Crossing Fate – Samsung 4 Straight Wins after 3 Straight Losses, Dongyang 3 Straight Losses after 7 Straight Wins

"I really hate this guy when he does not follow my directions, but I cannot help but to love this smart player when I see him managing the game well in a sensible way."

This is Head Coach of the Samsung Thunders Kim Dong-Kwang`s evaluation on Artimus McClary (1m92).

McClary showed his cleverness to the full facing the leader SK Bigs on 25th. His counterpart was Jonny McDowell, who has dominated the court as the best imported player until McClary made a debut in domestic league.

In this game, McClary noticed that McDowell usually stayed only inside the paint zone, and he blasted three three-pointers in the first quarter to distract the opponent`s defense formation. And for defense, he tightly pegged the opponent`s tall center Earl Ike (2m 2). As he disturbed the opponent court with a quick speed, he committed his first foul against Earl Ike in the middle of third quarter. The cleverness of McClary was the exact opposite of Lee Kyu-Seop who was caught in the foul trouble in the same time.

McClary is a well-known `rattlesnake`. In the season opening game on 3rd, the head coach did not send him to the court since he wagged his tongue incessantly in front of Head Coach.

In this game, he was boisterous as usual. He appealed to the judge with a smile in his face. Even when his team was taking the lead, he kept talking to his teammates in order to cheer them up. He has a `big mouth` to the extent that he commented a joke to the reporters when the game was shortly suspended.

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com