“It was a game that was comforting because it seemed to have returned to our old team.”
Cheongju KB Stars met Yongin Samsung Life Insurance in the Shinhan Bank SOL 2022-2023 regular women’s professional basketball regular league held at Cheongju Gymnasium on the 28th and won 88-67.
KB was the best team in the league last season. Park Ji-soo (196cm, C) and Kang Iseul (180cm, F) played a balanced offense and defense. The impact of the two players allowed other players to gain more space and score easily. Kim Min-jung (180cm, F) crossed the inside and outside, and Heo Ye-eun (165cm, G) also did her part. As a result, they won both the regular season and the championship game.
But at the beginning of this season it was different. It is because Park Ji-soo, the pillar of the team, was missing. Although Kim Min-jung struggled, it was not enough. In 13 games without Park Ji-soo, they recorded 2 wins and 11 losses. The situation where the dignity of the ‘defending champion’ has disappeared.
Time passed and Park Ji-soo returned. And KB’s counterattack began. Since joining Park Ji-soo, he has recorded 5 wins and 2 losses in 7 games. Although it wasn’t perfect, the players’ breathing matched and Park Ji-soo continued to improve his physical condition.
And in this game, it was KB that finally showed off the look of last season.
The player who led the team’s attack in the first quarter was Park Ji-soo. However, he led the attack not through his own scoring, but through passing when the opponent’s defense was overwhelmed. He only attempted 2 shots in the first quarter. Scored only 2 points. Still, he showed the greatest influence. At the center of it was a one-beat fast pass. Thanks to that, Kim Min-jung and Kang I-seul scored easily. In particular, all four points Kim Min-jung posted in the first quarter were scored by Park Ji-soo’s pass.
Iseul Kang did not make a good 3-point shot in the first quarter. Even so, the opponent had no choice but to put strong pressure on Kang Isul, and Kang did not insist on 3-point shots. He attacked the opponent’s defense by mixing breakthrough points and mid-range jumpers. As a result, he alone scored 10 points and became the quarter’s top scorer.
Park Ji-soo, who only scored two points in the first quarter, started scoring in earnest. He drove in 10 points in the second quarter alone. He focused on targeting relatively short players. He also earned 6 free throws through active offensive attempts. All of this was successful. In addition, Kang Dew also exerted strength from the outskirts. He didn’t take many shots, but he scored 3. Kim Min-jeong led the team’s 11-3 run by scoring 6 out of 9 points in the middle of the quarter.
In the second half, Park Ji-soo’s attack continued 토토사이트. When Heo Ye-eun came over with the ball, she found Park Ji-soo. Although Park Ji-soo not only scored his own points, but also led the team’s attack by passing to his vacant teammates. However, the shooting success rate of other players was not good, and KB was only scoreless for 3 minutes and 57 minutes. The player who broke the scoreless flow was also Park Ji-soo.
Later, she lost a point to Danbi Kim (175cm, F) and was chased by 6 points, but this time Yoonmi Lee (172cm, G) made a surprise appearance. At the end of the quarter, she alone put up four points in a row. And she was responsible for the first score in the 4th quarter. In addition, KB, who added Kim Min-jung’s additional score, made it 66-51. And even after that, the players scored evenly. Shim Seong-young (165cm, G) and Kim Min-jung led the attack. Both players scored 7 points each in the 4th quarter. That’s how you won the game.
Based on strong defense under the goal, they tied the opponent with 67 points. In the attack, Park Ji-soo took the center, but did not take responsibility for everything. In addition to Park Ji-soo, 4 players succeeded in scoring double digits. It was KB that achieved a perfect victory with the players’ even performances.
KB coach Kim Wan-soo also expressed his satisfaction. Manager Kim commented on the game overall, saying, “It was a game that was comforting to me because I felt like I was back to my old team.”
With the victory on this day, KB increased the possibility of advancing to the playoffs. There are 9 games left, but the difference between Incheon Shinhan Bank in 4th place is 2.5 games and the difference between Samsung Life Insurance in 3rd place is 3 games. A situation in which pursuit is possible. If KB maintains its performance on this day, the blast in the second half will continue and KB’s chances of advancing to the playoffs will increase.