The momentum of Seoul SK is scary. SK, which started its winning streak engine in earnest by running a winning streak in 9 games in the 6th round of the regular league, broke through the 6th and 4th playoffs with 3 consecutive wins, respectively, and even the 1st game of the championship match against Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation was 77- 69 and is on a 16-game winning streak. It’s really crushing.
Initially, there were many opinions predicting the advantage of KGC, the first team in the regular league, in the series prospect. Compared to SK, which is highly dependent on a specific player, more points went to the stability of KGC, which is ahead of the overall balance and player base. However, when the lid is opened, the atmosphere flows differently. It is too early to predict whether they will win as they have only played the first game, but SK is not far behind in terms of strength.
In particular, the ‘MVP combination’ of regular season MVP Kim Seon-hyung (34‧187cm) and best foreign player Jamil Warney (29‧199cm) shows an unbroken upward trend throughout the playoffs. In the first game, the one-two punch of Kim Seon-hyung (22 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals) and Warney (23 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals) flew like crazy.
In particular, Kim Sun-hyung’s crazy performance is evaluated to be at a level that exceeds expectations. In this season, he is showing a high level of performance to the point where he hears that ‘the second peak has come’, but he is increasing his power in the playoffs. In the past, if he succeeded in breaking through with great speed and athletic nerves, recently, he has added tempo control, and the passing play of his colleagues has also risen.
The influence of top foreign players in the domestic league is absolute. Depending on the condition of foreign players, strong teams may fall and weak teams may rebound. In that respect, Warney’s performance, which is called the best foreign striker in the league, is surprising, but not unpredictable.
On the other hand, Kim Seon-hyung’s voice of surprise is growing in that a native player in his mid-30s is exerting more influence than a foreign player. KCC recorded the first double-double in 3 consecutive games with points and assists in the playoffs against KCC, and recorded the second 20-10 in the playoffs in the first game of the championship match, which is the same record as Heo Jae, who was called ‘Basketball Genius’. am.
Previously, only Hur Jae had recorded 20-10 in points and assists twice in the playoffs. This is the part where you can see how influential Kim Sun-hyung is in this playoff. Not just records. The appearance of dominating the game in all directions and bringing victory is reminiscent of Heo Jae, who roared like a wounded beast in the playoffs of the last season when he played for Kia.
Heo Jae, who was in his mid-30s at the time, entered the playoffs amid harsh criticism that he had passed his prime. As if to vent the anger that had greatly damaged his pride in the previous season, he showed off his amazing skills and performed like a foreign player in every game. Although Hyundai, the strongest team at the time, ended up in the runner-up after a close match that lasted until the 7th game, the sabotage of foreign center Justin Phoenix had a big impact on this.
There are many opinions that the winning team would have changed if Phoenix had consistently taken business trips and showed only average performance. At that time, Heo Jae’s performance was such that even foreign players stuck out their tongues, which led to an unusual situation in which he was awarded MVP in the championship match despite finishing runner-up. Even now, when it comes to players who shined in the championship match, not a few people mention Heo Jae at the time.
Since Hur Jae, there has not been a case in which a domestic player has shown such a presence in the playoffs. There were many players who did well, but they were not enough in many ways to compare with Heo Jae. In the meantime, quite a bit of time has passed and Kim Sun-hyeong is challenging Shinhwa. It is true that Heo Jae’s wall was still high at the time, but Kim Seon-hyung’s performance in the playoffs is also approaching an all-time high. If he can continue his current performance and win the championship, it is evaluated that it will not be too much to compare him seriously enough.
As can be seen from the word ‘molppang basketball’, coach Jeon Hee-chul openly plays basketball with Kim Seon-hyung and Warnie at the center, and the two players are 120% responding to it. In particular, Seonhyung Kim, the main ball handler, is gradually gaining more and more presence in the starting point of SK basketball. KGC is also well aware of the fact that ‘If you tie up Kim Seon-hyeong, SK will also be tied together’, but the current situation is that they can’t stop it even though they know it.
His duel guard, Kim Seon-hyeong, leads the entire attack by using his attack power to shake up his opponent’s defense and looking for gaps created there to give his teammates a chance. Basically, his dribbling ability is very good. Even when KGC applied surprise pressure with an instantaneous full-court press, it came out several times through dribbling.
When that happened, it was KGC that was embarrassed. The full-court press is a strategy to tie the opponent in a specific area or cause a mistake by panicking, but if it fails, the back space is opened. Kim Seon-hyung’s crossover takes the left and right strides quite large. Because of this, more movement is required from the defender’s point of view than when dealing with other players. Of course, in the meantime, Kim Sun-hyung has already passed the mark man and developed his attack.
From the playoffs to the first game, Kim Sun-hyung was free to move as he decided. His excellent ball handling, excellent speed, and arrow-like breakthrough with athleticism have been his trademark since his rookie days. Recently, tempo control has been added to this. If he used to break through gaps or break through the defense, now he cheats and spills depending on the situation.
If the opponent’s defense is focused on breaking through, throw a 3-point shot from the outside, and if the defense is crowded while breaking through, aim for loopholes with the mid-range or quickly raise the floater from a little distance. Recently, his passing ability has also risen. In particular, passing to Heo Il-young on the outskirts and Choi Bu-kyung near the bottom of the goal at the right time is becoming a powerful option that collapses the opponent’s defense, which was focusing only on Kim Seon-hyung and Warney’s one-two punch.
The scariest thing of all is the 2v2 play with Warnie. When Kim Seon-hyung starts moving on Warney’s screen, the other person’s head becomes complicated. Both of them are difficult players to control one-on-one, so if you pay attention to one player, you will often get beaten by the other player. In a way, it can be said that the starting point of SK’s many attacks is from Kim Seon-hyung, but the teams they met in the playoffs know this but can’t cut it off. I am very curious about the ending of Kim Seon-hyung’s all-time performance, which is summoned even to Heo Jae, in the championship match. ㅋㅋㅋ벳