Pro Basketball Champion Expectations

“Finish by KCC or the restoration of TG Sambo?”

Outsiders can sometimes read moves better in a chess game. To observe the situation outside allows one to find out capital moves which players can’t recognize.

The sixth game of the championship series between TG Sambo and KCC will be held in Wonju on April 8. With three wins and two losses, KCC is only one win away from the championship, and coaches of previous championship teams give possible expectations. They are Samsung’s Kim Dong-kwang (2001 champion), Orions’ Kim Jin (2002 champion) and Choi In-seon, the commentator of Kyoung-in Broadcasting who had victories for Kia in 1997 and SK in 2000. They gave competitive advice as if they were in the position of TG coach Jeon Chang-jin and KCC coach Shin Seon-woo.

Kim Dong-kwang first remarked, “KCC is now favored to be champion.” Kim Jin predicted, “TG will take the sixth game, bringing the series to a seventh game.” Choi said that it couldn’t be predicted.

Kim Dong-kwang carries his point based on the fact that KCC only has one game for the championship remaining and KCC players have confidence playing in Wonju after crushing victories in the first and second match. He also pointed out that TG, driven into the corner, might give up if they fell behind by more than 10 points in the beginning of game.

Meanwhile, Kim Jin said, “TG was wiped out in the first and second match, but they recovered their flow through analyzing KCC’s weaknesses in the third and fourth matches. And although they were defeated in fifth game, their play was better than KCC’s.” Kim Jin understands the situation coach Jeon faces since Kim has won a championship with 2 consecutive wins on home ground from the disadvantage of two wins and three losses against SK. Choi expects that they are equally matched because their play between the first four games was extremely different; TG dominated the first half and KCC the second in the fifth match.

Kim Dong-kwang commented, “KCC has a chance only when they make Hall dull, and it is better for them to use a sixth man, Choi Min-kyu, because TG’s Shin Ki-seong is weak at quick match-ups. TG has to deal with Minlend toughly from the beginning, so he can be tired physically later.”

Kim Jin, who dominated KCC with five wins and one loss in regular season, mentioned, “Hall can boost scoring of other crews with active motions rather than frequent dribbles,“ adding, “TG has to exploit Cho Seong-won’s weakness at defense through two-on-two play.” Kim also gave his views: “TG should shut down outside shooting from Cho Seong-won and Choo Seung-kyun, even if TG allows many points from Minlend.”

Commentator Choi said, “TG has to make good defense rotations, and Hall has to focus on assisting as well as scoring,” adding, “KCC may be going to have strategies such as a zone defense or an unexpected starting line-up.”

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com