Busan KCC caught two rabbits: victory and physical fitness. Paris Bath (29, Suwon KT) couldn’t stop them with a one-man show.
The Busan KCC beat the Suwon KT 90-73 in the first round of the 2023-2024 season professional basketball championship game held at KT Sonic Boom Arena in Suwon at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It was a perfect victory that marked the beginning of the best-of-seven championship game.
As a result, KCC succeeded in gaining the upper hand and grabbed a 69.2% chance of winning the championship. Looking at the past championships, 18 of the 26 teams that won the first round were on top.
Whoever wins the championship between the two teams will be a new chapter in history. KCC is targeting the No. 5 seed title for the first time in the history of professional basketball. It is the first time for a team ranking fifth in the regular season to advance to the championship. Unlike KT, KCC has recorded five playoff championships, but since the 2010-2011 season, its name has been lost.
KT dreams of becoming the first champion in its history. Currently, KT is one of the three teams that have not won a championship title, along with LG and Korea Gas Corporation. It is the first time in 17 years that KT has advanced to the championship itself since the 2006-2007 season. However, it suffered a direct defeat at its home turf from the start, and it swallowed up its disappointment.
The game went according to KCC’s scenario. As Coach Jeon Chang-jin said in advance, KCC won the game in the second half without overdoing it. The team scored a 15-0 run early in the third quarter, knocking out KT.
Everyone chose the right players. As many as five players scored double digits. Song scored 17 points and five rebounds, Heo Woong 17 points and four steals, Ra Gun-ah 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Choi Jun-yong 12 points and seven assists, and Alize DeShawn Johnson 14 points and nine rebounds. He looked like a “super team.”
On the other hand, in KT, Bath was responsible for 29 points and 10 rebounds, but the support from his teammates was insufficient. Heo Hoon added 12 points and 4 assists, but it was not enough. Ha Yoon-ki only added 6 points, and Moon Jung-hyun was also tied to 2 points. Moon Sung-gon did not even score a point. 먹튀검증
Bath scored 20 points in the first half alone, but he could not break KCC alone. In the second half, he remained at 9 points, exposing his physical problems. Coach Jeon Chang-jin’s plan to catch the rest of the players, regardless of Bath and Heo Hoon, was right.
What’s scarier is that KCC didn’t make the victory by overstretching itself. No player sat on the court for more than 30 minutes. Heo Woong played 29 minutes and 22 seconds, Choi 28 minutes and 22 seconds, and Song Kyo-chang 28 minutes and 8 seconds. Ra Gun-ah, who took a break from the second quarter entirely, played just 24 minutes and 5 seconds.
Coach Jeon Chang-jin emphasized rotation even before the game. “I was able to outdo it physically because of the good rotation at the match against Wonju DB. In a PO or championship match, players are more tired than usual,” he said. “As players run more, their physical strength is very important. The key is how well they rotate.” In fact, he gave adequate rest to players in the national team and left the team with the strength to secure the remaining games.
KCC was physically superior to KT as it took three more days off. KCC beat DB 3-1 in the semifinal PO, but KT fought with LG to the fifth game. On top of that, as KCC succeeded in arranging its physical strength in the first round, the gap will not be narrowed.
For KT, it must win the second game on Saturday, balance one win and one loss, and leave for an away match in Busan. “We need to focus on calming the mood. I think we need to focus on 120 percent of concentration and activities rather than the regular season,” coach Song Young-jin said, signaling an all-out war.
