is tied for 45th among all players. Among foreign players, Laguna (KCC) has played 29 games and is ranked first. That’s 6th overall.
21_Championship match with the shortest distance in history The distance
from Anyang Gymnasium, where the championship match will be held this season as well as last season, to Jamsil Gymnasium is 21km by car. The confrontation between KGC and SK is the shortest distance championship match ever, and it is easily accessible by public transportation. The distance between the home stadiums of KGC and Samsung (Jamsil Gymnasium), which faced each other in the 2016-2017 season championship match, was also 21 km.
The longest-distance championship match in history is held by Ulsan Hyundai Mobis and Incheon Etland (now Daegu Korea Gas Corporation), who faced off in the 2018-2019 season. The distance from Ulsan Dongchun Gymnasium to Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium, which was the home stadium of Etland at the time, was 390 km. The second place is also held by Hyundai Mobis. In the 2005-2006 season, the distance to Samsung’s home stadium was 370 km.
72_Chance of winning the winning team in Game
1 This is the number that will be mentioned the most in articles on the day the Game 1 is held. The winning team in Game 1 has a 72% chance of winning. Of the 28 championship matches, 18 teams have won the championship.
KGC’s win rate in the first leg of the championship match was 50% (2/4). Both series, which decorated the first leg with a victory, were decorated with victories. In the 2011-2012 season, they lost the first game to the East, but overcame their inferiority and won their first championship with 4 wins and 2 losses.
SK won two of the first rounds out of five championship matches. The first leg win rate is 40% (2/5). SK also won the championship in the 1999-2000 season and the 2021-2022 season, which won the first game. Of course, there was a season where they won the championship after defeating the first game. SK gave the 1st and 2nd games of the 2017-2018 season to DB, but then won 4 consecutive wins and won V2.
It’s an absolutely high number,안전놀이터 but the team that won the first game didn’t necessarily win the championship. It means that the winning team should not be vigilant, and it is too early for the losing team to give up. The first round of KGC and SK’s ‘K-Derby’ will be held on the 25th at Anyang Gymnasium.
