SK Rookie Kim Il-doo Says, “Watch Me Closely”

Although the weather has become colder, it seems that spring has already come to the basketball court.

SK and Samsung, both based in Seoul, and both with a two-game winning streak, are taking the momentum early in the season.

With new coach Kim Tae-hwan hungry for victory, SK beat mobile communications rival KTF in the October 23 game played at Jamsil Gymnasium, 82-79, thanks to the superb performance of rookie Kim Il-doo, who scored 19 points, 15 of them off three-pointers.

SK was weak against KTF last season, when it went 1-5, and faced difficulties when center Wesley Wilson was ejected from the game with five fouls in the middle of the third quarter. However with Kim Il-doo’s bold outside shooting, it scored 10 straight points in the last minutes of the fourth quarter and grabbed victory.

Kim’s high school and university senior alumnus Chun Hee-chul, who had six points and 11 rebounds, filled Wilson’s empty slot by defending and rebounding under the rim. Gave Minake, who played for KTF last season, scored 28 points and led the charge against his former team.

In Changwon, Samsung beat LG 81-68 with Olumide Oyedeji, who had 29 points and 15 rebounds, and was in control of the post. Coach Shin Sun-woo who moved from KCC to LG now has a two game losing streak.

KCC who beat Mobis the day before, earning Coach Hur Jae, his first victory in his coaching debut, lost against the Orions, 89-98 at Daegu. Kim Byung-chul and Kim Seung-hyun contributed 29 and 21 points, respectively for the Orion’s victory, who now have won two in a row.

Last season’s champion TG Sambo, acquired by Dongbu this season and with its key player Kim Joo-sung out with a neck injury, lost 67-81 to Mobis, skidding to a two-game losing streak. Last year’s rookie of the year Yang Dong-geun of Mobis, scored 25 and won his team’s first victory of the season.

KT&G, who acquired SBS, beat the Black Slammers 93-83 on 38 points from Dante Jones and recorded its first win after being newly founded. The Black Slammers, led for the first time ever by a foreign coach, Jay Humphries, have dropped two in a row.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com